Henry Cavill has spoken at length before about the hard work that goes into transforming his body and doing his own stunts for Netflix’s The Witcher, but no matter how prepared you are, you can still get hurt—as he knows all too well. In a recent Instagram video, the actor shared how he injured his hamstring while filming the upcoming second season of the show, sustaining a serious tear in his left hamstring during a sprint.
“My physiotherapist told me that if the tear was any more severe, it would have been a rupture,” he said. “That means that the tendon and the muscle leave the bone, which would be really rather nasty.”
Cavill went into detail about the precise plan he is following to maximize his body’s ability to heal, starting by waking up each day between 4 and 5 a.m. for an aerobic flush session with his physiotherapist Freddie. “That’s essentially me lying on a bed with little electrical charges going through my left hamstring, and him massaging both muscles just to make sure they’re not too tight.”
He then demonstrated his daily recovery workout. After a gentle 10-minute warmup on the stationary bike to activate his leg muscles, he performs horizontal hamstring curls designed to strengthen the bicep femoris (the point of injury), and calf raises to improve his running efficiency, explosiveness, and ability to change direction swiftly.
Then he moves onto cable hip flexions to increase strength in the anterior chain, elevated side planks to work the hip joints, and a series of dynamic stretches and drills to improve coordination and mobility. Cavill rounds out the workout with a 15-minute run, and finally, a sprint, incrementally building speed with each session.
A post shared by Henry Cavill (@henrycavill)
Source: Read Full Article