The actor has a tall task to portray the iconic character—and his training was up to the challenge.
THE MCU IS about to introduce one of the most iconic characters from Marvel’s comics—and movie audiences are eager to meet the new star tasked with bringing the hero (and sometimes antagonist) to the big screen. Mexican actor
Tenoch Huerta steps onto the stage with the winged feet of Namor, a legacy comic book character who appears to be aligned against the people of Wakanda in the much-anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
As an actor tasked with taking on the mantle of such a notable figure in Marvel (and more generally, comic book) lore, Huerta was faced with a major challenge: transforming himself into Namor, both in terms of how he would portray the character with his performance and how he would appear as a physical presence. It’s no secret that actors playing superheroes (or supervillains) push themselves to look the part onscreen, and Huerta was no exception. But instead of building bulging muscles, Huerta was faced with a different mandate. His Namor would have the physique of a swimmer, much more befitting his underwater existence, instead of that of a bodybuilder.
The MH crew caught up with Huerta and his trainer in Mexico City, where the actor walked through the types of exercises he used to build his Namor body. This was achieved mostly through full-body routines, working with big compound lifts to build muscle and accessory movements that honed his athleticism. Overall, Huerta trained six days a week during his Namor physique prep, which consisted of split of two high-intensity workouts, one low-intensity workout, repeat, rest.
This was only part of his training, however. According to Huerta, he also spent up to 90-minutes at a time swimming—like a true Sub-Mariner.
Check out a sampling of the movements Huerta used in his training.
3 sets of 8 reps
3 sets of 8 reps
3 sets of 8 reps
3 sets of 8 reps
3 sets of 8 reps
4 to 6 sets of 8 to 20 reps
Want more celebrity workout routines? Check out all of our Train Like videos.
Brett Williams, a fitness editor at Men’s Health, is a NASM-CPT certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter who splits his workout time between strength and conditioning training, martial arts, and running. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.
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