- Tom Holland had to build 15 lbs of muscle to play Spider-Man.
- Holland achieved this with a 5-step workout, according to his trainer George Ashwell.
Tom Holland used a five-step workout plan that involved no equipment except a pair of dumbbells to get in shape to play Spider-Man.
Holland's trainer, George Ashwell, also helped the 25-year-old actor get in shape for his previous role as a marine-turned-drug addict in "Cherry." It required him to appear skinny and gaunt for the earlier scenes, then transition into a muscular yet lean look for the rest of shooting.
Once that wrapped, Holland had to get in shape to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the upcoming "Spider-Man: No Way Home," according to Esquire.
Ashwell told Esquire that Holland's training came down to a simple five-step workout, which involved mostly bodyweight workouts, and some weight training that only required a pair of dumbbells.
Holland used high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to slowly build lean muscle
Ashwell designed Holland's workout around a slow but steady approach and didn't want him to bulk up too quickly. To do this, he instructed Holland to do high-intensity interval training (HIIT) techniques — which involves giving full effort to a workout for short bursts of 30 to 60 seconds — that targeted multiple muscle groups each session.
"Because we weren't aiming to bulk up too much we could do more muscle groups in one go," Ashwell told Esquire. "It'd be a whole-body circuit split into perhaps a posterior chain legs exercise with a horizontal push and pull, (so chest and back) then anterior legs (like a squat) with a vertical push and pull."
HIIT combines cardio and strength training and can help burn more calories and build multiple muscle groups compared to conventional weightlifting.
Holland's routine includes bear crawls, renegade rows, and almost no rest
Ashwell told Esquire that Holland used these five workouts to get in shape to play Spider-Man:
- 60 seconds of bear crawls (crawling on all fours like a bear from one point to another)
- 20 shoulder taps for each arm (getting into a push-up position, but just lifting one hand to touch the opposite shoulder and vice versa)
- 20 dumbbell thrusters (holding a pair of dumbbells above your shoulders while doing a squat and pushing the dumbbells above your head at the top of the squat rep)
- 20 renegade rows for each arm (holding a pair of dumbells on the floor while in a push-up position, then lifting one dumbbell at a time to chest level)
- 20-30 push-ups
Holland did each of these workouts in a row without any rest in between. He then took 60 seconds of rest after push-ups before doing the entire circuit again. He repeated that cycle as many times as he could for each session.