Tom Hardy: workout secrets

Tom Hardy doesn’t train like other celebrities. Read on to discover the secrets of ‘signalling’ - and building a Bane-like body

To play the likes of Bane, Bronson, and MMA fighter Tommy Riordon - in between slimming down for more svelte roles in Inception and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Tom Hardy took the unconventional approach. Training with longtime friend - and former US marine - Patrick ‘P-Nut’ Monroe, Hardy used ‘signalling’ and muscle confusion to build serious muscle - and the most famous traps in Hollywood. P-Nut reveals Tom Hardy's workout secrtes.

Train moves, not muscles

‘For Warrior, I didn’t want to train Tom to look like he could fight, I wanted to train him to actually fight. We spent three months working striking and the muscles involved in that. We'd take the normal movements involved in striking and add resistance. For example, I would resist him when he was throwing a punch or throw strikes at him while he blocked with weights on his wrists and ankles. I knew it would be impossible for him to interpret the choreography without knowing how to move naturally. You can't act like you can dance if you can't dance.

Send the right signals

‘I do something called signalling, which involves sending ‘signals’ to the muscles you want to develop as often as possible. So instead of doing a few sets of pushups to failure over five minutes, you might do ten every five minutes for an hour, or do sets spread throughout the day. The body is purely utilitarian. It gets good at the tasks you set for it, but only those tasks. Considering this, it stands to reason that the best way to condition for true strength is to vary the tasks you give your body as much as possible. Which leads us to the next point...

Confuse your muscles

If you always do the same moves, the body will just get more efficient at them. Introduce variables: you might do ten fast pushups, then one slow one, switch to your knees or place your arms wide or into a diamond position under your chest, and so on. The goal is to make every rep difficult. By making every rep hard and different, you’ll ensure that the body evolves, becoming stronger in multiple areas rather than narrow areas addressed by singular movements.’