Limitless (2022) s01e04 Episode Script
Strength
1
So, talk me through it
so I can understand.
- Okay, you were an athlete.
- Yeah.
But then you became Chris, the actor.
Through high school, you know,
I would surf,
I did athletics, played football.
I had a very all-round sort of fitness.
And once I got cast as Thor,
I had a very specific job
which was look like a cartoon character,
look like a comic book hero.
Right.
On my mission to boost longevity,
I'm back on the road
with sports scientist, Ross Edgely.
Before my next round
of Thor filming kicks in,
he wants me to focus less
on how my muscles look,
and more on how they can help me
push back the ravages of time.
Ross, what are we doing?
Where are we going?
What we're trying to now to do
for Chris 2.0
is to make sure that you can go
toe to toe with Father Time
and, you know, win a few rounds.
You might not win the fight,
but you'll win a few rounds.
Sounds like a lot of hard work.
What do you got in store for me?
- We’re gonna take it up a few levels.
- 'Course we are!
Take a peek at this.
Richard!
That is a hundred-foot rope,
dangling from 1,000 feet,
straight down into that canyon.
What I’m proposing is you dangle
at the bottom, climb it all the way up.
Intimidated.
So, have you done much stuff
like this before?
- Like this kind of scale or
- Dangled off cable cars on a rope
- Yeah.
- a thousand feet off the ground? No.
- No?
- Strangely.
It's not in my weekly program.
How long have we got before we do this?
- How long before Thor filming?
- Five months, I think, yeah.
- I would love to do this in three, and
- Three months of training.
- But I'm going to be heavy.
- How big? How how heavy?
I don't know. Heavier than I am now.
Is that gonna be an advantage
or disadvantage?
Or probably a combination, right?
A complete disadvantage.
I'll be completely honest.
- A disadvan
- It will be a complete disadvantage.
People your size don't climb ropes
dangling from mountains.
Make no mistake about it.
This will be brutal.
So, how did I end up staring
at a hundred-foot rope
dangling over an abyss?
Playing action roles like Thor
means that I've spent
a decade maintaining
superhero-type muscles.
But a few months ago,
I decided to find out
if my body's on course for
a healthier future.
- Hey, Chris. Good to see you, man.
- Good to see you.
So, I met with longevity expert,
Dr. Peter Attia.
So, Chris, you obviously spend
a lot of time
working on your strength training.
What type of program do you do?
I mean, I've over the years,
trained for different different roles.
You know, for Thor in particular,
about getting big in mass.
I'll do shoulders one day,
arms another. Back, chest, legs.
Got it. Okay.
- Feel okay?
- Mm-hmm.
Obviously, he's in amazing shape.
Most of us would look at Chris
and give anything to look like that.
But there's always room for improvement.
There are more than 600 muscles
in the human body.
And for longevity, you've got
to make good use
of as many as possible.
So, when I assessed Chris' muscular power
and efficiency, his flexibility
and agility, I found he could be working
a wider range of those muscles.
That's it.
So, two one, that's it. Done.
And he could improve his stamina.
So, Chris, good news is, in general,
your results look fantastic.
But it turns out that, in a couple
of super important ways,
your test results were not consistent
with someone who is gearing up
to be the best,
most robust 90-year-old of all time.
I feel like I'm getting my report card
at a high school read to me, so
So, what kind of things do I do
to kick ass in those numbers?
Well, a lot of this is stuff
that we can change.
And by targeting even more
of your muscle groups
and improving your endurance,
we can make you live longer
and make you live better.
All right. Well
let's begin.
The genius of Ross' challenge
is actually twofold.
Training for that rope
will develop Chris' superhero strength
even further.
And it sets him on a course
for a longer, healthier life.
But to begin with, I expect
that Chris will really struggle.
To turn me into a rope-climbing machine,
Ross has hooked me up
with some of the best in the business.
Acclaimed acrobats,
Alex Frith and Moira Campbell,
teach aerial tricks
for the stage and screen.
So, I want you to step on my hand
and put your other foot on there.
Press with your legs, and that's it.
That's it, and up,
and press with the legs, push.
I need to get my foot
- Getting me up this rope
- No
might be
their toughest assignment yet.
Pulling up with the arms.
And now slide the hands up.
That's it. And press.
Good one. Come up.
Yeah, pull. Yeah, open up.
My hands are, like
The muscles are going
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."
You know what I mean?
It's just sort of like
- Yeah, yeah.
- It just it's sort of a weird
It's weird muscles,
you know what I mean?
It's, like, not like
"Okay, I'm gonna pull up."
- No.
- with those muscles.
It's just things that
I haven't haven't used before.
So, this is really difficult.
I can do chin-ups all day long,
but the rope,
holding it in that grip
is killing my arms and hands.
And press.
I'm actually getting kind
of worried at this point.
A challenge has been laid down,
and I'm having trouble
getting a couple meters up.
And if I do, it's beyond painful.
Now all of a sudden,
Chris is the beginner again,
and it's hard to accept,
but he needs to trust me
when I say that all of this pain
is worth it.
Because climbing a rope
will unlock huge benefits
that will keep him healthy
well into his old age.
It turns out our muscles do
way more than keep us moving.
Deep down, each fiber
is crammed with tiny power plants
that could help us fend off
physical decline.
And with every flex,
they release chemicals
that fight all kinds of disease.
Seen as a whole, the muscles
are a vital organ
in our fight against aging.
And that's the point of the rope climb.
To get up it, I'm going to need
not just the big guns,
but every muscle I've got.
To improve my chances
on the rope,
and my prospects in old age,
Ross wants to expand my range of exercise.
Get me in a harness.
Oh, I'm glad we picked a nice, cool day
to do this.
It's about 45 degrees right now.
So, he's brought in
some interesting new routines.
Great.
There you go! There you go!
Yeah! Good, big man.
Good. That's it. Find efficiency.
And then smaller steps
as it gets hard. Smaller steps.
Smaller steps, keep that momentum.
Drive, drive, drive, drive, drive,
drive, drive, drive.
Good!
His methods might seem unusual,
but they've allowed him
to push to the edges of what
a human body can do.
He's managed an entire marathon
pulling a car,
a record-breaking five-month sea swim.
And a triathlon carrying a tree.
In a 24-hour challenge,
he climbed a total of 29,000 feet of rope.
That's the height of Everest.
And I've just invited this guy
to push me as hard as he pushes himself.
Get over here!
- There you go!
- Get over here!
Let's go! Breathe. Let's go!
Good. That, that.
For Chris to succeed on the rope,
everything has to come together.
Let's go for it.
Grip strength, biceps, legs,
shoulders, and back.
He'll need mobility, flexibility,
and endurance.
Good. Let's go!
So, the plan is to shift the focus,
away from gym-based routines
that target specific areas.
Towards real-world exercises
that test a wider range of muscles.
Can I climb up, Daddy? Can I climb up?
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
But that kind of all-round strength
is exactly what we're built for.
- That is amazing.
- Go ahead, Tristan.
- Go to the end, Tristan. Go!
- New world record!
The human body is perfectly adapted
to a life full of movement.
That was huge!
And in some places,
that's the only way to survive.
People
who pay money to exercise in gyms,
I think they're crazy.
Careful! Don't just throw it.
We work every single day.
It's hard work.
That is how we become strong.
Catalina Motochi lives with her children,
Jimena and Sofi, and her mother, Angelina.
They belong to an indigenous
American people called the Rarámuri.
It's hard work every day,
using all kinds of muscles.
Mom, the axe broke!
Ross would be in heaven.
Grab it now!
Livestock are herded on foot,
and the nearest town is a day's walk away.
But why waste a day when you can run?
We are called Raramuri.
It means the people who run.
When I run in the mountains,
I feel I can do anything.
Thanks to their lifestyle,
the Rarámuri have incredible stamina.
Running is deeply embedded
in their culture
and all generations come together
in ritual races
that sometimes last for days.
What happened?
We've nearly passed them.
And studies show
Rarámuri grandparents
have the same blood pressure
as not only their children,
but their grandchildren.
If I can manage that in my old age,
I'll be a happy man.
All right,
so stretch that end out
- Yeah, so we'll go through this way.
- Yep.
To step up the rope training,
Alex and Moira are rigging one up
at my place.
Oh, that's the worst pick up ever.
My buddy
and longtime fitness trainer Luke Zocchi
is also here to lend a hand.
Getting ready.
- All right. Let's give it a crack.
- Okay.
We're using a pulley system
to keep feeding more rope.
I climb up
the rope comes down.
My very own vertical treadmill.
My hands are done.
- You done?
- Yeah.
So that was like ten meters.
So One more.
All right.
- Yeah, there we go.
- It's torture.
I'm working all these muscles
over and over.
And I'm getting completely exhausted.
Four out of ten. Again.
I have to improve my endurance.
So, Ross has been digging in
to his bag of training tricks.
So what are we doing here, mate?
I don't see any rope to climb.
Yeah, no ropes.
Look quite graceful, don't they?
Like a a well-oiled machine.
Similar to a rope climb,
rowing blends a lot of strength,
speed, but also pure stamina.
That's where the improvement's
gonna come today.
I can talk a good game,
but to be honest, I don't actually row.
So here's a proper expert,
Olympic bronze medalist, Rowena Meredith.
As a percentage,
how likely is it that we're gonna get wet?
Forty percent.
I'm giving you good odds today.
Ross, I might get you to sit in first,
so you're gonna sort of
Oh, God.
do it No, no, no, put your foot
in the bottom of the boat.
Good. All right.
Step on to the boat, and you're gonna do
a single-leg squat onto the seat.
I thought I was way more graceful
than Ross.
Look at 'em go.
See you later.
And in!
- Yes, whoa!
- Oh, we're going in!
Don't let go of your oars.
Yeah, I've got it, I've got it,
I've got it, I've got it.
Save us! Save us!
Hey, Ross, lift your hands nice
and loose and keep them flat in the water.
Yeah, we're off.
Yeah, perfect, that's it.
I see what you mean with 'cause
I can just stabilize the whole thing.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.
So, Chris, I want you to use
more legs and less arms.
- Okay.
- See how that feels for a start.
Keep the movement nice and simple,
keep the blades out.
Drop 'em out the front. Drive your legs,
that’s it. That’s good.
Now, I know you don't really have
a a massive love of endurance,
is that fair to say?
No. I mean,
I don't have a huge gas tank.
I mean, I've always preferred
sprinting than long distance. You know?
Okay. okay.
Back when he was tested,
Chris's aversion to endurance training
showed up clearly in the results.
Where his numbers were lacking
was in the performance
of a key component that's essential
in our fight against aging: mitochondria.
Our muscles are home
to trillions of these mitochondria.
They're like tiny power plants,
providing the energy our bodies need
to keep running smoothly.
As we get older,
our mitochondria begin to malfunction
and break down,
accelerating the aging process.
But exercise,
and particularly endurance training,
stimulates our muscles to overhaul
their broken mitochondria
and even build new ones,
topping up our energy levels
and pushing back against aging.
Coming up to the red buoy
for your last hundred meters.
You can row, cycle, jog, anything.
The key to this type
of mitochondrial boosting exercise
is to work as hard as you can
without getting too breathless.
Just two hours a week
could add years to your life.
Here we go, Rowena.
Any records broken there?
I think we were pretty close to it.
I think we've got a little bit more room
for improvement
- before we get to the Paris Olympics.
- Yeah.
- What did you guys think?
- I took more of a managerial role.
Yeah, how was that?
Must've been comfortable.
I don't think me and you
are team players.
Good friends. Terrible teammates.
Nah. We're If we're lost at sea,
be a race to see
who could eat the other person first.
Embracing this kind of exercise
is gonna boost my mitochondria
and improve my stamina.
But that's not all it can do.
Oh, Junie!
I mean, I haven't seen
this for years. Oh, my gosh!
Professor Norman Lazarus
had a long career as a medical scientist.
In their spare time, he and his wife,
June, enjoyed life's luxuries.
- Oh. That's the Orient Express.
- Oh, my gosh!
That's the Orient Express.
When we were in our 50s,
Norman and I just loved eating.
Lovely.
He just expanded and expanded.
Who's a podgy person there?
I decided it was time
to lose weight and exercise.
We were cleaning out the garage
and I came across my son's bike.
I got on the bike, went around the block.
With the result, is… I was blown
and I had to lie down and catch my breath.
And I gradually did longer distances,
until one day I rode 200 kilometers.
I began to think,
"Why not step up a distance?"
Four hundred kilometers.
Six hundred kilometers.
Fourteen hundred kilometers.
At an age when most people begin
to rein in,
I was beginning to challenge myself.
Through his 60s and his 70s,
Norman kept those pedals turning
with ease.
But the scientist in him
spotted something else.
Diseases and illnesses of aging
were not appearing either
within myself or within my friends
I was cycling with.
Then I thought to myself, "Why?
What is it about me and these people?
We're just Average Joes."
There was nothing special about us.
With a London university,
Norman set up a major study
with himself and his fellow cyclists
as guinea pigs.
The ability to fight infection
usually declines with age.
But the results showed that Norman's group
had the immune systems
of people in their 20s.
An incredible discovery.
And proof that our muscles control
so much more than movement.
Deep within our muscle fibers,
the mitochondria provide us with energy.
But the muscles have
another trick up their sleeve.
As they flex,
they release chemical messengers
called myokines, which travel
all around the body,
triggering a whole variety of benefits,
preventing the buildup of unwanted fat,
suppressing certain cancers,
and as Norman's
groundbreaking study confirmed,
stimulating the immune system
to work better for longer.
I'm getting older, that's for sure.
But I love cycling.
And exercise allows me to live
a fulfilling life
which is free from medication
for as long as possible.
It makes you proud.
That’s my man. That’s my man.
The fact that muscles can
communicate with the rest of the body
is why using them regularly
is so good at cutting the risk
of age-related diseases.
We don't stop moving
because we get old.
We get old because we stop moving.
As well as the rope climb,
I’m also building up for Thor.
Some rice.
The aim is to add more than 40 pounds
of muscle for the next movie.
Buffalo.
So, yeah, that's all for me.
But that extra weight
is causing a big problem.
So, you're here
Yeah. Now, get as high as you can there.
Wow.
Look at the sweat on the back.
Moving like 200 kilos up the rope.
You don't see Thor climbing
too many ropes, do you?
Now, you know why.
You have to get less muscles.
You should lose weight.
It would be easier.
Great.
Despite zero training, my tiny wife
can zip up the rope in no time.
Look.
- Maybe we get Elsa to rope climb.
- Yeah, she can do it instead of me.
And there's another issue working
against me.
Okay.
Breathe.
The tail end of the rope
hangs off my feet. And as I climb
That's it.
that tail gets longer and heavier.
So, one of the big factors is gonna be
the tail weight.
And just really understanding
when you're doing the big climb.
- That tail weight is gonna be
- Yeah.
hanging off you,
so every lift is gonna be
So So The higher I get,
I’m pulling that weight.
Correct. Have a feel of that.
See how that feels.
- Oh, no.
- Yeah, it's a thing.
Problem is, in the gym,
that tail never hangs free.
It would be great to actually practice
on a 30-meter rope, though,
'cause here's here's the problem.
Not once during this whole time
are we gonna know
what it's like on the day.
Chris should be careful
what he wishes for.
Oh
With the hundred-foot climb
approaching fast,
I also wanna know if he can cope
with the tail weight
and get anywhere near the full height.
So, we're hoisting about 80 feet
of rope right here in his driveway,
just to see where he's at.
I'm nervous. Nervous. Nervous.
Just give right up, Ross.
Well, Ross, I’ve seen
I've seen the crane. I'm nervous.
It’s so high. And what is he having?
He’s having a coffee.
- And it's still hot.
- It's so hot.
Is it? Oh, that looks good.
You're gonna make me one of those?
Ready, Ross? Ready?
- Ready.
- Ready? Ready? Una. Dos.
Oh, man, that went on me.
Hey, okay, make me
a pancake. I’m on my way over.
See you soon.
So, I see this rope
and it's so much bigger
and higher than I imagined.
I don't like heights. I don't know
if this is a good time
or a bad time to tell you.
Too late.
There's a safety rope
to catch me
if I fall,
but it's not gonna help me climb.
All right.
Nice, big man.
I start climbing up this thing,
and I feel all right at the start,
bit of confidence.
Climb smarter, not harder. Let's go.
And then very quickly,
my legs are burning.
I feel the lactic acid
and the fatigue kick in.
Take your time.
I’m in a fair amount
of pain at this point.
Now, use your legs.
Push, push, push.
And I just think, "There's no way
I'm getting up that thing."
Okay, coming down.
I feel like I'm kind of at the end
of my rope, so to speak.
Oh! It's just the that rope is
Dude, when you're lifting your leg,
and lifting the rope.
That rope is so heavy.
Am I confident I can climb
a hundred feet up to that cable car?
Nah. Guess I'd better keep at it.
So, you were climbing?
Yeah. So, I was climbing the rope
A four or five-meter rope.
And then, I let go and landed
on the mat, and just rolled my ankle,
and I heard a pop, felt a pop.
And it was pretty excruciating
at the time.
Where did you feel it, mate?
Just the whole
This, you know, ankle, this side.
Hmm. That's all swelling, mate.
- That's not your ankle, obviously.
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
It doesn't normally look like that.
No. You sure?
That feels real good when press there.
Yeah, pretty concerning because
this is the foot
that I anchor off and lift myself up
the rope each time, so
If I decide to do it with no legs,
maybe, then maybe we could up the
up the ante a bit.
But, yeah, I don't know,
don't think that's gonna work.
I'm devastated for Chris.
You simply cannot climb
with torn ligaments in your ankle.
So, he can't do the climb until after
he's finished shooting for Thor.
And the extra bulk is only
gonna make it harder to get up the rope.
I’ve had injuries over the years
and I've found it really difficult.
I just love to keep moving.
I have a lot of energy
and and wanna stay busy,
and so when I’m told or forced to sit
and do nothing
I find it very challenging.
Injuries are tough to avoid.
And you tend to get more of them
as you age.
But you can build a more resilient body
to delay the onset of frailty
and reduce the risk of injury.
And it's never too late to start.
One, looking good. Two
three, four
Oh, my goodness.
I love to get out and exercise.
I feel it all over.
One, two,
three, four.
How's everybody feeling?
- Great!
- All right.
Then I say to myself,
"It's a vain thing."
I say, "Look at you, girl!
Eighty-five years of age,
wearing these tight pants!"
- All that stuff gives me joy.
- Gonna do 25. Whoo!
You feel so good.
As a young woman,
Ernestine Shepherd
had no interest in exercise.
But in her mid-50s,
her sister,
Velvet, finally dragged her to the gym.
She wanted to become a bodybuilder.
The gym was very intimidating
because they were lifting weights,
and then jumping jacks.
I couldn't do jumping jacks.
I really didn't want to do it
but I wanted to please her.
The sisters trained side by side.
But then, Velvet became ill.
She had a brain aneurysm.
In the hospital, she said,
"I want you to promise
that you will keep up what we started."
Velvet died.
And I knew right then
and there
I was gonna fulfill my sister's dream.
Now, Ernestine was on a mission.
And it led her to former
Mr. Universe, Yohnnie Shambourger.
Okay, let's go. Come on.
- Four. You're doin' it.
- Okay.
- My Lord. He really trained me.
- Come on, come on.
- Work that muscle.
- I got it. I got it.
Work that muscle.
I said, "Don't you know I'm old"?
- Push it. Push it. Push it. Push it.
- All right. I'm doing it. I'm doing it.
He said, "You're not old.
You can do this."
There's an athlete inside everyone.
Now, slowly, slowly. Push it up slowly.
As long as you have that desire
Three, two, one, done. Rack it.
She caught fire.
Give a big hand for this young lady.
She was born in 1936.
In her 70s, Ernestine became
a competitive bodybuilder.
I walked out on that stage.
And the music started playing.
And everyone just applauded.
Oh, I was in heaven.
She won. Can you believe that?
And she continued to win.
It felt so wonderful.
I was so overjoyed.
And I cried. And I said,
"Velvet, I've done it for you."
But that was just the beginning.
After a big push on cardio,
Ernestine has completed nine marathons.
Now, she's targeting balance
and mobility,
and even runs her own classes.
Feel that stretch
on your hamstrings.
She's an inspiration to everyone.
And she's a roadmap.
She's letting you know
what you can possibly look like
if you continue to work out.
Looking good! Looking good.
Bring them to me.
Old age often brings muscle loss
and a greater risk of falls.
Thanks to a wide variety
of daily exercise,
Ernestine and friends are turning
those odds in their favor.
That's what I want to see.
Look at my ladies.
If you let a car sit there,
and it doesn't move, gonna rust.
Sit up, nice and straight.
Ernestine has made me aware
that just because you're a senior,
doesn't mean you can't be fit.
The way she look and how she moves,
I want to be like that.
Age is absolutely nothing but a number.
When I tell people that I'm 85,
they say to me,
"No! I would think you were about 65."
Good job, ladies!
I smile, but I say to myself,
"Why can't they say 50"?
If I'm ever gonna manage
this climb, I can't stop training now.
Three, two, one, up!
Come on!
Good.
While my ankle recovers,
I've gotta try and stick with Ross's plan.
Two, three, four.
Yes!
Maintain all these new muscles
and keep boosting my stamina.
One. Two, three, and up. Good.
Nice, buddy. Look at that!
Strength, technique.
Put that around your quad.
Before I take on that rope though,
there's one last gigantic hurdle
to overcome.
It is 10:30. Chris had his first meal
at 8:30. Going for meal two now.
That’s one meal.
That's n meal number two of ten.
And then one big tip,
always needs his hot sauce.
This is a pre-shirt-off-scene routine.
Just a lot of high reps,
a lot of different exercises.
I'm currently tipping the scales
at more than 230 pounds.
And it's a full-time job just
to maintain it.
But on the rope, all that extra bulk
is just gonna weigh me down.
I've gotta keep this shape
for the rest of the movie,
but then I'm gonna try
and drop a little bit of the weight
for that for the rope climb.
'Cause I think at the moment,
the heavier I am,
the more weight I'm pulling up the rope,
obviously.
So work on some endurance
and speed now,
and back off a little bit on the
on the weight training.
Ross's training was all
about building a body that'll stay strong,
healthy, and mobile for the long haul.
The rope challenge is a test
of how well I've laid those foundations.
- Oh, boy.
- Oh, dude.
I'm sensing a lot of apprehension.
What's
No, I'm all right.
I'm just getting in the zone.
We've had a few setbacks
and so on, and then injuries.
And now here we are,
finally about to attempt it.
It looks higher than I remember.
Up until now, we've been training
in the gym or even a crane
that was assembled at his house,
which is good, but it's training.
Now, we're out of that
controlled environment,
and all of a sudden we got variables,
wind, height, even just the adrenaline.
Ultimately, training is done.
This is game day.
Now, I'm gonna tighten up the waist.
We're good to start our journey out
to our position.
And it should be
the same size as it was last time.
Stand by for the doors opening.
We've got the rope going out.
Oh, don't look out there.
It's all hits me.
And all the little voices of doubt
that I've been pushing aside in my mind
start to get louder and louder.
I’m looking down and I'm thinking,
"That is not something I fancy doing."
But I cannot let Chris see any moment
of doubt in my mind at all.
No, no, no. No, no, no.
Switch on, switch on, switch on,
switch on.
Yeah. I'm good. Good to go.
Ready?
So, I'm getting winched down.
And it feels a lot longer
than a hundred feet.
I don't wanna look back up
because I'm like,
"This is so much further
than I've ever climbed."
He’s almost touching
and he’s now looking to get his feet out.
I know the longer I sit there,
the more energy I’m gonna chew up.
So, I just go for it.
As expected,
he's off like an absolute shot.
Good technique. There you go.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
And he's just taking chunks out
of this rope with every single climb.
But the higher I'm climbing,
each time I try and lift the rope up
with my leg, I've now got the weight
of the rope in its entirety.
So, it's getting harder and heavier.
At this point, I start to fatigue.
My leg starts to burn. My arms.
Everything's burning.
So, I just pull up and I nestle
into a little koala position
and I just sort of take a breath.
Take a breath.
Chris, you cannot stop.
Do not stop.
Let's go, let's go.
Stopping is the worst thing you can do.
It feels like you're resting,
but you're not.
Fatigue's creeping in.
And ultimately, you're battling gravity.
The energy is really low.
Um And at this point,
I'm kind of thinking,
"You're not gonna be able to do it."
- But then I hear Ross.
- Chris, keep going.
Now, we finish it.
Now, we finish it!
That was like a really
invigorating moment for me.
And I grit my teeth
and I just start climbing.
Let's go, let's go.
Nice! Nice, nice, nice.
You got this. You got this.
Yeah! Good!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
Good, good.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Three more. Give me three more.
Come on.
Come, come, come, come. Come on.
Good, big man! Let's go.
Up. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Two more. Let's go, let's go, let's go.
More, more, more, more,
more, more, more, more, more.
Finish this! Yes!
You absolute
I’ve done it. And it feels great.
- That was beautiful.
- That was exhausting.
To be honest, all I can think about
is how much my arms hurt.
And the fact that I can't breathe.
My leg's throbbing.
And I'm having trouble speaking.
- Love it.
- Oh, man.
You used every technique
we practiced over those months.
Yeah. It was just the cardio though,
like, every every piece of the puzzle
had to come together.
I came into this thinking
I knew everything about health
and training,
and strength training, and so on.
And.. it's been fantastic to have
the doors open up and
and find that there's
so much more knowledge out there.
- That was hard.
- I do think the 80-year-old
Chris Hemsworth is gonna look back
and be really proud of that.
The thirty-eight-year-old
Chris Hemsworth's pretty
pretty proud of that.
True strength isn't only
about how much I can lift in the gym.
It's also about staying mobile
and injury-free.
It's boosting mitochondria
and keeping my immune system young.
So, I'm gonna keep working
my whole body,
build strength
and stamina in all my muscles.
And push back against Father Time.
- Yeah. Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Nice!
- Not a doubt in my mind, bub.
- Not a doubt in my mind.
- Oh, that's brilliant.
And then maybe when I hit 90,
I'll show the grandkids a thing
or two about shimmying up a rope.
I'm good. Let's do this.
Go.
Ooh. Let's go again. Come on.
So, talk me through it
so I can understand.
- Okay, you were an athlete.
- Yeah.
But then you became Chris, the actor.
Through high school, you know,
I would surf,
I did athletics, played football.
I had a very all-round sort of fitness.
And once I got cast as Thor,
I had a very specific job
which was look like a cartoon character,
look like a comic book hero.
Right.
On my mission to boost longevity,
I'm back on the road
with sports scientist, Ross Edgely.
Before my next round
of Thor filming kicks in,
he wants me to focus less
on how my muscles look,
and more on how they can help me
push back the ravages of time.
Ross, what are we doing?
Where are we going?
What we're trying to now to do
for Chris 2.0
is to make sure that you can go
toe to toe with Father Time
and, you know, win a few rounds.
You might not win the fight,
but you'll win a few rounds.
Sounds like a lot of hard work.
What do you got in store for me?
- We’re gonna take it up a few levels.
- 'Course we are!
Take a peek at this.
Richard!
That is a hundred-foot rope,
dangling from 1,000 feet,
straight down into that canyon.
What I’m proposing is you dangle
at the bottom, climb it all the way up.
Intimidated.
So, have you done much stuff
like this before?
- Like this kind of scale or
- Dangled off cable cars on a rope
- Yeah.
- a thousand feet off the ground? No.
- No?
- Strangely.
It's not in my weekly program.
How long have we got before we do this?
- How long before Thor filming?
- Five months, I think, yeah.
- I would love to do this in three, and
- Three months of training.
- But I'm going to be heavy.
- How big? How how heavy?
I don't know. Heavier than I am now.
Is that gonna be an advantage
or disadvantage?
Or probably a combination, right?
A complete disadvantage.
I'll be completely honest.
- A disadvan
- It will be a complete disadvantage.
People your size don't climb ropes
dangling from mountains.
Make no mistake about it.
This will be brutal.
So, how did I end up staring
at a hundred-foot rope
dangling over an abyss?
Playing action roles like Thor
means that I've spent
a decade maintaining
superhero-type muscles.
But a few months ago,
I decided to find out
if my body's on course for
a healthier future.
- Hey, Chris. Good to see you, man.
- Good to see you.
So, I met with longevity expert,
Dr. Peter Attia.
So, Chris, you obviously spend
a lot of time
working on your strength training.
What type of program do you do?
I mean, I've over the years,
trained for different different roles.
You know, for Thor in particular,
about getting big in mass.
I'll do shoulders one day,
arms another. Back, chest, legs.
Got it. Okay.
- Feel okay?
- Mm-hmm.
Obviously, he's in amazing shape.
Most of us would look at Chris
and give anything to look like that.
But there's always room for improvement.
There are more than 600 muscles
in the human body.
And for longevity, you've got
to make good use
of as many as possible.
So, when I assessed Chris' muscular power
and efficiency, his flexibility
and agility, I found he could be working
a wider range of those muscles.
That's it.
So, two one, that's it. Done.
And he could improve his stamina.
So, Chris, good news is, in general,
your results look fantastic.
But it turns out that, in a couple
of super important ways,
your test results were not consistent
with someone who is gearing up
to be the best,
most robust 90-year-old of all time.
I feel like I'm getting my report card
at a high school read to me, so
So, what kind of things do I do
to kick ass in those numbers?
Well, a lot of this is stuff
that we can change.
And by targeting even more
of your muscle groups
and improving your endurance,
we can make you live longer
and make you live better.
All right. Well
let's begin.
The genius of Ross' challenge
is actually twofold.
Training for that rope
will develop Chris' superhero strength
even further.
And it sets him on a course
for a longer, healthier life.
But to begin with, I expect
that Chris will really struggle.
To turn me into a rope-climbing machine,
Ross has hooked me up
with some of the best in the business.
Acclaimed acrobats,
Alex Frith and Moira Campbell,
teach aerial tricks
for the stage and screen.
So, I want you to step on my hand
and put your other foot on there.
Press with your legs, and that's it.
That's it, and up,
and press with the legs, push.
I need to get my foot
- Getting me up this rope
- No
might be
their toughest assignment yet.
Pulling up with the arms.
And now slide the hands up.
That's it. And press.
Good one. Come up.
Yeah, pull. Yeah, open up.
My hands are, like
The muscles are going
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."
You know what I mean?
It's just sort of like
- Yeah, yeah.
- It just it's sort of a weird
It's weird muscles,
you know what I mean?
It's, like, not like
"Okay, I'm gonna pull up."
- No.
- with those muscles.
It's just things that
I haven't haven't used before.
So, this is really difficult.
I can do chin-ups all day long,
but the rope,
holding it in that grip
is killing my arms and hands.
And press.
I'm actually getting kind
of worried at this point.
A challenge has been laid down,
and I'm having trouble
getting a couple meters up.
And if I do, it's beyond painful.
Now all of a sudden,
Chris is the beginner again,
and it's hard to accept,
but he needs to trust me
when I say that all of this pain
is worth it.
Because climbing a rope
will unlock huge benefits
that will keep him healthy
well into his old age.
It turns out our muscles do
way more than keep us moving.
Deep down, each fiber
is crammed with tiny power plants
that could help us fend off
physical decline.
And with every flex,
they release chemicals
that fight all kinds of disease.
Seen as a whole, the muscles
are a vital organ
in our fight against aging.
And that's the point of the rope climb.
To get up it, I'm going to need
not just the big guns,
but every muscle I've got.
To improve my chances
on the rope,
and my prospects in old age,
Ross wants to expand my range of exercise.
Get me in a harness.
Oh, I'm glad we picked a nice, cool day
to do this.
It's about 45 degrees right now.
So, he's brought in
some interesting new routines.
Great.
There you go! There you go!
Yeah! Good, big man.
Good. That's it. Find efficiency.
And then smaller steps
as it gets hard. Smaller steps.
Smaller steps, keep that momentum.
Drive, drive, drive, drive, drive,
drive, drive, drive.
Good!
His methods might seem unusual,
but they've allowed him
to push to the edges of what
a human body can do.
He's managed an entire marathon
pulling a car,
a record-breaking five-month sea swim.
And a triathlon carrying a tree.
In a 24-hour challenge,
he climbed a total of 29,000 feet of rope.
That's the height of Everest.
And I've just invited this guy
to push me as hard as he pushes himself.
Get over here!
- There you go!
- Get over here!
Let's go! Breathe. Let's go!
Good. That, that.
For Chris to succeed on the rope,
everything has to come together.
Let's go for it.
Grip strength, biceps, legs,
shoulders, and back.
He'll need mobility, flexibility,
and endurance.
Good. Let's go!
So, the plan is to shift the focus,
away from gym-based routines
that target specific areas.
Towards real-world exercises
that test a wider range of muscles.
Can I climb up, Daddy? Can I climb up?
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
But that kind of all-round strength
is exactly what we're built for.
- That is amazing.
- Go ahead, Tristan.
- Go to the end, Tristan. Go!
- New world record!
The human body is perfectly adapted
to a life full of movement.
That was huge!
And in some places,
that's the only way to survive.
People
who pay money to exercise in gyms,
I think they're crazy.
Careful! Don't just throw it.
We work every single day.
It's hard work.
That is how we become strong.
Catalina Motochi lives with her children,
Jimena and Sofi, and her mother, Angelina.
They belong to an indigenous
American people called the Rarámuri.
It's hard work every day,
using all kinds of muscles.
Mom, the axe broke!
Ross would be in heaven.
Grab it now!
Livestock are herded on foot,
and the nearest town is a day's walk away.
But why waste a day when you can run?
We are called Raramuri.
It means the people who run.
When I run in the mountains,
I feel I can do anything.
Thanks to their lifestyle,
the Rarámuri have incredible stamina.
Running is deeply embedded
in their culture
and all generations come together
in ritual races
that sometimes last for days.
What happened?
We've nearly passed them.
And studies show
Rarámuri grandparents
have the same blood pressure
as not only their children,
but their grandchildren.
If I can manage that in my old age,
I'll be a happy man.
All right,
so stretch that end out
- Yeah, so we'll go through this way.
- Yep.
To step up the rope training,
Alex and Moira are rigging one up
at my place.
Oh, that's the worst pick up ever.
My buddy
and longtime fitness trainer Luke Zocchi
is also here to lend a hand.
Getting ready.
- All right. Let's give it a crack.
- Okay.
We're using a pulley system
to keep feeding more rope.
I climb up
the rope comes down.
My very own vertical treadmill.
My hands are done.
- You done?
- Yeah.
So that was like ten meters.
So One more.
All right.
- Yeah, there we go.
- It's torture.
I'm working all these muscles
over and over.
And I'm getting completely exhausted.
Four out of ten. Again.
I have to improve my endurance.
So, Ross has been digging in
to his bag of training tricks.
So what are we doing here, mate?
I don't see any rope to climb.
Yeah, no ropes.
Look quite graceful, don't they?
Like a a well-oiled machine.
Similar to a rope climb,
rowing blends a lot of strength,
speed, but also pure stamina.
That's where the improvement's
gonna come today.
I can talk a good game,
but to be honest, I don't actually row.
So here's a proper expert,
Olympic bronze medalist, Rowena Meredith.
As a percentage,
how likely is it that we're gonna get wet?
Forty percent.
I'm giving you good odds today.
Ross, I might get you to sit in first,
so you're gonna sort of
Oh, God.
do it No, no, no, put your foot
in the bottom of the boat.
Good. All right.
Step on to the boat, and you're gonna do
a single-leg squat onto the seat.
I thought I was way more graceful
than Ross.
Look at 'em go.
See you later.
And in!
- Yes, whoa!
- Oh, we're going in!
Don't let go of your oars.
Yeah, I've got it, I've got it,
I've got it, I've got it.
Save us! Save us!
Hey, Ross, lift your hands nice
and loose and keep them flat in the water.
Yeah, we're off.
Yeah, perfect, that's it.
I see what you mean with 'cause
I can just stabilize the whole thing.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.
So, Chris, I want you to use
more legs and less arms.
- Okay.
- See how that feels for a start.
Keep the movement nice and simple,
keep the blades out.
Drop 'em out the front. Drive your legs,
that’s it. That’s good.
Now, I know you don't really have
a a massive love of endurance,
is that fair to say?
No. I mean,
I don't have a huge gas tank.
I mean, I've always preferred
sprinting than long distance. You know?
Okay. okay.
Back when he was tested,
Chris's aversion to endurance training
showed up clearly in the results.
Where his numbers were lacking
was in the performance
of a key component that's essential
in our fight against aging: mitochondria.
Our muscles are home
to trillions of these mitochondria.
They're like tiny power plants,
providing the energy our bodies need
to keep running smoothly.
As we get older,
our mitochondria begin to malfunction
and break down,
accelerating the aging process.
But exercise,
and particularly endurance training,
stimulates our muscles to overhaul
their broken mitochondria
and even build new ones,
topping up our energy levels
and pushing back against aging.
Coming up to the red buoy
for your last hundred meters.
You can row, cycle, jog, anything.
The key to this type
of mitochondrial boosting exercise
is to work as hard as you can
without getting too breathless.
Just two hours a week
could add years to your life.
Here we go, Rowena.
Any records broken there?
I think we were pretty close to it.
I think we've got a little bit more room
for improvement
- before we get to the Paris Olympics.
- Yeah.
- What did you guys think?
- I took more of a managerial role.
Yeah, how was that?
Must've been comfortable.
I don't think me and you
are team players.
Good friends. Terrible teammates.
Nah. We're If we're lost at sea,
be a race to see
who could eat the other person first.
Embracing this kind of exercise
is gonna boost my mitochondria
and improve my stamina.
But that's not all it can do.
Oh, Junie!
I mean, I haven't seen
this for years. Oh, my gosh!
Professor Norman Lazarus
had a long career as a medical scientist.
In their spare time, he and his wife,
June, enjoyed life's luxuries.
- Oh. That's the Orient Express.
- Oh, my gosh!
That's the Orient Express.
When we were in our 50s,
Norman and I just loved eating.
Lovely.
He just expanded and expanded.
Who's a podgy person there?
I decided it was time
to lose weight and exercise.
We were cleaning out the garage
and I came across my son's bike.
I got on the bike, went around the block.
With the result, is… I was blown
and I had to lie down and catch my breath.
And I gradually did longer distances,
until one day I rode 200 kilometers.
I began to think,
"Why not step up a distance?"
Four hundred kilometers.
Six hundred kilometers.
Fourteen hundred kilometers.
At an age when most people begin
to rein in,
I was beginning to challenge myself.
Through his 60s and his 70s,
Norman kept those pedals turning
with ease.
But the scientist in him
spotted something else.
Diseases and illnesses of aging
were not appearing either
within myself or within my friends
I was cycling with.
Then I thought to myself, "Why?
What is it about me and these people?
We're just Average Joes."
There was nothing special about us.
With a London university,
Norman set up a major study
with himself and his fellow cyclists
as guinea pigs.
The ability to fight infection
usually declines with age.
But the results showed that Norman's group
had the immune systems
of people in their 20s.
An incredible discovery.
And proof that our muscles control
so much more than movement.
Deep within our muscle fibers,
the mitochondria provide us with energy.
But the muscles have
another trick up their sleeve.
As they flex,
they release chemical messengers
called myokines, which travel
all around the body,
triggering a whole variety of benefits,
preventing the buildup of unwanted fat,
suppressing certain cancers,
and as Norman's
groundbreaking study confirmed,
stimulating the immune system
to work better for longer.
I'm getting older, that's for sure.
But I love cycling.
And exercise allows me to live
a fulfilling life
which is free from medication
for as long as possible.
It makes you proud.
That’s my man. That’s my man.
The fact that muscles can
communicate with the rest of the body
is why using them regularly
is so good at cutting the risk
of age-related diseases.
We don't stop moving
because we get old.
We get old because we stop moving.
As well as the rope climb,
I’m also building up for Thor.
Some rice.
The aim is to add more than 40 pounds
of muscle for the next movie.
Buffalo.
So, yeah, that's all for me.
But that extra weight
is causing a big problem.
So, you're here
Yeah. Now, get as high as you can there.
Wow.
Look at the sweat on the back.
Moving like 200 kilos up the rope.
You don't see Thor climbing
too many ropes, do you?
Now, you know why.
You have to get less muscles.
You should lose weight.
It would be easier.
Great.
Despite zero training, my tiny wife
can zip up the rope in no time.
Look.
- Maybe we get Elsa to rope climb.
- Yeah, she can do it instead of me.
And there's another issue working
against me.
Okay.
Breathe.
The tail end of the rope
hangs off my feet. And as I climb
That's it.
that tail gets longer and heavier.
So, one of the big factors is gonna be
the tail weight.
And just really understanding
when you're doing the big climb.
- That tail weight is gonna be
- Yeah.
hanging off you,
so every lift is gonna be
So So The higher I get,
I’m pulling that weight.
Correct. Have a feel of that.
See how that feels.
- Oh, no.
- Yeah, it's a thing.
Problem is, in the gym,
that tail never hangs free.
It would be great to actually practice
on a 30-meter rope, though,
'cause here's here's the problem.
Not once during this whole time
are we gonna know
what it's like on the day.
Chris should be careful
what he wishes for.
Oh
With the hundred-foot climb
approaching fast,
I also wanna know if he can cope
with the tail weight
and get anywhere near the full height.
So, we're hoisting about 80 feet
of rope right here in his driveway,
just to see where he's at.
I'm nervous. Nervous. Nervous.
Just give right up, Ross.
Well, Ross, I’ve seen
I've seen the crane. I'm nervous.
It’s so high. And what is he having?
He’s having a coffee.
- And it's still hot.
- It's so hot.
Is it? Oh, that looks good.
You're gonna make me one of those?
Ready, Ross? Ready?
- Ready.
- Ready? Ready? Una. Dos.
Oh, man, that went on me.
Hey, okay, make me
a pancake. I’m on my way over.
See you soon.
So, I see this rope
and it's so much bigger
and higher than I imagined.
I don't like heights. I don't know
if this is a good time
or a bad time to tell you.
Too late.
There's a safety rope
to catch me
if I fall,
but it's not gonna help me climb.
All right.
Nice, big man.
I start climbing up this thing,
and I feel all right at the start,
bit of confidence.
Climb smarter, not harder. Let's go.
And then very quickly,
my legs are burning.
I feel the lactic acid
and the fatigue kick in.
Take your time.
I’m in a fair amount
of pain at this point.
Now, use your legs.
Push, push, push.
And I just think, "There's no way
I'm getting up that thing."
Okay, coming down.
I feel like I'm kind of at the end
of my rope, so to speak.
Oh! It's just the that rope is
Dude, when you're lifting your leg,
and lifting the rope.
That rope is so heavy.
Am I confident I can climb
a hundred feet up to that cable car?
Nah. Guess I'd better keep at it.
So, you were climbing?
Yeah. So, I was climbing the rope
A four or five-meter rope.
And then, I let go and landed
on the mat, and just rolled my ankle,
and I heard a pop, felt a pop.
And it was pretty excruciating
at the time.
Where did you feel it, mate?
Just the whole
This, you know, ankle, this side.
Hmm. That's all swelling, mate.
- That's not your ankle, obviously.
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
It doesn't normally look like that.
No. You sure?
That feels real good when press there.
Yeah, pretty concerning because
this is the foot
that I anchor off and lift myself up
the rope each time, so
If I decide to do it with no legs,
maybe, then maybe we could up the
up the ante a bit.
But, yeah, I don't know,
don't think that's gonna work.
I'm devastated for Chris.
You simply cannot climb
with torn ligaments in your ankle.
So, he can't do the climb until after
he's finished shooting for Thor.
And the extra bulk is only
gonna make it harder to get up the rope.
I’ve had injuries over the years
and I've found it really difficult.
I just love to keep moving.
I have a lot of energy
and and wanna stay busy,
and so when I’m told or forced to sit
and do nothing
I find it very challenging.
Injuries are tough to avoid.
And you tend to get more of them
as you age.
But you can build a more resilient body
to delay the onset of frailty
and reduce the risk of injury.
And it's never too late to start.
One, looking good. Two
three, four
Oh, my goodness.
I love to get out and exercise.
I feel it all over.
One, two,
three, four.
How's everybody feeling?
- Great!
- All right.
Then I say to myself,
"It's a vain thing."
I say, "Look at you, girl!
Eighty-five years of age,
wearing these tight pants!"
- All that stuff gives me joy.
- Gonna do 25. Whoo!
You feel so good.
As a young woman,
Ernestine Shepherd
had no interest in exercise.
But in her mid-50s,
her sister,
Velvet, finally dragged her to the gym.
She wanted to become a bodybuilder.
The gym was very intimidating
because they were lifting weights,
and then jumping jacks.
I couldn't do jumping jacks.
I really didn't want to do it
but I wanted to please her.
The sisters trained side by side.
But then, Velvet became ill.
She had a brain aneurysm.
In the hospital, she said,
"I want you to promise
that you will keep up what we started."
Velvet died.
And I knew right then
and there
I was gonna fulfill my sister's dream.
Now, Ernestine was on a mission.
And it led her to former
Mr. Universe, Yohnnie Shambourger.
Okay, let's go. Come on.
- Four. You're doin' it.
- Okay.
- My Lord. He really trained me.
- Come on, come on.
- Work that muscle.
- I got it. I got it.
Work that muscle.
I said, "Don't you know I'm old"?
- Push it. Push it. Push it. Push it.
- All right. I'm doing it. I'm doing it.
He said, "You're not old.
You can do this."
There's an athlete inside everyone.
Now, slowly, slowly. Push it up slowly.
As long as you have that desire
Three, two, one, done. Rack it.
She caught fire.
Give a big hand for this young lady.
She was born in 1936.
In her 70s, Ernestine became
a competitive bodybuilder.
I walked out on that stage.
And the music started playing.
And everyone just applauded.
Oh, I was in heaven.
She won. Can you believe that?
And she continued to win.
It felt so wonderful.
I was so overjoyed.
And I cried. And I said,
"Velvet, I've done it for you."
But that was just the beginning.
After a big push on cardio,
Ernestine has completed nine marathons.
Now, she's targeting balance
and mobility,
and even runs her own classes.
Feel that stretch
on your hamstrings.
She's an inspiration to everyone.
And she's a roadmap.
She's letting you know
what you can possibly look like
if you continue to work out.
Looking good! Looking good.
Bring them to me.
Old age often brings muscle loss
and a greater risk of falls.
Thanks to a wide variety
of daily exercise,
Ernestine and friends are turning
those odds in their favor.
That's what I want to see.
Look at my ladies.
If you let a car sit there,
and it doesn't move, gonna rust.
Sit up, nice and straight.
Ernestine has made me aware
that just because you're a senior,
doesn't mean you can't be fit.
The way she look and how she moves,
I want to be like that.
Age is absolutely nothing but a number.
When I tell people that I'm 85,
they say to me,
"No! I would think you were about 65."
Good job, ladies!
I smile, but I say to myself,
"Why can't they say 50"?
If I'm ever gonna manage
this climb, I can't stop training now.
Three, two, one, up!
Come on!
Good.
While my ankle recovers,
I've gotta try and stick with Ross's plan.
Two, three, four.
Yes!
Maintain all these new muscles
and keep boosting my stamina.
One. Two, three, and up. Good.
Nice, buddy. Look at that!
Strength, technique.
Put that around your quad.
Before I take on that rope though,
there's one last gigantic hurdle
to overcome.
It is 10:30. Chris had his first meal
at 8:30. Going for meal two now.
That’s one meal.
That's n meal number two of ten.
And then one big tip,
always needs his hot sauce.
This is a pre-shirt-off-scene routine.
Just a lot of high reps,
a lot of different exercises.
I'm currently tipping the scales
at more than 230 pounds.
And it's a full-time job just
to maintain it.
But on the rope, all that extra bulk
is just gonna weigh me down.
I've gotta keep this shape
for the rest of the movie,
but then I'm gonna try
and drop a little bit of the weight
for that for the rope climb.
'Cause I think at the moment,
the heavier I am,
the more weight I'm pulling up the rope,
obviously.
So work on some endurance
and speed now,
and back off a little bit on the
on the weight training.
Ross's training was all
about building a body that'll stay strong,
healthy, and mobile for the long haul.
The rope challenge is a test
of how well I've laid those foundations.
- Oh, boy.
- Oh, dude.
I'm sensing a lot of apprehension.
What's
No, I'm all right.
I'm just getting in the zone.
We've had a few setbacks
and so on, and then injuries.
And now here we are,
finally about to attempt it.
It looks higher than I remember.
Up until now, we've been training
in the gym or even a crane
that was assembled at his house,
which is good, but it's training.
Now, we're out of that
controlled environment,
and all of a sudden we got variables,
wind, height, even just the adrenaline.
Ultimately, training is done.
This is game day.
Now, I'm gonna tighten up the waist.
We're good to start our journey out
to our position.
And it should be
the same size as it was last time.
Stand by for the doors opening.
We've got the rope going out.
Oh, don't look out there.
It's all hits me.
And all the little voices of doubt
that I've been pushing aside in my mind
start to get louder and louder.
I’m looking down and I'm thinking,
"That is not something I fancy doing."
But I cannot let Chris see any moment
of doubt in my mind at all.
No, no, no. No, no, no.
Switch on, switch on, switch on,
switch on.
Yeah. I'm good. Good to go.
Ready?
So, I'm getting winched down.
And it feels a lot longer
than a hundred feet.
I don't wanna look back up
because I'm like,
"This is so much further
than I've ever climbed."
He’s almost touching
and he’s now looking to get his feet out.
I know the longer I sit there,
the more energy I’m gonna chew up.
So, I just go for it.
As expected,
he's off like an absolute shot.
Good technique. There you go.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
And he's just taking chunks out
of this rope with every single climb.
But the higher I'm climbing,
each time I try and lift the rope up
with my leg, I've now got the weight
of the rope in its entirety.
So, it's getting harder and heavier.
At this point, I start to fatigue.
My leg starts to burn. My arms.
Everything's burning.
So, I just pull up and I nestle
into a little koala position
and I just sort of take a breath.
Take a breath.
Chris, you cannot stop.
Do not stop.
Let's go, let's go.
Stopping is the worst thing you can do.
It feels like you're resting,
but you're not.
Fatigue's creeping in.
And ultimately, you're battling gravity.
The energy is really low.
Um And at this point,
I'm kind of thinking,
"You're not gonna be able to do it."
- But then I hear Ross.
- Chris, keep going.
Now, we finish it.
Now, we finish it!
That was like a really
invigorating moment for me.
And I grit my teeth
and I just start climbing.
Let's go, let's go.
Nice! Nice, nice, nice.
You got this. You got this.
Yeah! Good!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
Good, good.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Three more. Give me three more.
Come on.
Come, come, come, come. Come on.
Good, big man! Let's go.
Up. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Two more. Let's go, let's go, let's go.
More, more, more, more,
more, more, more, more, more.
Finish this! Yes!
You absolute
I’ve done it. And it feels great.
- That was beautiful.
- That was exhausting.
To be honest, all I can think about
is how much my arms hurt.
And the fact that I can't breathe.
My leg's throbbing.
And I'm having trouble speaking.
- Love it.
- Oh, man.
You used every technique
we practiced over those months.
Yeah. It was just the cardio though,
like, every every piece of the puzzle
had to come together.
I came into this thinking
I knew everything about health
and training,
and strength training, and so on.
And.. it's been fantastic to have
the doors open up and
and find that there's
so much more knowledge out there.
- That was hard.
- I do think the 80-year-old
Chris Hemsworth is gonna look back
and be really proud of that.
The thirty-eight-year-old
Chris Hemsworth's pretty
pretty proud of that.
True strength isn't only
about how much I can lift in the gym.
It's also about staying mobile
and injury-free.
It's boosting mitochondria
and keeping my immune system young.
So, I'm gonna keep working
my whole body,
build strength
and stamina in all my muscles.
And push back against Father Time.
- Yeah. Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Nice!
- Not a doubt in my mind, bub.
- Not a doubt in my mind.
- Oh, that's brilliant.
And then maybe when I hit 90,
I'll show the grandkids a thing
or two about shimmying up a rope.
I'm good. Let's do this.
Go.
Ooh. Let's go again. Come on.