With reports of Venom officially wrapping up filming as well as a hinted at release date of October, I thought it’d be fun to take a look back over the astonishingly grueling workout routine that Hardy subjected himself to in order to mold a physique worthy of one of the world’s greatest anti heros. What I found was exceptionally difficult and gave proof to two very important things.

1. After proving his dedication by slapping an extra 30lbs of muscle on his frame for Bane, Tom Hardy was exactly the man for this role.

2. If we’re comparing Venom to Spider-Man, it’s pretty obvious which is the more superior Tom and this is exactly why-

Tom Hardy would often train up to 5 days a week, sometimes twice a day AND for up to two hours per session. Yeah sure, he had the enhanced abilities of the symbiote helping him through it so it could feed on all his delicious adrenaline; but you can’t deny the man’s dedication one bit.

….but here’s the thing. Being very well experienced in weight training, the weight training aspect was something that I didn’t find very challenging, the first few times I did this routine I just wasn’t feeling it, so I decided to supercharge it THE PLAYER WAY. Let’s get down to business, but keep this in mind:

•Warm up set: use a weight that will get you a deep burn, but you can also still comfortably achieve the rep range.

•Working set: use a weight that feels like your about to fail on your final rep.

•As always, first-

⁃ We stretch and hold each position for 30 seconds

•For shoulders:

⁃ Standing, grasp opposite elbow above head and dip into side bend. Repeat for other side

⁃ Standing, grasp opposite elbow in front of chest and pull across body. Repeat for other side

•For legs:

⁃ seated, legs together, stretched out front. Reach hands over toes and hold. Do this twice.

⁃ Body weight Squats, slow. x20.

Okay, first let’s start with Tom Hardy’s version:

•Inclined bench press

⁃ 2 sets x 10-15 reps (warm up sets)

⁃ 2 sets x 5-8 reps (working sets)

•Dumbbell floor press

⁃ 2 sets x 10-15

⁃ 2 working sets x 5-8

•Arched back pull-ups

⁃ 1 set x 10-12

⁃ 1set until failure

***With these pull-ups, form is critical. Keep that nice crescent arch in your back the whole time and for the love of Klyntar; absolutely NO KIPPING with these. I don’t care who you ask. They’re not reps and you’re gonna GIVE ME MY REPS, internet.***

•Barbell clean and press

⁃ 1 set x 10-12

⁃ 2 working sets x 5-8

***With these, form is very important and I could fill a page trying to accurately describe the form, so this ought to do the trick:

•Lateral dumbbell raises

⁃ 2 sets x 10 reps

•Floor crunches

⁃ 4 sets x 20 reps

Now, if that wasn’t enough for you, here’s how to supercharge your workouts THE PLAYER WAY:

(Ps- gonna need Carnage to spot you on this one; no way Toxin would be strong enough)

•Inclined bench press

⁃ 2 sets x 25

⁃ 3 sets x 5-8

•Dumbbell floor press

⁃ 2 sets x 25

⁃ 3 sets x 5-8

•Arched Pull-ups

⁃ 2 sets x 10

⁃ 2 sets until failure w/ 60 seconds rest between.

***For THE PLAYER WAY method, hold at the top of the pull-up for a 1 count.

•Barbell clean and press

⁃ 2 sets x 10-15

⁃ 3 sets x 5-8

•Dumbbell lateral raise

⁃ 4 sets x 15 (keeping pinky flared out)

•Floor crunches

⁃ 4 sets x 25

Hardy also added in extensive MMA and Jiujitsu training that served as his cardio and supplementary workouts which regretfully, I had neither the time or resources to attempt; which is another reason I supercharged the weight portion.

•My personal findings:

After giving myself the last two weeks to work through this plan, I found that it was perfect for adding both decent muscle density and definition, particularly to my back. After the first few days, the soreness subsided, but at first, trying to get out of bed had me like

and I also found that the abs portion grew stagnant very quickly, so I changed up the movement to keep things fresh, but other than that, I give this plan my stamp of approval.