Well ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Henry Cavill has done it again.
After getting absolutely shredded for his role in Immortals, Henry Cavill has taken it upon himself to bulk up for the titular role as Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel.
And if you’ve seen any of the recent behind the scene photos, then you’ll definitely notice that Henry Cavill has succeeded in packing on a substantial amount of muscle.
I laid down a detailed overview of the Henry Cavill’s training and diet to help you look like Superman.
Train in all rep ranges to get ripped like Henry Cavill
In order to properly portray Superman, Henry Cavill needed to look both big and strong. And the best way to accomplish this is by lifting in both low, mid, and high rep ranges. When most guys train, they typically either train really really heavy or really really light.
They either lift exclusively in the 3-6 rep range or in the 10-12 rep range.
While lower rep ranges (3-6 reps) are good for increasing your strength levels, they aren’t the best for muscular hypertrophy.
On the other hand, higher rep ranges (10-12 reps) are good for increasing fluid in the muscle which will quickly increase the muscle’s size but it doesn’t necessarily translate to strength gains. To build the best overall physique, you need to incorporate all rep ranges.
As you can see in the pic above, Henry Cavill definitely got ripped for Man of Steel. He has excellent muscular density and body proportions. I can’t stress the importance of body proportions enough when it comes to building muscle.
Henry Cavill has a very “shoulder centric” look to his body meaning he has very broad shoulders and a very tight, lean waist. All guys should aim for this look if they want to look like Henry Cavil.
How to do the Henry Cavill workout
For the Henry Cavill Superman workout, your workout should be spread over 4 days. Ideally, you should be on a 2 day on-1 day off cycle. Or if you can’t swing that, you can do an every other day cycle
Monday (Upper body, strength)
- Incline dumbbell press – 4 sets/5 reps
- Flat dumbbell press – 4 sets/5 reps
- Weighted pull ups – 4 sets/5 reps
- Dumbbell or barbell row – 4 sets/5 reps
Tuesday (Lower body, strength)
- Deadlift – 5 sets/ 5 reps
- Front squat – 5 sets/6-8 reps
- Front lunges – 4 sets/8 reps per leg
- Calf raise – 5 sets/12 reps
Wed (Rest)
Rest day.
Take it easy.
Thrus (Chest and Back, hypertrophy)
- Incline dumbbell press – 4 sets/8-10 reps
- Cable crossover – 4 sets/10-12 reps
- Weighted chin ups – 4 sets/8-10 reps
- Seated cable row – 4 sets/10-12 reps
Friday (Shoulders and arms, hypertrophy)
- Seated dumbbell press – 5 sets/8-10 reps
- Side lateral raise – 5 sets/10-12 reps
- Front Lateral raises – 5 sets/10-12 reps
- Any bicep curl variation – 6 sets/10-12 reps
- Any tricep extension variation – 6 sets/10-12 reps
Saturday and Sunday (Rest)
Note: You can do some soft tissue work (with foam roller or lacrosse ball), some dynamic stretching, and even some walking but don’t do any high intensity activities.
Henry Cavill diet – don’t screw this up!
I’m on 5,000 calories a day. You’ve got to eat protein first, then a little bit of carbs … you’ve gotta keep your hunger levels going.
While the sample Henry Cavill workout above will help you gain muscle like a mother*ucker, it will only work if your diet is on point.
According to various interviews, Henry ate up to 5000 calories per day in order to bulk up for Superman.
I don’t know if this number is over exaggerated but the majority of people will never need 5000 calories per day, even if your goal is to gain weight.
For most people, the following formula tends to work pretty well: Your bodyweight in pounds x 16-18 kcals.
You can adjust up or down by 100-200 calories if you start to gain more fat than muscle.
As for what kinds of foods you should eat…I don’t particularly care.
- Aim to get about 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
- Aim to get 20% of your calories from fat.
- Fill in the rest of your calories with carbs.
You can still eat your favorite foods, but just remember – moderation! You should try to eat more whole foods 80% of the time, meaning foods like potatoes, beef, chicken, pork, whole milk, rice, pasta, fruits, and vegetables.
But if you have a craving for doughnuts or pizza then don’t deprive yourself either, just don’t binge on that shit.
Do you need to take supplements?
I typically don’t recommend supplements because all you need t build a badass body like Henry Cavill in Superman is a solid workout program and good nutrition. But that’s not to say supplements are useless.
If you’re having trouble getting enough protein, then a protein powder may help.
Other than that, a multivitamin is useful to cover potential mineral deficiencies.
And some fish oil is useful to combat inflammation and balance out the Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio that is so common in Western diets.
Recommended supplement brands:
- ON Whey (protein powder)
- Garden Of Life Multivitamin for men (multivitamin)
- Nutrigold fish oil (fish oil)
Update (6/14): What if I’m not trying to gain muscle?
I understand everyone has different goals and not everyone is trying to gain muscle. A lot of guys are complete beginners and want to lose weight.
Here’s how to modify the workout and diet above if you’re trying to lose weight and not gain muscle:
- Do the same workout but the each workout but on Monday do 1 less set for each exercise.
- On Tuesday, do 1 less set for each exercise except calf raises (still do 5 sets). On Thursday, do 1 less set for each exercise.
- On Friday, do 1 less set for each exercise, except for the bicep and triceps exercises (only do 4 sets each instead of 6)
- For you diet, the only thing that changes are your calorie requirements.
- Use the following formula:Your bodyweight in pounds x 16-18.
- If you’re a complete beginner, chances are you’ll gain muscle and lose fat (the newbie effect) which is awesome even if you’re in a calorie deficit.
Henry Cavil Workout: Want the exact blueprint to build a “Superman” worthy body?
Look I know a lot of guys who aspire to look like Cavill struggle with losing weight and building muscle.
You’re probably one of them.
So I took everything I know and created a program called Superhero X12 designed specifically for guys who want to get ripped and build a Hollywood “superhero” body.
If you ever wanted the lean, aesthetic physique of a Hollywood actor, be sure to check it out. If you have any questions on the Henry Cavill Man of Steel workout, be sure to leave them below.
hello, this is a great work out. is there not a risk in over training your muscle if you do , shoulders and arms the day after chest and back day.
Nope it’s fine.
How much rest for Monday workout? (3mins?) And how much rest for workout Thursday and Friday workout?
Yeah, depends on rep range:
5 reps: 2-3 min between sets
8 reps – 1.5-2 min
10+ reps – 1 min
Could I sub out flat bench for dips in workout A?
Yeah.
I know this will vary for each person, but do you have a guidline for weight difference when lifting for strength versus hypertrophy? If I’m using two 60 lbs dumbbells for the Incline Dumbbell Press on Monday, what should I use for the hypertrophy sets on Thursday?
For hypertrophy you will typically be lifting lighter weights for more reps to fatigue the muscle
What would you say are some good weight sizes to aim for?
You mean your desired goal bodyweight? Impossible to say.
It depends on so many factors – height, age, body type, etc…
Thank you for the reply
i am 20, 5’6 and 144 lbs; my goal is 170-180. but i was wondering what size weights should i aim to lift?
You have to play around with this. Lower reps means you’ll be lifting heavier weights and higher reps means you’ll be lifting lighter weights.
So if you’re doing 5 reps you would choose weight that you can do for no more than 6 reps. It’s good to “leave one in the tank” so you don’t overkill your nervous system.
Thanks
What about abs?
Abs are already hit alot with compund exercises but if you want feel free to throw in a few 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps of hanging leg raises 2-3 times per week.
Is this purely a bulking up plan, or could one use this to ohh..say, lose 40 or so pounds of fat? 😉
Nope just updated my post to answer your question. Take a look 🙂
Can you throw cardio in there too?
Yeah but I wouldn’t go overboard with it.
I’m 47 years and love going to the gym. My question though…the calories? What’s the best way? Shakes? As much as I love grilled chicken, can’t see me loading up on those. Any ideas? Please let me know. By the way… Movie is GREAT!
It doesn’t matter. You can get it from shakes, chicken, beef, eggs, anything really…
As long as you hit your requirements that’s all that matters.
Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.
hey admin, you don’t look like you’re that big of a guy. are you sure you should be inserting your opinion as to whether or not 5,000 kcals is necessary to gain a substantial amount of muscle?
Yea because for anyone beginner or not to jump straight into a 5000 calorie diet without second thought is just plain stupid.
i agree 5000 calories is a lot to jump into on the first week, but he did have 8 months to to train up to that amount. maybe upping calories by 200-300 a week until you reach a point where your making gains, and not going overboard.
Again it also depends on your level of physical ability and genetics
If I do this workout will it be okay if I am playing basketball and doing speed and agility type workouts with it? Or is this definatly over working my body
It’s fine but you need to consider that you might be sore from these workouts so performance in basketball (especially after lower body day) might be affected.
Any way to ease the soreness from the workouts?
Make sure you’re stretching, doing soft tissue work, eat plenty of nutrient dense foods.
But some soreness is inevitable, there’s really no way around it.
Thanks! time to get big
Why is the workout only working out legs once in the week and upper body 3 times? That seems unbalanced to me. No hypertrophy for legs?
You can add one if you want and make this a 5x/week workout but a lot of guys don’t wish to have overly massive legs.
Why wouldn’t an editor read this article? Why wouldn’t you at least spell check it? Read this article through one more time. So many embarrassing spelling mistakes… super professional…
Wat?
Why doesn’t everyone keep out with the negative comments. This is a helpful workout. If you don’t like it don’t do it. Easy as that
Thanks Mark.
I am 6’3 240.. but Im a round chubby at about 25% body fat 240.. so my question is would you advise someone like me too cut my weight/body fat, first, and then try and put on weight with good protein and muscle? or just go straight into it?
You should try to lose some weight first. But the good news – if you’re a complete beginner who has never trained before, you’ll experience the ‘newbie effect’ where you’ll gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
Hahaha thank you! unfortunately I’m not a newbie, just a washed up athlete who drank a lot of beer..