Every time a new superhero film is released, tops come off, and tongues start wagging as actors reveal beefed-up physiques. This year’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is no different.
Tom Holland reprises his role as the web-slinging protagonist, and fans have already noticed the actor has packed slabs of muscle onto his frame since the last film in the franchise.
In an interview last year, the 30-year-old told Men’s Health one of his training goals was to fill out his Spider-Man suit so he could deliver superhero brawn, sans padding or CGI. The idea, he says, was inspired by Christopher Nolan and his love of practical effects, which Holland witnessed while the pair worked on The Odyssey together.
In the same interview, Holland revealed his efforts to bulk up involved a combination of lifting weights and bodyweight exercises, often with a weighted vest thrown into the mix. He also shared his go-to bodyweight workout: a 20-minute CrossFit session called “Cindy”, comprising a circuit of pull-ups, press-ups and squats.
As a fitness journalist and CrossFit coach, I’ve taken this workout for a spin a few times over the years. And I think it’s excellent. Here’s why.
How to do Tom Holland’s workout
Start a 20-minute timer, then repeat the sequence below as many times as you can before the clock hits zero:
- Pull-up x5
- Press-up x10
- Squat x15
The aim is to perform all exercises with good technique while accumulating as many rounds as possible within a 20-minute window. Your score for this workout is the number of rounds and reps you are able to complete.
The inclusion of a notoriously tricky exercise like pull-ups may deter some people, but you can scale this workout to suit almost any fitness level. As long as you do a pushing exercise, a pulling exercise and a squatting exercise, and you are able to move fairly consistently throughout, you will reap many of the same benefits Holland does.
Instead of pull-ups, you could do: doorway rows, ring rows, inverted rows or dumbbell bent-over rows.
Instead of press-ups, you could do: kneeling press-ups, hands-elevated press-ups or wall press-ups.
Instead of squats, you could do: sit-to-stands.
If you struggle to keep going for 20 minutes, you can start with 15, 10 or even five minutes and gradually build this up over time. Or, if you want more of a challenge, you could source a weighted vest and wear it for the full 20 minutes – as Holland often does.
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Tom Holland’s score for this workout – and the benefits
Linked to his early-stage work, Holland has a background in dance and gymnastics. In his audition tape for the role of Spider-Man, above, the actor backflips into shot, and he is always a willing participant in stunt work and fight choreography.
In other words, even pre-Spider-Man, he was no slouch. His record score on this workout is a testament to this: 27 rounds.
If you are able to move this swiftly through the workout, the stimulus shifts ever so slightly. This approach will leave you breathing hard, offering bonus perks for your heart and lungs. For this reason, some CrossFit fans use kipping pull-ups during this workout, requiring more skill but less effort than a traditional pull-up and allowing you to accrue more reps.
For non-superheroes, any score above 10 rounds is a great result. While you might not send your heart rate quite as high as Holland, you will still challenge the muscles in your chest, back, arms, shoulders and, to a lesser extent, legs. The squats are likely to be the easiest of the three moves, with the big muscles in your legs able to move your bodyweight far more easily than the smaller ones in your chest and back.
As the minutes tick by and you complete more reps, your muscles will tire, and the movements will begin to feel more challenging. For most people, this can develop muscular endurance and trigger muscle growth too – provided you give your body the rest and fuel it needs to recover in the aftermath.
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How I fared trying Tom Holland’s workout
I most recently tackled this workout after a busy Monday at work. I hadn’t found time to exercise that day and wanted to do something that worked my whole body, hiked my heart rate and left me feeling semi-athletic. Cindy fit the bill nicely.
I hit start on a stopwatch, reached up and grabbed the pull-up bar wedged in my bedroom doorway, then bashed out five strict pull-ups. So far, so good.
Next came the press-ups. This exercise is a favourite of mine, and 10 reps passed by with no problems. The squats, too, felt incredibly manageable.
But that is the devilish nature of this workout. It’s like eating a particularly potent chilli sauce – it feels fine at first, enjoyable even. But as you crank through the reps, they quickly catch up with you and things soon become incredibly spicy.
“If I’m feeling tired, I’ll do one round on the minute, every minute – so you do 20 rounds,” Holland told Men’s Health. This is what I aim for to begin with, but it doesn’t last long.
It’s the pull-ups that betrayed me first. By round eight, I’d gone from moving swiftly to grinding out my final few reps of each set. The press-ups were the next to go, with a muscular ache surrounding my entire torso by this stage. My legs, on the other hand, felt worked, but never to the point of exhaustion.
As the workout progressed, the gaps between each set gradually increased. My tired muscles reached a point where they couldn’t face another five pull-ups straight after a set of squats, and I needed a little shakeout and a few deep breaths before I was ready to yank my body skywards again.
Eventually, the clock hit 20 minutes. I’d managed a semi-respectable 14 rounds, all from the relative comfort of my bedroom doorway, with a decent chunk of my evening still to go.
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Should you try Tom Holland’s bodyweight workout?
In short: yes. But not for the reasons you might think.
Many people will be motivated to try this workout by Tom Holland’s brawny physique in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And don’t get me wrong, most people can use this workout to build muscle. But it’s not the most efficient way to get there.
For his muscle-building goals, the actor likely turned to bodybuilding-style training. The primary aim of this training style is achieving a certain look, and pros have sussed out efficient ways to achieve this.
But for a performer like Holland, and everyday exercisers like you and me, this workout offers something more than muscle growth. It provides a full-body workout with bonus cardio perks, while also bettering your body awareness and coordination. It leaves you with a body that looks, feels and functions better, which feels like an excellent return on your 20-minute investment to me.
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