Alright so let’s cut to the chase:
Chris Evans is Captain America.
He has what a lot of men (and women) believe is the ideal male physique.
Not too skinny, not overly muscular, just right.
Chris Evans plays a fantastic Captain America and part of the reason he does such a great job is because of his physique.
Would you believe Chris Evan’s portrayal is he was a scrawny 150 pound weakling?
Don’t think so.
At 6 feet tall, Chris Evans probably weighs in around 180 at approx. 10% body fat.
This is just an estimate since he never officially stated his weight and all I have to go by are his pictures.
So how do you build superhero levels of muscle like Chris Evans?
Well before I show you how to tackle the Chris Evans workout routine, there are a few critical “laws” you need to understand:
Superhero Law #1: To be Captain America, you must be lean
Like I said before, he is likely around 10-12% body fat.
So it doesn’t matter if you have a lot of muscle…if you don’t lose the fat, it’s not very impressive.
If you’re a skinny guy, go on a bulk and focus on building muscle then lose the fat.
If you’re on the heavier side, lose the fat first then build focus on building muscle.
In this interview Evans stated that he trained almost every day for hours at a time.
But don’t worry, you don’t have to put yourself through this since most celebrities tend to go to extremes when it comes to training. I’m going to show you a way to workout below that doesn’t require more than 4 hours per week.
[thrive_text_block color=”note” headline=”Getting to 10% body fat is not as hard as you probably think it is”]Despite what most guys think, getting to 10-12% isn’t as lean as you probably think. Most fitness models sit in at the low single digit body fat, so 10-12% is something you can easily maintain year round if you want to.
Now I’m not saying it’s a walk in the park, otherwise every dude out there would look like Evans, but it’s not as impossible as guys think either.
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But with that being said…make sure you follow the next law as well.
Superhero Law #2: You must build your base (of muscle)
As important as being lean is, it’s not everything.
I can’t tell you how many emails I get from 14-20 year olds asking me how to get ripped when they haven’t even built a up a decent amount of muscle.
I get these 16 year olds who are still in puberty asking me how they can look like Chris Evans in 3 months.
Absolute craziness.
Here’s the real dirty truth:
You will not like Chris Evans or build a respectable physique until you build a solid base of muscle.
By “base” I mean a strong foundation of muscle.
If you just focus on losing fat and have no muscle, then you’ll have nothing underneath all that fat to show for it.
You’ll just end up looking like a smaller version of yourself.
In fact, it will likely take you a few years before you even look anything like Chris Evans.
As as beginner, you can typically gain up to 25 pounds of lean muscle in your first year of training.
Only after then should you decide to start cutting some fat.
Superhero Law #3: Proportions are king
Chris Evans’s workout focuses a lot on building the elusive V-taper where your back tapers down into your waist in a ‘V’ shape. This is the most physically impressive shape that a man can achieve.
Plus, women love men with wide shoulders and a lean waist.
The problem a lot of guys who lift have is that they fall for the hardcore bodybuilder/powerlifter scene where everything must be about squats and deadlifts.
While I have nothing against these movements, if you put all your energy into something like squats, all that’s going to lead to is a large lower body and giant ass.
I’m definitely not saying you should skip leg day, but if you want to exude the power of a true superhero physique you need to put a heavy focus on body parts that give the most visual impact (i.e. your shoulders).

The centuries old “golden ratio” has shown that men with shoulders that are 1.61x larger than their waist to be most attractive.
I cover more about it in this article here.
Chris Evans workout to build a “Captain America” physique
Note: This is primarily a workout to gain muscle (which should be your primary goal if you want a superhero body). If fat loss is your goal, then focus on losing fat first before doing this workout.
Monday – Back
- Weighted pull ups: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- 1-arm dumbbell row: 2 sets of 4-6 reps
- Seated cable row (preferably with wide-grip): 3 sets of 6-8 reps
- Lat pull down – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Cable crunches – 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps
Tuesday – Chest
- Incline press: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Dumbbell bench press: 3 sets of 8 reps
- Cable crossover – 2 sets of 10-12 reps
- Face pulls- 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps
Wednesday – Rest
- Rest. Stretch. Do some soft tissue work. Optional cardio (see below).
Thursday – Lower body
- Deadlift – 3 sets of 4-6 reps
- Lunges – 2 sets of 6-8 reps per leg
- Leg press – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Calf raise (seated or standing) – 5 sets of 10-15 reps
- Hyperextension – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Cable woodchoppers – 3 sets of 10-15 reps per side
Friday – Upper body
- Seated dumbbell press – 3 sets of 6-8 reps
- Weighted pull-ups – 3 x 6-8 reps
- Cable crossover – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Side delt raises – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Rear delt raises – 2 sets of 10-12 reps
- Barbell curl – 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Overhead tricep rope extensions – 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps
Saturday – rest
- Rest. Stretch. Do some soft tissue work. Optional cardio (see below).
Sunday – rest
- Rest. Stretch. Do some soft tissue work. Optional cardio (see below).
Chris Evans Diet: Eating for an Avengers physique
Since your main focus is to gain muscle, you need to consume more calories…500 over your maintenance amount (which comes out to 16-18x your bodyweight in pounds).
If your goal is fat loss, then I like to start at a daily calorie intake of 10-12x your bodyweight in pounds.
This is a good baseline but you may need to adjust up or down depending on how your body responds.
You also need more protein…aim for a 0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight, minimum.
Also be sure to cover your bases…meaning take a multivitamin to make sure you’re not deficient in nutrients and take some fish oil for overall health.
Nothing complicated.
Just make sure you get enough calories, protein, and don’t stuff your face with nothing but doughnuts and beer.
If you want a more detailed guide on how to setup your diet, be sure to check out this 7-step guide on creating your perfect lifestyle diet.
The EXACT Blueprint to help you get a body like Chris Evans
Like I said before, getting a body like Chris Evans (Captain America) isn’t just about being lean.
It’s also making sure you have a sufficient amount of muscle underneath and making sure your body proportions are in check.
Evans has a perfectly lean, muscular, and athletic body.
My full course, Superhero X12 was designed with exactly this in mind.
Not only will it help you lose fat and build muscle, but it will help you build near superhuman levels of strength.
I’ve personally used the program to work up to a 140 pound weighted chin up for 5 reps.
And not only did it help me transform my own body but it has helped countless others including Donald and Jacob below.


As always guys, I’m here to help so drop any comments or questions you have on Chris Evans’ workout and how you can build a body like him in the section below.
Keith, would you say it would be better to pump the reps out as fast as possible, go really slow, or pace it in some way?
Do the reps slowly. When you do them fast you tend to use poor form which causes you to not use and exert the proper muscles and can also lead to injury. Proper form is number 1 in ANY kind of workout. For weightlifting, go slow and concentrate on the muscle you are working. When it feels like you cannot do another one, do another one. That is how muscle is built, by tearing down the muscle you have and then it repairs itself bigger. Make sure to wait at least 24 hours before hitting that muscle group again, otherwise it wont do any good. Muscles need at least 24 hours to repair themselves. Abs are the only muscle group that you can work on everyday. Just remember slow and purposeful. Hope this helps!
I’m all over this workout. Just figuring out the diet plans. Any more tips? (specific meals, ideal snacks, etc).
specific foods vary among the person. I can’t tell you because I have no idea what you like to eat. But high protein, moderate carb, moderate fat is what works best for most. That and sticking with whole, natural foods like meat and potatoes not chips and twinkies.
Hi, deadlifts are an issue for me due to a back injury years back. Could you recommend a substitute? Also, what are face pulls please?
can you do rack pulls?
face pulls – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSoHeSjvIdY
Nope. Bent over unsupported back lifts ruled out for the next six months. Anything involving vertical spine compression is to be avoided, unless the back is supported all the way up.
Cheers
Then just don’t do them for the next 6 months. That’s a better play than finding an alternative and potentially hurting yourself again.
can we do dumbell rowing instead of t bar
yes
If I’m too tired to workout one day, will it be ok if I skip the day and change the workout for that week only? ex. I skip Tuesday, so I do chest on wednesday, rest thursday, lower body friday, then upper body friday. Then I go back to the normal workout the next week
Upper body Saturday*
Do you have any tips for how to choose how much weight we use during the various exercises? I am 5′ 7″ 150 lbs, but I have been into swimming and calisthenics for a while now, I am not too sure what weights I should be working with.
You need to do a bit of trial and error and find a weight that you can only lift for the specified rep range.
Alternative for lat pull down and face pulls?
pull ups and reverse flyes
So on the 1 day It will be:
Weighted pull ups
1-arm dumbbell row
Seated cable row
Pull up
Cable crunches Thats will be okay- 2x pull UPS per day?
And last question: Legs day isnt… I dont know…. To easy?
You’re kind of a jerk…
I’m not here to kiss ass.
No, he is straight forward and he expects people to do for themselves before they ask someone else too.
What is the best way to lose fat off of the bottom of your stomach or your sides where your love handles are?
A method called P.D.T.F (put down the fork)
We can’t exactly target specific areas, your hormones determine that. we just need to balance our diet with our workouts.
can u share images of. Cable crossover and cable crunches according to upper body and lower body .please
You can just google that.
I was wondering if you could get to this size as a teenager because I saw the workout and was just wondering?
No reality is Evans’ size will take a few years of training.
I’ve already got the workout saved but in my phone but my gym doesn’t have a four way neck machine and on the workout I have it says do that is there any workouts what do the same thing
why do you need a 4 way neck machine?
I don’t know on the workout I have got on the internet it said that you need to do 5 sets on a four way neck machine
Uh…you don’t need one for this.
Ok thanks
Thanks that helps
Great article.
The above mentioned workout routine works great for building lean muscle at includes some great compound exercises.
Also it is very important to focus on nutrition, where the amount of macro nutrients you consume is important.
May god make me look like captain chris
god ain’t gonna help you.
Face pulls are not chest. like doing a row but pulling higher (toward face)? yeah that’s rear delt. you can’t pull something toward you and work a muscle that pushes away from you. I know chest also assists in adduction, but that’s beside the point. Face pulls = rear delt
Yes rear delt/traps depending on the angle.
It just doesn’t seem feasible to get that body with just that workout. I would think it would yake way more back work to get the Lats he has, then what is on the list.
Well yes, this is just one workout, chances are you aren’t going to be doing it for years to come. You also have to remember Evans has been training for years and to build up a substantial amount of muscle, you need to as well.