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.
I was just wondering. It’s said you should consume 1 g of protein powder per kg of your bodyweight but what about the protein you’ve already consumed from regular meals? How does that work?
It’s per pound, not kg. And you don’t need 1 gram, I’d aim for 0.8 minimum.
Yes protein from any source is fine, the protein powder should only be used for convenience when you can’t get enough via real foods.
Hi! Was just wondering if you build big muscles as well when doing 5 reps on the squats. Because i want to focus more on getting bigger and more visible muscles than strength on my legs and thiges. Shall i still do 5 reps or what do you recommend? Last time i trained i did 2 sets of 20 reps with 50 kg and 2 sets of 15 reps with 60 kg
Yes 5 reps will work great for you.
Hi! Just wondered because my main goal is to get ripped and get those big av visible muscles as fast as i can. The hypertrophy workouts to get those muscles are anything between 8-12 reps as explained in the workout routine but when clicking the link to the “Superhero Shredding” they say that lifting heavy in the 4-6 rep range is the best. So I’m confused and I hoped you could help me understand.
Hypertrophy can be induced in any rep range, as long as you’re getting stronger.
The SS 2.0 workouts include a variety of rep ranges as well, with a slight emphasis on the lower end.
Hi! I really want to spend the 8 weeks of this summer to get much bigger and my main goal is the upper body, so I can look much more huge when the school starts again. But of course i want to get stronger as well. Should i just do hypertrophy workouts 4 times a week or will tjat be to much? What do you recommend?
no just follow as laid out.
hey tim by the way the only way you can get huge is that the reps should be highed each week and trust me man this shit works
If I’d like to work on my abs as well to get a six/eight pack. Which day/days should i add it to?
If you’re a beginner, i wouldn’t stress about it too much. A lot of these movement indirectly train your abs.
Hi, when doing cable crossovers, which height stance should i aim for or should i do it in all three stances. And should i then do all three stances for 4 sets each in the same day. And do you have any recommendations for abs excersises?
This is a good height. You can throw in some cable crunches if you want.
Which is a good height?
sorry i meant this – http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/exerciseImages/sequences/132/Male/l/132_1.jpg
Hi Kieth
For the biceps and triceps exercises, should I keep the weight the same given that they’re 6 sets each?
Hi Keith,
I’m relatively new to the gym and working out. I’ve been mostly cutting and trying to lose fat to get to my desired weight. Which I’m getting close to so I’ve been interested in starting a clean bulk once I get there. I’ve never done a bulk before, and would like to do it right obviously and gain back that fat. Anyway my question for ya is would this workout be a good fit for me? I mean this look is for sure something I’ve wanted, and I guess how long would I be routine for?
Thank you!
This could def work for you. I would run it for at least 3-6 months, of course you’ll need to monitor your body and see how you react. And probably make some exercise rotations along the way.
Hi Keith! I just wondered how you do your warm up excerises? Do you never run on a tredmill on leg days or row on upper body days? Or is that just bad for building muscles? Does it rather make me more skinny?
I only do a big warmup on big lifts (e.g. bench press, squat):
Warm up set 1 – 40-50% working set x 8-10 reps
WUS 2 – 60% working set x 4-6 reps
WUS 3 – 70% working set x 2-3 reps
WUS 4 – 80% working set x 1-2 reps
Hi I was just wandering how long should you leave it in between each set? Some say 30 seconds some 2 minutes?
Also if it is 3 minutes could you do another exercise not focus img on that body part e.g doing chest then do abs during rest?
The heavier sets (5 reps) should be 2 min.
Bro, you’ve seriously inspired me so much. I came across this article three years ago, and I was about 100 pounds due to anorexia and other bullshit because of depression. I’m about 185 pounds at the moment, and I’m about 12% body fat now. Wanting to get even bigger, stronger, leaner, and better, which is why I come back to this article so I can brush up on my basics again. Brother, thank you for everything. You seriously saved my life and health.
Dude that’s awesome. Do you have pics of your transformation? Would love to see them.
Email me – [email protected]
Of course my brother! Of course! And thanks for responding! 😀
Hi Keith. I’ve been running with this programme for 2 months and seen good results. How long should I keep with it before changing my plan?
Also, can you just clarify the macro part. For example, I weigh 192 pounds and therefore need 154 grams of protein per day. But how would I calculate how many carbs and fats I need?
hey phil does you body shape like herny cavill?
Hi Keith i am 182 cm long and my weight is 85kg, i am a bit overweigt. Do you think that i should begin with the Henry cavill workout directly or first lose weight before begin?
You can do it while losing weight.
Hi Keith
I’m 5’11 and around 192lbs at 16% body fat. I’ve been doing this routine for 8 weeks and have gained great size. I’m trying to get my BF down to 12% for better definition and consuming 0.8 grams of protein per pound of my weight.
Would you recommend a calorie deficit in order to shred the BF whilst building good muscle? I was thinking of consuming 1,500-2,000 calories per day whilst keeping my protein intake at the level of 0.8 grams per pound of weight.
If you go in a deficit, you will lose fat but prob not gain much (if any size). And no, use a 12x multiplier for the deficit.
Ok, so I would need to consume 2,304 cals per day (192×12)?
Would this keep my current size as I don’t want to get bigger but become more defined?
keep but lose body fat.
So yeah, you’ll get more “defined.”
hello sir I am 21 years old and a student. being a sstudent i can’t do all the work. I only do the shoulder arm routin and do another full body workout with two dumbbells. how can i bulid more muscles like henry cavil??? thank you
just follow this routine.
sir is 5 kg dumbbells enough for this exercise????
maybe if you’re a beginner, but you’ll need more weights as you progress.
is there any abs workout for superman body?????
You can add in some cable crunches on lower days but you should focus on the fundamentals first.
sir how should i follow this workout during ramadan???? since i have to be fast all day. i won’t be able to eat after the workout not until the evening.
That’s fine. As long as you get all your calories/macros for the day by the end of the day, that’s all that matters.