Hudson Williams has spent the past year preparing his body for one of television’s most high-profile roles. The 24-year-old Canadian actor, who plays hockey player Shane Hollander on the hit Crave/HBO series Heated Rivalry, recently shared his full workout routine with Men’s Health and revealed how he maintains the body that has the public talking.
Heated Rivalry Star Hudson Williams Shares Complete Training Plan
Williams demonstrated his full-body training approach during the Fitness hub for men’s health on January 14, going through a routine of seven exercises designed for efficiency and results. The training is based on years of gym experience that started much earlier than his acting career. Williams has been training since childhood, when his father introduced him to weights around the age of six. “There are videos of him trying to put weights in my hand,” Williams recalls. Hudson Williams once wanted to be an MMA fighter.
The actor trains five times a week if possible, cutting back to three sessions if travel or work commitments get in the way. Each workout lasts between 45 minutes and an hour, targeting every major muscle group in one session. This total-body approach gives Williams flexibility when his schedule gets tight. “Depending on when I can or can’t get to the gym, I just want to know if I’ve done everything,” he explained.
Williams adjusts his training volume based on weekly availability. During busy periods when he may be exercising frequently, he completes two sets of each exercise to maintain consistency. When his schedule limits gym access, he increases to three or four sets to maximize each session.
The workout starts with dumbbell chest flys for three sets of eight to 10 reps, an exercise Williams favors to increase chest width beyond what pressing movements alone provide. He follows with lying dumbbell curls for two to three sets, cautioning that lifters should avoid the move if they experience shoulder discomfort. Bulgarian split squats focus on lower body work with three sets per side, chosen specifically for glute development. Williams then moves to seated single-arm cable rows, performing three sets per side while focusing on lat engagement.
The routine continues with overhead triceps extensions and lateral cable raises, which Williams sometimes performs as a superset to maximize equipment efficiency in busy gyms. The workout concludes with dragon flags, the signature core exercise made popular by Bruce Lee. Williams credits his childhood hero for the move, which he performs in three sets of three to five reps. The exercise serves its purpose of quick, intense abdominal training. “I’m just lazy, so I want to do something that will tear me in half, but in a short time,” he said.
Williams’ training focus has evolved along with his career. Although he has been lifting weights for years, his emphasis on glute development is more recent, driven by the physical demands of people Heated rivalry. “We have to maintain an MO, so I want to keep this ass and also get a bigger butt,” he said candidly.
The role required Williams to balance athletic realism and screen presence. Heated Rivalry showrunner Jacob Tierney initially suggested that Williams would aim for a pasta-fueled physique typical of hockey players, who often appear wiry or strong in an everyday way rather than overtly muscular. Williams reconsidered after seeing his co-stars, especially Connor Storrie, who plays Russian hockey star Ilya Rozanov. “I asked Jacob, ‘What should I look like?’ And he says, ‘You should look like you’re eating pasta.’ And I thought, ‘I don’t know. I’ve seen these other guys on the show and they look like underwear models,” Williams said.
Williams cut out the carbs and focused on building size to meet the body standards set on set. His admiration for Storrie’s build is clear. “Poor Connor Storrie, who has the biggest ass I’ve ever seen on a man, I’m sure he just wants to stop talking about his beautiful cheeks,” Williams joked.
Now that Heated Rivalry has been renewed for a second season and filming begins this summer, Williams has set ambitious physical goals. He wants to add ten kilos of muscle mass and develop bigger shoulders and legs. “I want to get bigger, juicier and fatter. I want to get big shoulders,” he said. His goal is to match Storrie’s physique in season one, although he expects his co-star to continue to be developed. “I think that guy is just going to eat so much protein that he’s going to soar and appear like an Olympia, Mr. Olympia,” Williams predicted.
Williams and Storrie occasionally train together, sharing techniques while performing separate routines. Storrie has taught Williams biceps exercises, while Williams has introduced lat movements to his co-star. Despite Storrie’s size advantage, Williams insists there is value in learning from each other. “You can always learn from the smaller, less built man,” he said with self-mockery.
The two actors share competitive energy both on and off screen. A video of the arm wrestling ended in a draw, although Williams remains skeptical of the outcome given Storrie’s arm size. Williams believes he would win a spaghetti-eating contest, but admits that Storrie would dominate any pull-up contest because of his gymnastics background.
Before landing Heated Rivalry, Williams worked as a server at The Old Spaghetti Factory in New Westminster, British Columbia, while auditioning and making short films. The biracial actor, whose mother is Korean and father is of British and Dutch descent, graduated from Langara College’s Film Arts program in 2020. His mother initially worried that his heritage would limit acting opportunities, which made his casting as Shane Hollander particularly meaningful. The role specifically required a biracial actor, turning what his mother feared would be an obstacle into an essential casting element.
Williams drew inspiration from real-life hockey players Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid in developing his character, both known for their dedication and team-first mentality. “They’re just good guys. They seem like the best teammates and they eat and breathe one thing, and that’s hockey,” Williams said.
Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novel series, Heated Rivalry follows the secret romance between Williams’ character Shane Hollander and Storrie’s Ilya Rozanov, rival hockey stars whose on-ice competition masks an intense personal bond. The series premiered on Crave and HBO Max around Christmas 2025 and quickly became a cultural phenomenon, earning renewal for a second season.
Hudson Williams’ full-body workout routine
Training frequency: 5 days a week (at least 3 days when busy)
Session duration: 45-60 minutes
Volume: 2 sets per exercise (normal schedule) or 3-4 sets (restricted schedule)
- Dumbbell fly
- Series: 3
- Reps: 8-10
- Focus: Chest width
- Lying dumbbell curls
- Series: 2-3
- Reps: Not specified
- Notes: Skip this if you experience shoulder problems
- Bulgarian split squats
- Sets: 3 per leg
- Reps: Not specified
- Focus: gluteal muscle development
- Seated single-arm cable rows
- Sets: 3 per side
- Reps: Not specified
- Focus: Lat involvement
- Overhead Triceps Extensions
- Sets: Not specified
- Reps: Not specified
- Notes: Can be supplemented with lateral raises
- Cable lateral increases
- Sets: Not specified
- Reps: Not specified
- Notes: Can be supplemented with triceps extensions
- Dragon flags
- Series: 3
- Reps: 3-5
- Focus: Core/Abs (Bruce Lee Signature Exercise)
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