Tom Holland’s Secret ‘Spider-Man’ Workout Is Simpler Than You’d Think, and Anyone Can Try It

Tom Holland’s physical transformation for ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ has become one of the most talked-about aspects of the film’s entire promotional cycle, thanks in large part to a shirtless scene that’s since taken over social media. What fans might not realize is that the training behind that physique doesn’t rely on the kind of elaborate gym equipment most blockbuster body transformations tend to involve.

That’s largely by design. Holland’s approach to getting into Spider-Man shape has consistently leaned on bodyweight exercises, high-intensity circuits, gymnastics, and functional strength training rather than heavy lifting, giving him a lean, athletic build suited to the character’s acrobatic movement style rather than a bulkier superhero physique.

One workout Holland keeps returning to throughout his training is the CrossFit staple known as “Cindy,” which the actor revealed involves five pullups, ten pushups, and fifteen air squats repeated continuously for 20 minutes. It’s a deceptively simple routine that’s become one of the most popular workouts in the CrossFit world precisely because of how challenging it gets once fatigue sets in.

Holland has spoken about the workout’s appeal in fairly plain terms, telling Men’s Health UK, “It’s great, you don’t have to think about anything. You just count your rounds.” He’s also described switching up the intensity depending on how he’s feeling that day, explaining that on tougher days he’ll pace himself by doing one round every minute for a total of 20 rounds, while on stronger days he pushes through as many rounds as possible, with his personal record sitting at 27 rounds.

Fitness coach Tommy Pomatico has pointed out exactly why the workout has such broad appeal beyond just celebrity training routines, noting that Cindy only requires a pullup bar and bodyweight, making it accessible whether someone’s working out in a gym, at home, or outdoors. That scalability is part of what makes it popular with everyone from beginners to elite athletes.

Cindy isn’t the only grueling bodyweight session in Holland’s rotation, either. He’s also described a 1,500-rep ladder workout he uses to kick off his week, explaining the structure as starting with one pullup, two dips, three pushups, four sit-ups, and five squats, then building up round by round until reaching ten of each before working back down to one, a workout he’s bluntly called “a monster.”

That dedication to bodyweight training appears to have paid off in a very visible way once the film hit theaters. Holland’s shirtless locker-room scene in ‘Brand New Day’ quickly became one of the most discussed moments of the entire release, with the actor later revealing to Entertainment Weekly that he even avoided drinking water the day before filming that particular sequence in an effort to achieve a more defined look on camera.

For anyone inspired to try Cindy themselves, the format is refreshingly low-barrier. All it takes is setting a 20-minute timer and working through as many rounds of five pullups, ten pushups, and fifteen air squats as possible, with any score above ten rounds generally considered a solid result for non-superheroes attempting the challenge.

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