With gyms closed and outdoor exercise limited in may parts of the world at the moment, most of us are trying to find ways to keep up with our usual fitness routines at home. So, could the Chris Hemsworth fitness app – Centr – be the answer to our at-home workout prayers?
Anyone who follows Chris Hemsworth on Instagram will, of course, know that the Marvel star takes his fitness regime pretty seriously. The Thor actor has one of the most enviable physiques in the game, thanks to a gruelling workout schedule that he often shares with fans on social media – so if anyone’s going to put us through are paces, we reckon it’s him.
Luckily he has an app called Centr which promises to give just as good a workout as a boutique gym – but all from the comfort and safety of your home.
He’s currently giving away access to the full workouts and recipe ideas for free for six weeks (if you sign up by March 31) or it’s £97 (€108) for a year after that.
I tried out a lunchtime workout at home to find out just how hard the Chris Hemsworth fitness programme really is.
How does the Chris Hemsworth fitness app work?
First up, I enter my vitals (height, weight, sex) and goal (to get fit and toned), then select a dietary preference (vegan) and a workout intensity (intermediate).
The app then pulls in all of that information to create a really concise weekly planner of workouts, recipes and meditations that are plotted into an easy-to-follow, daily plan.
From here, I can scroll through my upcoming workouts and recipes, check out any newly added videos and swap out any activities I don’t fancy taking part in – like a HIIT strength session on a Sunday morning.
Workouts range from 20 to 40 minutes and are led either by Hemsworth himself, his wife Elsa Pataky or a team of trainers.
You can either follow along with the daily sessions the app digitally assigns to you, or you can search through the workout section to find something different. There’s over 1,000 workouts in total, with everything from boxing and HIIT to yoga and strength training on offer.
Like a lot of fitness apps, you can set your own personal goals and log your progress as you continue, and the app can also sync with your Apple Watch data.
One thing to note is that many of the workouts require equipment like dumbbells, battle ropes, cable pulls and pull up bars, but you can filter based on the equipment that’s available to you.
You can also choose between a coached (full-length videos to follow) or self-guided (images and clips to move through at your own pace).
Following the Centr workout
I select a 35-minute bodyweight workout, since I don’t have any weights to hand. The workout involved cycling through three clusters of exercises, with three rounds of each – 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest.
The app previews the exercise and then counts you in with a timer and the instructor does the moves alongside you so you can check your form.
Lunge jumps, crawls, hostage squats, ballistic pulses and side gorillas are just a few of the gruelling moves that trainer Da Rulk challenges me with.
After 35 minutes I’m red-faced and gasping for breath, but feeling like I’ve had just as good of a workout as I’d get at a specialist HIIT gym. The intermediate workouts are really hard, so expect to break a decent sweat if you opt for this level like me.
Chris Hemsworth fitness app review
Overall, I really enjoyed the pace of the class and I felt challenged to do better next time.
Aside from the workouts, one thing I love about Centr is its food ideas. I signed up to the vegan menu in an effort to cut down on my meat consumption and was genuinely surprised at how appealing all the recipes looked.
A typical day’s food includes a raspberry coconut smoothie, broccolini salad with tahini dressing and roast cauliflower. Plus there’s a whole menu of healthy snacks to add into your plan too.
Paired with the mindfulness section, which offers meditations for sleep, stress and confidence, plus the wealth of wellbeing articles and podcasts available to members, Centr really does make living a healthy lifestyle both accessible appealing to anyone on lockdown.
I really liked how it helped me to find some structure to the day while working from home and I’m already looking forward to my next workout session – even if it does have me wincing in pain the next day.
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