Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has confessed he finds it increasingly difficult to cope with the physical demands of playing Thor.
The Australian actor has starred as the iconic comic book character since 2011, but Chris has admitted that at the age of 34, his body is no longer as resilient to the stresses and strains of getting in shape as it once was.
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A post shared by Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) on Mar 11, 2017 at 12:30am PST
Reflecting on his experience of making 'Thor: Ragnarok', Chris said: "What you notice as time passes is that your joints and other bits take a beating. You start to go, 'Ah, that never used to hurt when I lifted that!''
Despite this, Chris said that his previous experience of getting in shape to play the muscular character helped him with his latest movie.
He told Men's Health magazine: "The muscle memory is a huge plus."
Chris explained that, over time, he has learned how to prepare for the role and condition his body to make himself look like a real-life version of Thor.
A post shared by Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) on Sep 7, 2017 at 6:22pm PDT
Recalling his past experiences, the Hollywood star said: "I remember the first time around I had to work out and eat so much. Now it's much easier to shift gears. You know your routine, what works, what's excessive ..."
For the first 'Thor' film in 2011, Chris gained as much as 20 pounds of muscle, because of his high-calorie, high-protein diet which he coupled with a gruelling workout plan.
But on this occasion, the blonde hunk made a conscious decision to eat less as he was gearing up to reprise the role.
Chris shared: "I was eating excessive amounts of meat when I first did this, to be honest. Luckily I don't need as much to achieve the same results now.
"But I'm still conscious of the amount of animal protein I'm consuming. These days I try and get more proteins from legumes, grains and vegetables."