Natalie Portman’s bulky arms have broken the internet.
“Girls don’t want boyfriends, girls want Natalie Portman’s arms”, “I will not write horny s*** about Natalie Portman’s arms”, and “Filling out passport paperwork. Religion: Natalie Portman as Mighty Thor” are just some of the heady tweets swooning over the star’s shredded biceps in Thor: Love and Thunder. In fact, there’s even a (slightly misogynistic) conspiracy theory on Reddit that VFX was used to sculpt her muscles. Of course, Portman needn’t worry about those rumours. If she wanted to, she could squash them in a heartbeat with her impossibly chiselled biceps.
According to interviews, Portman spent 10 months gradually building muscle with trainer Naomi Pendergast, the director of RPX fitness. “Our typical weekly routine would consist of three strength training sessions a week and two sessions of mobility, agility, and stability work,” Pendergast told Women’s Health. Together they would work out for two hours a day, five days a week as the vegan actress also followed a strict high-protein diet.
Portman is no stranger to undergoing a serious body transformation for a role. Pre-Thor, the actress dropped 20 pounds for Black Swan, by restricting her diet and training for long periods of time. However, this is the first time the Oscar winner had been asked to put on weight.
“It’s pretty unusual and wonderful to be tasked with getting bigger as a woman. Most of the body transformations we’re asked to make are to be as small as possible and there’s an emotional and sociological correlate to that,” she told Variety. “For someone to say, ‘Let’s see how much strength you can have. I turned 40 while making the movie and it was an incredible point in my life to say, ‘You’re going to be the fittest, strongest version of yourself.”
So how exactly did Portman become the fittest, strongest version of herself?
The arm routine
To hit Portman’s goal Marvel physique, Pendergast programmed an intense, arm-shaking routine for the star. It includes four parts: an upper body warm-up, arm strength combos, cardio bursts, and a core circuit.
Upper-body warmup:
- 30 seconds marching arms
- 30 seconds lat stretch
- 30 seconds beast crawl
- 10 repetitions roll down walk outs
- 25 repetitions power band kneeling reverse fly
Arm Strength Workout: (rest for 90 seconds between sets)
- Off-set push up followed by a 1 minute elbow plank (4 sets of 10 reps)
- Straight arm raise with palms up followed by 1 minute reverse plank (4 sets of 20 reps)
- Dumbbell Arnold press followed by a 1 minute side plank (4 sets of 10 reps)
- Dumbbell bicep curl followed by a power band kneeling rotation (4 sets of 12 reps)
- Dumbbell tricep press followed by 1 minute squat jump (4 sets of 12 reps)
Cardio:
2 minutes boxing + 1 minute skipping (complete 3 rounds with 90 seconds rest in between)
Core circuit:
- Basic abdominal crunch, feet down (1 set of 20 reps)
- Abdominal crunch, feet up (1 set of 20 reps)
- Abdominal crunch with a twist (1 set of 20 reps)
- 1 minute weighted overhead arm raises (3 sets)
To achieve that perpetually shredded on-screen look, Portman would also work out on set in between takes.
The diet
Portman is a dedicated vegan, which proves you don’t have to be eating mouthfuls of chicken to get in superhero shape. However, in order to maintain her muscle mass, the former Star Wars actress had to consume lots of plant-based protein.
Pendergast revealed that Portman’s typical breakfast meal would include “oats and berries plus a protein shake.” She added: “Her snacks throughout the day would consist of fruit, nuts and salads…For lunch she would have a vegan falafel dish again with a protein shake, and for dinner, a vegan curry and protein shake.”
The cardio
In addition to these workouts, Portman also tried skipping and boxing in her exercise schedule. These workouts enabled the actress to look like an Asgardian-esque superhero, who weighed over 450 lbs (204.12 kg) in the comics as Mighty Thor.
When she’s not bulking for superhero films, the leading lady prefers heading out for long runs a few times a week, and doing regular yoga practice to stay in shape. Both of which she weaved into her gruelling regimen on rest days.
