{"id":661626,"date":"2026-10-22T02:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/661626\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T02:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:38:15","slug":"tom-hopper-41-already-had-the-action-star-muscle-these-3-rules-helped-him-build-the-fitness-to-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/661626\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Hopper, 41, Already Had the Action-Star Muscle \u2013 These 3 Rules Helped Him Build the Fitness to Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 6ft 5in and a shredded 100kg, Tom Hopper<\/a> looks like a man who would make short work of most gym challenges. The former Men\u2019s Health cover star has spent decades building the rig that\u2019s helped him land roles in Game of Thrones, The Umbrella Academy and The Terminal List. But it turns out even action stars can find themselves eating humble pie.<\/p>\n

Speaking recently on the Rich Roll Podcast<\/a>, Hopper revealed how taking up Hyrox exposed the gaps in his fitness, while spending time with Navy SEALs challenged his expectations of the men he portrays. These lessons intersected to reshape how he thinks about fitness.<\/p>\n

Hopper, who previously told us on the MH podcast<\/a> how he began lifting weights in secret at drama school<\/a>, was already training for The Terminal List when he started looking for a fresh challenge.<\/p>\n

Give Yourself Something to Train For<\/p>\n

\u2018I remember feeling like a bit of a plateau, sort of feeling like I wanted something to kind of aim for,\u2019 he told Roll.<\/p>\n

A friend introduced him to Hyrox<\/a>, and Hopper signed up.<\/p>\n

\u2018I didn\u2019t really do much running before, but I thought, you know, eight 1km runs, I could probably do that and be all right.\u2019<\/p>\n

A home simulation quickly suggested otherwise. Despite being no stranger to full-body<\/a> training, Hopper reached the fourth station and found himself gassed.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve been completely humbled by this thing,\u2019 he recalled thinking. \u2018I\u2019ve got some real work to do.\u2019<\/p>\n

For Hopper, that was part of the appeal.<\/p>\n

\u2018I love being humbled,\u2019 he said. \u2018I kind of like to challenge myself and find things that are hard.\u2019<\/p>\n

After a specific training block focusing on improving his running pace, he says he eventually finished his first solo race in 74 minutes.<\/p>\n

The lesson is a useful one for anyone whose training has started to feel a little stale: having a specific goal can give your training direction and improve motivation. But getting there means being honest about your starting point.<\/p>\n

Give Your Weak Areas Some Attention<\/p>\n

Hopper’s Hyrox experience exposed a clear gap in his fitness: running.<\/p>\n

He was already capable of full-body strength work, but the combination of running and functional movements left him struggling during his first simulation. Rather than avoiding the weakness, he focused his training on improving his running pace.<\/p>\n

That eventually helped him finish his first solo race in 74 minutes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a simple principle, but an important one. If you\u2019re already good at something, it\u2019s tempting to keep doing it. But addressing the areas that hold you back can have a much bigger impact on your overall fitness.<\/p>\n

For Hopper, that meant adding more running to a physique that was already built for action roles.<\/p>\n

Be Willing to Learn<\/p>\n

That willingness to listen also shaped his preparation to play a Navy SEAL. Hopper spent time with operators, including technical adviser Jared Shaw, and found that the men behind the military credentials weren\u2019t quite what he\u2019d expected.<\/p>\n

\u2018They don\u2019t glorify what they do,\u2019 he said. \u2018They are so professional and just live by a code and a brotherhood.\u2019<\/p>\n

What struck him most was their commitment to each other.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s called the teams because it\u2019s not about you. It\u2019s about your brother beside you.\u2019<\/p>\n

His own approach was to learn from the people who knew more.<\/p>\n

\u2018My job is to listen, be a sponge, and just absorb them.\u2019<\/p>\n

For the rest of us, there\u2019s plenty to take into our next session. Pick something measurable to work towards. Give your weaker areas some attention. Build up at a pace you can sustain, and be willing to learn from the people around you.<\/p>\n

Hopper already had the physique. Being prepared to get humbled gave him something new to train for.<\/p>\n

\"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":"At 6ft 5in and a shredded 100kg, Tom Hopper looks like a man who would make short work…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[133281,156681,1105,280295,1107,499,103,61,60,184510,1135,280294,223989,159655],"class_list":["post-661626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-collection-celebrity-workouts","tag-collection-hyrox","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-f3f8fb53-de77-4e92-b6f0-56fead05ca86","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-tom-hoppers-lessons-in-all-round-fitness","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-cardio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}