"That's an amazing challenge — and also state of mind as a woman."
Natalie Portman got a true superhero physique for her latest MCU venture.
And now her trainer is spilling on just how the Oscar winning actress prepared to wield Mjolnir in "Thor: Love and Thunder."
In an interview with Us Weekly, trainer Naomi Pendergast revealed the program the 41-year-old actress underwent to get those mighty arms.
"We trained for 10 months, starting around four months prior to filming," Pendergast said. "Natalie did five sessions a week and did not miss one session for the whole time period we trained."
"The initial goal was to build arm and abdominal definition," the trainer continued. "We also worked on stability and agility for injury prevention as Natalie had some dynamic stunt scenes that required her to move, twist and land in various positions. … I was also really pleased she got through the challenging stunt process without any injuries."
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View StoryIn addition to her vegan based diet, Pendergast praised the star's determination and commitment to her transformation. "I provided the exercises and guidance, but she did the rest," she explained. "She is focused, determined, and humble. Natalie turned up every session that was scheduled for the 10 months and gave 100 percent, even on the days she was tired."
Check out Natalie's killer workout below!
Natalie's Warm Up
-Marching arms for 30 seconds
-Lat stretch for 30 seconds
-Beast crawl for 30 seconds
-Roll down walk outs (10 repetitions)
-Power band kneeling reverse fly (25 repetitions)
Natalie's Super Arm Set
-Banded pull ups (4 sets of 12 reps)
-Dumbbell straight arm lateral raise (4 sets of 25 reps)
-Rest for 90 seconds
-Straight arm raise with palms up (4 sets of 20 reps)
-Reverse plank (4 sets for 1 minute each)
-Rest for 90 seconds
-Seated dumbbell Arnold press (4 sets of 10 reps)
-Kneeling banded tricep press (4 sets of 20 reps)
-Rest for 90 seconds
-Dumbbell bicep curl (4 sets of 12 reps)
-Banded kneeling rotation (4 sets of 20 reps)
-Rest for 90 seconds
-Dumbbell tricep press (4 sets of 12 reps)
-Squat jumps (4 sets for 1 minute each)
-Rest for 90 seconds
Natalie's Round of Boxing and Skipping
-Boxing (2 minutes) followed by skipping (1 minute)
-Repeat for three sets, resting for 90 seconds between each
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View StoryNatalie's Core Set
-20 reps of basic abdominal crunch (feet down)
-20 reps of abdominal crunch (feet up)
-20 reps of abdominal crunch with a twist
-1 minute weighted overhead arm raise (do three times, pausing between reps)
Natalie's Cool Down
Pendergast shared that she guided Natalie through a stretching routine that included a foam roller to help release tension. As their training for the blockbuster film ended, Naomi revealed that she shared a few tips for the actress to get the most out of her workouts.
"Natalie has great body awareness and does quite a bit of Gyrotonics, which is a form of movement using a machine that helps enhance the length of your muscles, so she didn’t really need many tips," the trainer said. "Natalie is an avid runner so I did give her some things to focus on to get more out of her running. I included a few postural tips to help her have a better understanding of how to move a little more efficiently day to day."
Meanwhile, Portman told Variety: "I was asked to get as big as possible. That's an amazing challenge — and also state of mind as a woman."