Luke Zocchi is the trainer responsible for keeping Chris Hemsworth in superhero shape. And if you’ve ever seen any of the Thor movies, it’s clear that he’s very good at his job. He’s also a lead trainer for Centr, Hemsworth’s foray into the world of top fitness apps.
The app recently launched a 28-day arm training challenge, with Zocchi leading the first workout – a six-minute session targeting the biceps using just a pair of dumbbells. As TechRadar’s fitness guinea pig, I decided to give it a try.
“I’ll be using the Smart Stack (Centr’s new adjustable dumbbells that are discounted in the Amazon Prime Day sale), but you can also just use a regular set,” says Zocchi.
Because you can change the weight of adjustable dumbbells to suit the exercise at hand, they’re an incredibly versatile tool for strength training without a gym. But for this workout, I figured I could get it done with a single, low-tech set of 30-pound fixed-weight dumbbells. So I grabbed them and got to work.
How to do Chris Hemsworth’s trainer’s six-minute arm workout
- Dual dumbbell bicep curl x 30 seconds
- Let rest for 20 seconds
- Alternating dumbbell bicep curls x 30 seconds
- Let rest for 20 seconds
- Alternate with bicep curls with two dumbbells x 40 seconds
- Break x30 seconds
- Double hammer curl with dumbbells x 30 seconds
- 20 second break
- Alternating hammer curl with dumbbells x 30 seconds
- 20 second break
- Alternate with Dual Hammer Curl x40 seconds
1. Biceps curls with dumbbells
- Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be extended out to your sides with your palms facing forward.
- Keeping your elbows back, lift the dumbbell explosively up to your shoulder, pause for a split second, and then slowly and controlled lower it back to the starting position.
- When doing bicep curls with two dumbbells, you perform the exercise with both arms at the same time; when doing the alternating variation, you perform the exercise with one arm at a time.
- For the alternating and dual version of this exercise, perform one rep with your right arm, one rep with your left arm, and one rep with both arms, then repeat this sequence.
Zocchi’s top tips:
“We’re going to focus on tempo, so you’re going to quickly snap the weight up (toward the shoulder) and then push the weight down in a controlled manner for one second,” says Zocchi.
“If your (arms) swing too much, you probably have too heavy a weight and need to lower that weight.”
2. Hammer curls with dumbbells
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your chest up, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be extended out to your sides, palms facing inward.
- Keeping your elbows pressed back and at your side, lift the dumbbell up to your shoulder, pause for a split second, then lower it back to the starting position.
- When doing hammer curls with two dumbbells, you perform the exercise with both arms at the same time; when doing the alternating variation, you perform the exercise with one arm at a time.
- For the alternating and dual version of this exercise, perform one rep with your right arm, one rep with your left arm, and one rep with both arms, then repeat this sequence.
Zocchi’s top tips:
“You’re usually a little stronger doing this exercise, so I’m going to increase my weight for it,” Zocchi says. “But you can stay at the same weight because you might be a little fatigued during (the first part of) this workout.”
“We use the same tempo, explode up, down for a second and pause (at the very bottom) for a second.
“…Always control the weight, which activates muscle growth, and the one-second rest between reps slows down the momentum so your biceps have to work harder.”
He adds that this exercise strengthens both your forearms and your biceps.
My experience with the six-minute arm workout from Chris Hemsworth’s trainer
“Who doesn’t like to train their biceps?” says the always cheerful Zocchi as he grabs his dumbbells and prepares for the upcoming workout.
I follow the routine on the Centr app, which takes care of timing the workout and lets me in on Zocchi’s steady stream of practical technique tips. Although it takes a little more effort, the stopwatch on your phone also works as a timer for this routine.
The first two sets of curls feel good and validate my choice of dumbbell weights – they feel challenging and my muscles start to burn at the end of each set, but I can last the full 30 seconds while maintaining the form and tempo that Zocchi wanted.
However, by the third curl variation, my arms are pushed to new heights and I find myself having to resist the urge to swing my arms in a desperate attempt to make my biceps work easier.
The switch to hammer curls comes at just the right time (Zocchi says most people “will be a little stronger on this exercise”), but since my biceps are already completely shot, I decide to tactfully ignore his suggestion to increase the weight and stick with my trusty 30-pound dumbbells instead.
By this point in the workout, the short rest breaks had created an intensity that raised my heart rate so much that I could feel sweat breaking out on my forehead. And by the time I got to the last set, my arms were burning.
I stuttered with questionable form on my final reps to the finish line, but my efforts were rewarded when a quick glance in the mirror revealed that that quick punch had produced a pleasant, ego-boosting arm pump.
So if you’re looking to squeeze in a quick, fun workout into a busy day, or are looking for some extra arm exercises to add to the end of your regular workout, I would definitely recommend giving this one a try.
