What was Natalie Portman’s workout routine for ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’?

Natalie Portman’s guns are at the center of conversations about summer 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, after trailers revealed the beloved actress packing some genuinely stacked biceps for the film.

Portman is a versatile actress, one whose ability to veer between delightful action flick and emotional Oscar-contender is well known. She’s long been able to adapt to different roles, shedding pounds for her award-winning role in Black Swan and weighing herself down beneath her complex and cumbersome Star Wars costumes. 

She’s clearly leaning into her adaptability for Love and Thunder, in which she will emerge as Mighty Thor, a capable — and apparently stacked — superhero akin to the well-established Thor we know from comics and MCU releases. Portman’s newly swole appearance is sparking questions about the typically diminutive actress, and the workout plan that took her from slight to sculpted. It took some real work for the 40-year-old actress to get there, but with a disciplined workout routine you too can sport those mighty arms.

Natalie Portman’s Love and Thunder workout regime

Portman didn’t magically wake up one day with flawlessly toned arms and several pounds of extra muscle weighing her down. She spent months working with a trainer, ​​Naomi Pendergast, pounding protein shakes and slowly leveling up her weight training. Portman revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that her body type doesn’t naturally build muscle well, a fact that complicated her transformation into Mighty Thor. Thankfully, with a good trainer, careful work, and lots of extra food, Portman very much looks the part in the latest Thor release.

Portman’s training with Pendergast began around four months before filming did, according to the Vanity Fair interview. Their work continued during the filming process as well, in hopes of retaining the muscle and tone Portman had built. Apparently the process involved “a lot of weight training,” including “heavyweight training” that — up until recently — Portman wasn’t familiar with.

In hopes of favoring tone over bulk, Portman balanced her heavyweight workouts with agility work, a combination that clearly worked out for the mother of two. The transformation into Mighty Thor is different enough from Portman’s typical frame that she said it not only helped her get into character, but genuinely changed the way she holds herself.

“You walk differently; you feel different,” she said. “I mean, it’s so wild to feel strong for the first time in my life.”

Portman’s workout plan is unique to Hollywood in its straightforward simplicity. Sure, she had a trainer, along with loads of discipline and a carefully crafted nutrition plan, but overall, her fitness regime is entirely feasible for regular people. She primarily relied on protein shakes, loading up on extra calories, and shifting her typical workout — which leans into yoga rather than weight training — with a more physically demanding routine. 

It certainly won’t be easy, but even the least gym-inclined of us can wield mighty biceps of our own with enough work. Just dedicate yourself to the weight training and make sure to compensate with a heftier diet. A trainer certainly wouldn’t hurt, but for those who can’t afford one consider simply sticking a picture of Nat’s new arms on your mirror for motivation.