HI,
Whether you like the show or not, it is hard to escape Games of Thrones. So why not take a look at the most physically impressive character on the show , the Mountainaka Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson the worlds strongest man.
As it so happened, I ran into him late last year at a powerlifting gym in NY so the following is based on what I saw. ( Yes, I look tiny)
So here are my five points
1. If you want to look and be as strong as the mountain, pick the right parents and grandparents. His grandfather had 20 inch arms without ever stepping into a gym…can you say genetics? I think in Iceland kids play with rocks instead of toys, thereby laying the foundation for very strong people.
2. Train in an organized matter. When I saw his workout which was for bench pressing, every rep was well executed , nothing was done sloppy or to failure. Why? because if the mountain gets injured, he loses his job.
3. Do the boring stuff. After working chest for one hour, Thor spent another hour (!) setting his shoulders straight by doing rotator cuff work, rear delt training, lat pull downs and the like in order to ensure he could train again that day without the risk of overtaxing his deltoids.
4. Eat clean foods. I witness two of his meals and it was impressive, think one lbs of steak along with one one pound of potatoes. Even though he takes in 12000 calories a day, he keeps his food intake clean, think chicken, steak, rice, potatoes, oatmeal , fruit and the like. There goes the IIFYM crowd..
5. Most importantly: he is a genuinely nice guy. People kept coming up to him asking for photos and he never shooed anyone away. I actually approached him doing the Icelandic soccer cheer ‘Huh” and he cracked up. What a difference in attitude compared to certain gym rats who squat a whopping 200 lbs and have name belts.
You can find the video here https://youtu.be/ZeP-
Have a great week!
If you are interested in maximizing your workouts in NYC, drop me a line for a consultation.
Maik