No matter where he is in the world, Luke Evans is never far away from getting in a workout.
The Welsh actor is currently in the coastal city of Hua Hin in Thailand, where he’s without access to a traditional gym. So, he does what he does best: improvises.
A fan of bodyweight training, Evans’ latest Instagram post shows him swinging across monkey bars, performing hanging twisting knee raises and doing push-ups, giving us a glimpse at how he maintains his impressive upper-body strength and physique without a fully equipped gym.
These aren’t isolated movements, either. Evans has previously shared a number of bodyweight and conditioning exercises with Men’s Health, including push-ups and bench dips in this recent workout, as well as the SkiErg. His earlier MH US training for Echo 3 also included the crocodile crawl.
‘I always train, even when I’m not working on something. I never regret training. I always regret when I decide not to go. If I’m training for a specific role or not, I never spend that long in there,’ Evans told Train. ‘I like getting circuits in to really beat up my muscles and I always try to change up my routines. My workouts are a mix of weights and bodyweight moves.’
This love of bodyweight training originates from his trainer, Brad Kolowich Jr.
‘If you can’t control your own body, you don’t truly own your strength,’ Kolowich Jr told Muscle & Fitness. ‘In reality, true bodyweight mastery is brutally challenging. Most strong lifters struggle once you introduce tempo, instability, full range of motion, and strict control.
‘Bodyweight training forces you to connect with your body. You’re not relying on external resistance to feel a movement. You’re learning how to engage the right muscles, brace your core, and own every inch of the rep.’
6 Moves Luke Evans Uses for Bodyweight Conditioning
Push-ups featured in Evans’ most recent MH workout, where he did as many reps as possible.
Begin in the high-plank position with your hands a little wider than your shoulders.Focus on keeping your shoulders away from your ears, with your core engaged and your entire body locked.Lower your chest towards the ground with your elbows below your shoulders, creating an arrow shape with your body.Explosively push the floor away from you until you fully extend your arms.
Bench dips feature in this workout, where Evans performed 10-12 reps as part of a superset.
Sit on a bench or box with your hands either side of your hips.Shift your weight forwards off the bench and walk your feet forwards.Bend your elbows directly behind you as you lower your body towards the floor, keeping your back close to the bench.Push your torso back to the starting position and repeat.
The SkiErg also features in Evans’ MH workout. He performed 20 seconds of max effort followed by 40 secs of rest for 8-10 sets.
Begin facing the SkiErg with a wide stance and your arms extended, gripping the handles.Hinge at the hips and send your bum behind your heels with a slight bend in the knees.Explosively pull the handles down in front of you, keeping your core locked.Bring the arms back up in a small arc to the starting position and repeat.
The crocodile crawl was also part of Evans’ training for Echo 3, as he showed in this Men’s Health US workout.
Start in a push-up position, with your hands under your shoulders and your body straight from head to heels.Reach one hand forwards while your opposite leg and knee sweep out to the side and up towards your elbow.Switch sides, so your opposite leg and hand move, and continue crawling forwards.Keep your spine neutral and avoid letting your lower back sag.Move slowly and with control, keeping your hips as level as possible.Monkey Bar Swing
This one comes directly from Evans’ latest post. A bit of fun, but also a genuine test of his grip strength, upper-body control and coordination.
Grip each bar with both hands, keeping your core engaged.Move one hand forwards at a time, transferring your weight between each bar.Keep the movement controlled, but move as quickly as you can without losing your grip.Limit excessive swinging from your lower body.Hanging Twisting Knee Raise
In the same post, he performs hanging twisting knee raises, challenging his core and grip.
Grab a pull-up bar and lower yourself into a dead hang.Let your legs straighten and pull your pelvis back slightly.Tense your core and raise your legs across your body to the left until your thighs are roughly perpendicular to your torso.Pause, then lower under control.Repeat on the right side. That’s one rep.
The common thread across all six movements is that Evans isn’t relying on complicated equipment to make his training challenging. Whether he’s pressing, crawling or swinging, the focus is on controlling his own bodyweight.
For someone who spends plenty of time travelling, that’s a pretty useful approach to have.
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