If you are looking for that extra edge to help you hit the beach with confidence this summer, Chris Hemsworth has assembled a super team to bring you the latest program from his Centr app.
Designed alongside his personal trainer, Luke Zocchi, and demonstrated by his stuntman, Bobby Holland Hanton, together, they are a formidable force that are ready and waiting to transform your life for the better. And whether or not you use this app, or any of the myriad others out there in the galaxy, the core principles are solid if you are brave enough to commit.
Already popular for helping thousands reach their fitness goals, the app launched its new Centr Power program on June 21. This exclusive 11-week bodybuilding program and nutritional handbook had much of the content filmed on the set of Hemsworth’s hotly anticipated movie, Thor: Love and Thunder.
Zocchi, one of the pioneers and architects of Centr, gave Muscle & Fitness the inside track on how this new program — and your new virtual fitness trainers — can help you on the road to making positive lifestyle changes, and stay the course — if you are willing to step up to the plate.
Zocchi’s own passion for fitness began at 17 years of age when he fell in love with boxing. Later, he qualified as a personal trainer and began advising Hemsworth, whom he’d known since school, to help get him in shape for movie roles. “We actually met in primary school,” says Zocchi. “I think I was about 8 or 9 when we met. He would come and watch me train at the boxing gym, and he’s pretty good on the pads.” It’s a great example of how buddying up in the physical — or these days even the virtual — sense can contribute to longer lasting fitness journeys.
Zocchi takes great pride in helping people to progress on their fitness quest, so whether it be movie stars, or fledgling gymgoers, he believes that Centr Power is a great value way of bringing in professional support. “I definitely think that people need to find a way to get motivated,” he says. “There’s so much you can learn, and even I have learned, getting this app started. By gaining knowledge shared by other people’s experiences, it can help you so much. You can learn a lot by yourself, and staying with a certain style of training can get you so far, but you can really take it to that next level when you try different techniques and attempt different methods of training. It’s massively important to get input from professionals for support.”
One size won’t fit all
While there are intermediate and advanced programs within the Centr Power app that have the aim of building up your physique to look just like Thor himself, novice trainers are far from being left out in the cold. “It comes from a really wholistic approach,” says Zocchi. “Often people think about health and fitness as just being about training hard. That’s just one aspect. There’s the nutritional side, and also the mindful side of things to consider. Training, Nutrition, and Mindfulness are the three pillars that we work on with Centr.”
Having helped Hemsworth to get in shape for more than 20 movies, Zocchi is excited about sharing his program for muscle mass gains with a wider audience, but he’s also keen to help people make improvements with their technique and form. “There are progressions for each exercise,” says Zocchi. “This new program has been in the making for almost 2 years, and it features many of the workouts that we’ve done with Chris to get him in shape for the Marvel films. There are tutorials where Bobby Holland Hanton is doing the exercise and we break it all down and get you lifting in a safe way.”
Gain more confidence for stepping into the gym
Whether it be the Centr Power app, or any of the other great health and fitness digital platforms that are on offer, apps can help breathe confidence into the individual’s psyche. “Gyms can be intimidating,” says Zocchi. “You don’t really know what you are doing when you first walk into a gym, and you can worry about whether you are doing things right, so it’s good to get that additional support.” Centr will also allow members to track and record their reps, and the weights that they lift, to see their individual progress as they build size and strength.
How to stay on your fitness journey in the long term
Apps and other fitness tech are frequently used with feverish passion in the beginning, but all too often they are later dropped as our willpower diminishes. Hemsworth’s team believes that the key to staying consistent on our fitness path is to focus on the aspects that you enjoy. “People come up to me, and they say, ‘Man I’m just gonna eat chicken and broccoli and I’ll be fine,” says Zocchi. “Well, I’ve done that before, and you’ll probably last a month or two doing that and then you will never want to see a piece of chicken again. I also think that another thing that goes wrong with people’s training is that they put too much pressure on themselves. Have fun with it! Find what you enjoy doing and make it a part of your lifestyle.”
No app or training platform can ever work if you constantly excuse yourself for making bad choices. Many people fall into bad eating habits because they are short on time, but you probably already know that healthy meals can be prepped in the time it takes to toast some bread. “There are mornings where I’ll want to make a protein pancake, but I just don’t have time,” says Zocchi. “But I was still able to make something fine, like salmon and eggs on toast, in a couple of minutes. I understand everyone is busy, but you have to figure out how to fit this into your lifestyle. I’ve heard this so many times on movie sets, people will come up to me and say ‘I wanna get fit, I just don’t have the time’, and I wonder how much anyone can help them.”
Train smart
Zocchi believes that apps like Centr do offer those with limited free time a real boost, because they help people to organise themselves and therefor train smarter. “You’ve still got to put in the work,” he says. “But that’s why the results are so rewarding too, because if you work your butt off to look and feel good, then you will appreciate it more.”
The Centr Power muscle-building program is based on key principles such as the repetition of compound movements with volume, intensity, time under tension and moderate resting times. Focus is also given to proper recovery. Each course covers all the major muscle areas with split training, rest days and also includes functional strength training sessions.
The workout
If you are ready to smash your fitness goals with a hammer blow, step into Chris Hemsworth’s health and fitness universe by signing up for a free trial. If you’re still slightly hesitant, give this sample Centr Power full-body workout a try first.
Centr Full-Body Workout
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Rest
Equipment
BARBELL MILITARY PRESS
3
8
20 sec.
Barbell, Squat rack
DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE
3
8
20 sec.
Dumbbells
DUMBBELL REAR RAISE
3
8
60 sec.
Dumbbells
BODYWEIGHT SQUAT
1
10
60 sec.
BARBELL FRONT SQUAT
3
8
20 sec.
Barbell, Squat rack
ALTERNATING SIDE LUNGE
3
8
20 sec.
MACHINE CALF RAISE
3
8
60 sec.
Calf raise machine
BARBELL MILITARY PRESS: Stand with your feet hip width apart and hold a barbell at shoulder height, with your elbows tucked under, and your palms facing out. Keep your shoulders locked back and down away from your ears. Switch on your core and glutes and press the bar up directly above your head. Try to avoid flaring your ribs or arching your back, stay tight.
DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE: Stand tall with your feet hip width apart. Pull your shoulders back and hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms inwards. Lock on your core and with soft elbows, raise both dumbbells out to the side of your body. Pause when you get to shoulder height and control the dumbbells back down. Keep your chest up and core activated throughout the movement.
DUMBBELL REAR RAISE: With your feet hip width apart and a dumbbell in each hand, pin your shoulders back and tip forward at your hips. Position your arms vertical to the ground with palms facing each other. Brace your core and squeeze your shoulder blades together as you raise your arms out to the side with hands facing the ground. Slowly release the dumbbells back to the starting point and repeat.
BODYWEIGHT SQUAT: Stand tall with your feet shoulder width apart and your shoulders back and down. Slowly lower your hips down as if you’re sitting onto a chair and bring your hands to your chest when you get to the bottom of your squat, push through your heels to come back to standing.
BARBELL FRONT SQUAT: Position yourself under the bar, cross your arms in front of you and grip the bar. Rest the bar on your front delts, keeping your elbows up high and in line with your shoulders. Brace your core, unrack the bar and take a steady step forward. Descend into a deep squat – keep your weight in your heels. Once you hit full depth, push the floor away to return to the top.
ALTERNATING SIDE LUNGE: Stand tall with your feet hip width apart. Brace your core and keep your chest up. Take a wide step to the left and bend through your left knee into a side lunge, sending your hips back. Push through your left foot to return to standing and repeat the same move to the other side.
MACHINE CALF RAISE: Sit up tall on the calf machine bench with your knees under the pad and your toes on the bar. Rest your hands on the handles. Roll your shoulders back and down and brace your core. Slowly push your heels up into the air, raising the weight as you go.Squeeze your calf muscles at the top and slowly lower your heels back down, dropping them as far as you can towards the ground.
