{"id":910625,"date":"2026-09-30T05:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T05:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910625\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T05:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T05:06:14","slug":"at-45-tom-hiddlestons-gym-free-approach-to-fitness-is-surprisingly-simple-you-just-need-your-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910625\/","title":{"rendered":"At 45, Tom Hiddleston’s Gym-Free Approach to Fitness Is Surprisingly Simple: ‘You Just Need Your Body’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Hiddleston<\/a> is no stranger to a physical challenge, but how does he handle an interview on ice? Joining us for Men’s Health Icebreakers<\/a>, the Loki star took the plunge to talk training for Tenzing, keeping up with Chris Hemsworth<\/a> and why he’s willing to defend the burpee<\/a>. We also put some of the internet’s hottest fitness takes to him, just to keep things warm.<\/p>\n

Men’s Health: Before we take the plunge, how do you feel about ice baths? Are they already part of your routine?<\/p>\n

Tom Hiddleston: I like them. I like that they reset my head. I always do one after a sprint session or if I’ve got an injury.<\/p>\n

MH: You’re playing Edmund Hillary in Tenzing, which tells the story of his historic Everest ascent with Tenzing Norgay. What is it about Tenzing’s story that you find so compelling?<\/p>\n

TH: Tenzing and Hillary were the first men to summit Everest, and his whole story is one of incredible spiritual strength, physical discipline and self-determination. But it’s also a story about courage, friendship and fellowship. Tenzing and Hillary made the impossible possible.<\/p>\n

MH: That idea of friendship feels central to the story. Do you think it’s important for men to have a Tenzing in their own life?<\/p>\n

For sure. Whether that’s as an idea or as a friend. It’s stirring stuff. He had this incredibly powerful spirit. He knew that mountain like the back of his hand. In the end, he just believed it was possible. Someone who believes it’s possible. That’s what we all need.<\/p>\n

MH: What did your training for the film involve? How did you prepare to play someone whose physique and fitness were built around climbing mountains?<\/p>\n

TH: It was really intense. You look at Hillary and he was tall and lean. His physique was born out of his passion. I wanted to honour the way he looked, which is quite a period look, but also have the stamina, strength and skill that he had.<\/p>\n

So there was a lot of climbing, truthfully, a lot of stamina work \u2013 and for me that’s running, endurance and sprints<\/a>. It looks like it’s an upper-body challenge, but it’s really all in the legs. You might be holding on by a toehold, but you’ve got all that pressure going through your legs. So there were a lot of lunges<\/a>, deadlifts<\/a> and burpees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MH: We’re going to put some of the internet’s hottest fitness takes to you, starting with one that might divide opinion: running is overrated. Agree or disagree?<\/p>\n

TH: Hard disagree. Running is the essence of fitness. It’s a foundation of movement. We’re born to do it. If we came from hunter-gatherers, we were born to run.<\/p>\n

Running is underrated.<\/p>\n

MH: Next up, the pre-workout routine. Some people won’t lift a weight or start a run without stretching first. Is stretching before a workout essential?<\/p>\n

TH: Hard agree. You must stretch. Joints need movement. They need limbering up. It helps prevent injury. If you’re doing something particularly intensive, a light stretch is a good idea.<\/p>\n

MH: For plenty of runners, completing 26.2 miles is the ultimate ambition. But does that make the marathon the king of running distances?<\/p>\n

TH: Tricky, that one.<\/p>\n

Big respect to the marathon. I ran the London Marathon<\/a> myself.<\/p>\n

But I don’t know. There’s a reason the original guy dropped dead when he finished it. I’m not sure we’re built to run that far.<\/p>\n

MH: You famously screen-tested for Thor before being cast as Loki<\/a>. Looking back, were you relieved you didn’t have to maintain the level of bulk that came with playing the God of Thunder?<\/p>\n

TH: Everything happens for a reason, and everything in Marvel happened the right way for the right reasons, I think.<\/p>\n

Chris is Thor and I’m Loki, and Loki’s been a source of so many good things in my life. It’s been such an incredible creative journey.<\/p>\n

Loki is still a very physical role because I’ve had to go toe to toe with all those guys, especially Chris. Sometimes taking the punch means you have to be in just as good a shape as the guy throwing it.<\/p>\n

There was perhaps a little less pressure to have arms like thunder. There’s only one man who can do that, and he does it very well. He’s a terrific actor to boot.<\/p>\n

MH: If a role came along now that required you to put on a serious amount of size, would you relish that challenge, or would the bulking-up process feel like a chore?<\/p>\n

TH: I’d love to try. I think it would be a challenge because I’m naturally lean. I love my running and I love my mobility. The challenge would be: how do you put on size without losing that mobility?<\/p>\n

MH: What’s the hardest you’ve ever pushed yourself physically for a role?<\/p>\n

TH: Tenzing was hard. I got cracks in my fingertips. I didn’t get frostbite, but I came close. And then there was having to keep going and stay mentally present through it all.<\/p>\n

MH: Back to the hot takes. With all the kit and facilities available now, it’s easy to make training complicated. But you don’t actually need a gym to get fit \u2013 true or false?<\/p>\n

TH: True.<\/p>\n

Bodyweight work<\/a>, compound exercises<\/a>, explosive movements, running. Use a tree, use a bench<\/a>, use anything. Use a step.<\/p>\n

You don’t need a gym.<\/p>\n

You just need your body.<\/p>\n

MH: Burpees are the worst exercise. Thoughts?<\/p>\n

TH: Burpees are the worst.<\/p>\n

And also kind of the best.<\/p>\n

They hit everything. They finish you off.<\/p>\n

MH: Are cold plunges actually a waste of time?<\/p>\n

TH: No, cold plunges are good.<\/p>\n

I know the jury’s still out on whether the health benefits are quite as profound as advertised, but it’s like putting a bag of frozen peas on an injury. It’s good for reducing inflammation and, if it resets your mind and makes you feel calm, so much the better.<\/p>\n

MH: One final training take: you should never skip leg day. Given all the lower-body work you did for Tenzing, we’re guessing you agree?<\/p>\n

TH: You don’t have to tell me twice.<\/p>\n

You should never skip leg day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s the foundation.<\/p>\n

MH: Who is the most physically impressive person you’ve ever worked with?<\/p>\n

TH: My gut says Chris Hemsworth because he’s just such a phenomenal all-round athlete.<\/p>\n

But I also have to mention the Sherpas in Tenzing who play real Sherpas and have all climbed Everest.<\/p>\n

MH: Borrowing a little technology from Loki, if you had one of the TVA’s TemPads and could travel to any period in history, where would you go first?<\/p>\n

TH: The fall of Troy would be cool.<\/p>\n

I’d love to go back to the age of the dinosaurs \u2013 I think the Cretaceous period \u2013 just to see a T-Rex.<\/p>\n

The child in me just wants to know.<\/p>\n

With the time door still open, so I can run back through it.<\/p>\n

And maybe the first performance of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s day.<\/p>\n

And 1966 to see England win the World Cup.<\/p>\n

MH: On the subject of history, you brushed up on your Latin to read the graffiti at Pompeii. If you could leave one word or phrase across the world for everyone to see, what would it be?<\/p>\n

TH: ‘We all have two lives. The second begins when you realise you only have one.’<\/p>\n

(Voltaire)<\/p>\n

Read our full interview with Tom Hiddleston at this link<\/a>. You can subscribe to Men’s Health by clicking here<\/a>.\"men's<\/a>\"Headshot<\/p>\n

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men\u2019s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that\u2019s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for \u2018free pizza\u2019 and wait for him to appear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Hiddleston is no stranger to a physical challenge, but how does he handle an interview on ice?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64,63,230383,428,478579,430,538,137,308081,429,478578,478577,366213],"class_list":["post-910625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-collection-fit-for-life","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-15ed4b5c-8f2e-4c6e-99e8-b67fd93b175e","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-mobility-and-marvel","tag-shorttitle-tom-hiddleston-talks-muscle","tag-sponsored-false"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}