Projects starring Tom Hardy require careful physical preparation. The main work in his filmography is “Warrior”. Before filming, Tom gave his all every day in the gym and was on a low-carb diet in order to efficiently complete the tasks set by the director.
Together with a nutritionist and fitness trainer, we talk in more detail about the actor’s training and nutrition.
Skoblova Elena
fitness trainer
Quite a specific training system, in my opinion. The exercises are varied and involve all muscle groups, but the question arises: how much time does the actor have to recover between workouts?
How Tom became a "Warrior"
In his youth, Tom absolutely did not adhere to a healthy diet and did not play sports. On the contrary, he constantly found himself in bad company, became addicted to alcohol and drugs, and at the age of 16 he ended up behind bars for car theft. The future actor was released from arrest thanks to his father’s connections and Tom’s promise to come to his senses. The scene helped the guy improve.
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He entered the London School of Drama and worked as a model at the same time. The aspiring actor received his first role in the TV series “Band of Brothers,” after which the number of offers rapidly increased, including for leading roles. The film “Warrior” was also significant for Tom, in which the artist played the role of an MMA fighter. To achieve this, he spent eight weeks in the gym non-stop.
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Trains twice a day – 5 times a week
Anthony McGann (pictured right) is the founder of The Wolfslair MMA Academy. Only hardcore fans have heard of this place, but it's where Rampage Jackson, Michael Bisping and Cheick Kongo came from.
“Tom and I have a mutual friend who introduced us five years ago. Now Hardy is a great friend of the family and constantly monitors our results,” says Anthony. McGann has a son, Jack, who is 11-5 in MMA, and last year he made a successful debut in boxing and is already 4-0.
Hardy himself recalled the meeting this way: “A friend advised me to take a closer look at Jack. What I saw was enough for me to start rooting for him. He is a great fighter with great mental strength and great talent."
Jack performed in Russia five times at Fight Nights Global. The last time was in 2017, but when writing the text I asked you to convey: “I love fighting in your country. I'm four fights unbeaten in boxing, but I still want to fight in MMA. Especially in Moscow. I want to come back and fight for the belt: I’ll knock out anyone who’s in front of me.”
McGann’s fights in Russia were promoted precisely because he was Tom’s friend, and Hardy wrote down wishes for him good luck.
“Tom and Jack often train together. Tom loves to spar. Seriously, he's a tough puncher and he's got great physical condition,” Anthony says.
According to McGann Sr., Hardy trains five (!) times a week, twice (!!) a day.
“He prefers boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu - one in the morning, the other in the evening. He is also trained by a black belt, but Hardy's heart belongs to boxing!” – McGann is sure.
Judging by Hardy's Instagram, he's more into jiu-jitsu lately.
The latest photo on his account shows jitsers, and the penultimate photo shows a picture explaining what kind of sport it is. We broadcast:
– The art of folding clothes while people are wearing them;
– Involuntary yoga classes;
– The act of strangling another person for one’s own happiness.
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Posted by Tom Hardy (@tomhardy) Jun 29, 2022 at 8:08 am PDT
“He has a white belt with four stripes. Yes, he loves jiu-jitsu, but he knows how to hit well, while in sparring he prefers to box technically. He also works on the paws,” says Anthony.
Hardy has been involved in martial arts for 10 years, but has been training intensively for the last two years, especially before filming the sci-fi action film “Venom” (IMDb: 6.70), which is based on comics.
“He is not an actor who is afraid of punches. Tom is a man who always spar at full strength and does it 2-3 times a week, 8 rounds,” is another compliment from McGann to Hardy.
Another secret to Hardy's form is diet and the recovery process.
“Tom eats healthy food. His diets are divided into different periods that include balanced foods, so he is in shape all year round. Plus he doesn’t drink alcohol,” says Anthony.
After training, Tom takes ice baths.
Tom Hardy training program
In the film "Warrior" Tom Hardy had to play the role of a young fighter, Tommy Conlon, who deserted the war in Iraq. Arriving in his hometown, Conlon decided to take part in the Grand Prix in order to receive a multi-million dollar purse to give to the family of his deceased friend.
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To film the film, Tom needed to gain muscle mass and learn to move like a professional MMA fighter. He gained 12 kilograms, and then, together with trainer Patrick Monroe, developed a strength training program with iron and body weight. Hardy performed each exercise in three sets of 6-10 repetitions.
- Day 1: bench press, dumbbell floor press, deadlift, pull-ups;
- Day 2: squats with a barbell, curl with an EZ-bar for biceps, hyperextension, lunges with a barbell, dips, leg raises to the bar and training the calf muscles;
- Day 3: bent-over barbell row, dumbbell front raise, barbell chin row, pull-up;
- Day 4: front squats, machine leg press, deadlift, close-grip bench press, dumbbell curls.
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To move realistically on camera, Tom worked on choreography and strengthened his core stabilizer muscles. But daily training battles also played a role. The actor trained in martial arts (namely kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and Thai boxing) together with professional athletes from the UFC.
Fighters recall that Hardy came to training five times a week, twice a day, and was an excellent sparring partner. “He has a white belt with four stripes. Yes, he loves jiu-jitsu, but he knows how to hit well, but in sparring he prefers to box technically,” recalls gym owner Anthony McGann.
Skoblova Elena
fitness trainer
Lactic acid, which forms in the muscle frame, can cause pain and reduce the effectiveness of subsequent workouts. I do not recommend doing full body exercises every day; there must be rest. Considering that Tom Hardy still needed to box and gain weight, all this was stressful for the body. It produced cortisol, a hormone that destroys muscle tissue and accumulates fat deposits.
Tom himself said that martial art inspires him:
I enjoy the shows Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey put on. Their success drew me back into the world of combat sports, and I began to follow MMA again.
***
In Warrior, Hardy's character, Tommy Conlon, a veteran who deserted the Iraq War, returns to his hometown and enters the Grand Prix for a multimillion-dollar fee.
As a child, Tommy did not lose a single fight on the wrestling mat, so he again begins to train with his father Paddy, an alcoholic in the end. Conlon needs the tournament to help the family of his deceased friend; but in the final he dramatically lost to his older brother Brendan, who was always overshadowed by his sporting successes.
Enough spoilers, though. We definitely recommend watching the film, especially if you are interested in mixed martial arts.
“This is the first really big MMA movie made by a big studio and done well,” says Anthony McGann, Tom’s boxing coach.
For the sake of the film, Hardy gained 12 kg, and quality ones at that. But iron and relief are not all that the actor created for the filming.
“Tom trained with a lot of UFC guys, spent months perfecting his form, and looked technically cool in the film. The guys taught him well. He sparred often and even injured his hand during one of the training sessions,” recalls McGann.
Tom Hardy's diet
On the eve of filming “Warrior,” Tom Hardy went on a low-carb diet. His diet consisted of 5-6 meals, the basis of which was chicken meat and broccoli. Tom had two main rules: do not go beyond 3,500 calories a day and do not consume any fast food or empty calories.
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Every day, the actor took proteins as sports supplements, and during training, amino acids (BCAAs). This increased the effectiveness of the exercises and helped to gain 12 kg of muscle mass during training, and reduce fat to a minimum.
Tom Hardy: natural muscles or steroids
Many movie fans and athletes are interested in the progress of actors when gaining muscle mass.
One of the most popular actors today is Tom Hardy, who gained impressive size for his roles in the films “Warrior” (2011) and “Batman Rises.” To assess whether Tom gained muscle naturally or took steroids, it is worth assessing his natural characteristics.
If you look at Tom Hardy at the age of 20, when he starred in commercials, you can see that he is an absolute ectomorph with thin bones who has difficulty gaining muscle. There are no genetic prerequisites for rapid muscle gain. The same can be said about his form in Band of Brothers when he was 24 years old.
In the film “Simon: English Legionnaire” it is clear that his trapezoids began to stand out a little against the general background, but his physique remains at the “skinny fat” level. During the period from 20 to 30 years old, nothing remarkable is seen in terms of muscle gain, and this is the age when testosterone is at its peak and it is easiest to gain muscle.
For the film Bronson, Tom Hardy gained 15 kilograms in 5 weeks. The physique has changed significantly. From the “skinny fat” shape, Tom managed to create good muscles. Of course, this was not a set of pure muscles, the percentage of fat became even greater, the abs barely stood out. The trapezoids began to stand out even more. Were steroids used to bulk up for this film? Almost 100 percent yes. It is simply impossible for an ectomorph to gain 3 kilograms a week. Moreover, for Tom, who at that time was 30 years old, which means that the peak of testosterone had already passed. Naturally, this form can be achieved in six months, but not in 5 weeks.
His training program deserves special attention. Tom did not use free weights, there were no basic exercises: deadlifts, squats, bench presses. Instead, the actor did push-ups and did light exercises that do little to help with muscle gain.
More impressive results are seen in the film "Warrior". The trapezius has become even more impressive, the percentage of fat has decreased, and the abs stand out. In the film, he weighs 84 kilograms, Tom's trainer explained that they needed to gain 18 kilograms of pure muscle mass in 4 months. The actor worked out without rest:
- 2 hours of choreography;
- 2-4 hours of heavy training with free weights;
- 2-4 hours where Tom trained to fight in the ring with a trainer.
On average, it turned out to be from 6 to 8 hours of exhausting training without days off. In such conditions, it is impossible for an ectomorph to gain muscle. After all, muscles need rest to grow. Therefore, it is obvious that the actor used anabolic steroids. Of course, Hardy does not admit this, but explains all his success with proper nutrition, diet and “broccoli with chicken breast.”
As for Bane's role in Batman Returns, the actor's form is on par with his role in Bronson. The percentage of fat mass has increased, and the trapezius stands out even more. Enlarged trapezius is one sign of androgen use. Often, with a fairly small increase in overall muscle mass, it is the trapezius that begins to stand out more strongly against the general background. If you look at the photo of the actor during filming, you can see that his back is covered with acne, and this is another sign of steroid use.
To summarize, we can say for sure that Tom Hardy used steroids to prepare for roles in some films, but he did this under the supervision of professionals. The actor did not have any serious consequences after using steroids. Most likely, he had regular blood tests to prevent testosterone from aromatizing into estrogen.
