BHH “I’ve done the best part of 11 movies with Chris now, over the past seven
years. It’s pretty full on – the training alone is often twice a day, 40 minutes to an
hour each session, six days a week. On top of that you have to eat eight meals a
day, and that’s before you factor in the actual job: shooting sequences, rehearsing
sequences and so on. Sometimes my day starts at 4am and I get in at nine or ten
at night.
“I did Avengers: Infi nity War and Endgame back to back in Atlanta, which
meant I was away for the best part of a year. We had also just come off the back
of Th or: Ragnarok so I had to keep in Th or shape for the best part of 18 months,
and I can assure you that’s not easy!”MF How many calories are we talking?
BHH “It’s a hell of a lot of food: 4-4,500 calories a day. It’s all clean stuff , though:
healthy fats, good carbs and organic protein sources. When I’m fi lming I eat pretty
much constantly from 4am until I go to bed. I’m only human, though, so on
Sunday I have a cheat day: usually a pizza or a Chinese takeaway and a couple of
beers. Th en it’s back to the grind when the week starts again.”MF You mentioned your intense training regime for Th or fi lming; does your
approach to working out change much from fi lm to fi lm?
BHH “If I’m not fi lming I try and fi nd a middle ground so that whoever I get
the call from – whether it’s a movie with Chris or someone else – I’m able to
step into the role without too much trouble. I can either lose or gain musclewithin a four to fi ve-week period. When we are working on
something, the training will change slightly, but I believe in
training with my own bodyweight – I think because of my
gymnastics background – so the basic training principles stay
the same. I will always do a lot of push-ups, pull-ups, bear
crawls, air squats and so on, and a lot of HIIT sessions. I’ll
warm up for 10 minutes then smash a session in 30 or 40
minutes, working non-stop. I’m not an advocate of being
in the gym for hours on end, because you’re only actually
training for 30 or 40 minutes in that time. I like my sessions
to be a combination of weights and cardio, so you’re keeping
the heart rate up, burning fat and building lean muscle all at
the same time.”MF With the fi lming, the eating and the training, one
word springs to mind: relentless. Do you ever manage to
sit down and unwind?
BHH “When fi lming’s over I come home and try to spend
as much time as I can with my wife and little girl. Th ere’s
always something to do, but it’s important to switch off
when you can. Sunday is always a day to look forward to:
that’s when I can really relax and take my mind off work.”MF Does one fi lm stand out as the most enjoyable to be
a part of?
BHH “With Batman: Th e Dark Knight Rises we went to
some amazing locations: Pittsburgh, LA, New York. We also
had an amazing team. Buster Reeves was the fi ght arranger,
Tom Scrubbers was the stunt coordinator, there was obviously
an amazing cast and the director, Christopher Nolan, is an
absolute genius. Th at was a real good experience, fairly early
on in my career as well. But Th or: Ragnarok stands out as
well, fi lming on the Gold Coast in Australia, with the boys
[Chris Hemsworth and personal trainer Luke Zocchi] who
I’ve become good mates with. Th e Avengers fi lms in Atlanta
were also great fun – being part of one of, if not the biggest
franchises of all time was pretty special.”Hanton is a resident trainer for Chris
Hemsworth’s personalised digital health
and fi tness programme Centr, available
from the App Store for iPhone and Apple
Watch, or online at centr.com
Words
Isaac Williams
Photography
Centr
On the ball: Hanton's
core-centric training
routine requires some
innovative exercises