Hrithik Roshan is back as secret agent Kabir Dhaliwal in War 2. The 51-year-old ‘Greek God’ of Bollywood is setting screens ablaze with his muscular arms in the spy thriller movie. For this action flick,
the actor underwent a physical transformation. But this transformation wasn’t about lifting the heaviest weights in the gym.
“The core objective was to elevate the character, not reinvent him,” says Swapneel Hazare, Hrithik Roshan’s long-time fitness trainer, in an interview with Health Shots. He said, “We wanted to retain the iconic silhouette but bring more mass, more strength, and a more imposing screen presence. That meant bigger delts, fuller arms, and a tapered waist to exaggerate the V-taper, the classic hero proportion.”
View this post on Instagram
Hrithik Roshan’s Body For War 2
Given Hrithik’s history of knee and back injuries, heavy barbell training was off the table. Instead, Hazare relied on high-rep, high-density workouts using supersets, drop sets, and controlled tempo. This approach triggered hypertrophy without overloading joints.
The routine followed a four-day split – chest, back, legs, and arms – with steady-state cardio for fat management and functional drills for agility. “Without that balance, the physique would have looked heavy and sluggish. With it, you get speed, presence, and raw power,” says Swapneel.
Recovery as the Game-Changer
For Hrithik, recovery wasn’t an afterthought. It was part of the plan. Daily cooldowns were tailored to his pain points, while recovery therapies included deep tissue massage, ice baths, infrared saunas, and even hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Sleep, however, was the keystone. “We fought for seven hours of high-quality sleep with strict shutdown rituals and magnesium protocols,” Swapneel notes.
Wisdom Over Ego
Swapneel has trained Hrithik since 2018 and says two things define him. “His discipline. His obsession with self-mastery. He shows up, day in and day out, with surgical focus. Evolved? His wisdom. In his younger years, he would power through but now, he optimizes. He understands how sleep, hydration, micronutrients, and circadian rhythm all sync to influence results. That level of bio-integration only comes with experience,” he says.
For younger men chasing a midlife physique like Hrithik’s, the advice is simple. There are no shortcuts.
