Henry Cavill Workout Routine And Diet For Superman

March 25, 2021 | 575 Comments


Man of steel workout routine

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

henry cavill superman workout

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!

henry cavill diet

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:

  1. ON Whey (protein powder)
  2. Garden Of Life Multivitamin for men (multivitamin) 
  3. 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.

575 Comments - Leave Your Thoughts

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  1. okay i just want to say that this workout plan is very helpful. your really are like herny cavill trainer mark twight you really made me beat my limits everytime on the this workout i was able to do 100 total of weighted pull ups my muscles feel hard as a rock. (maybe because instead of dumbells i used heavy bricks that i stole from someone yard)thank you. If herny cavill saw this website he would congratulate you and i hope he does one day.(please respond to this )

  2. hey Keith since you done this workout before do have any pics of your body transformation if so can you show them on this website that would be nice. please respond what you think about that thank you

  3. Hey Keith,

    What is your thought process on warmups for these 5 set exercises? 1 set 50%, 1 set 75% and then get 5 at 100%?

    Multiple warm up sets of each excersize is going to make this take much longer. Is that the intent?

  4. Hey man, regarding Henry Cavil’s upper back thickness, do you think so sort of rack pull variation would also help develop that overall thick back?

  5. Also, if I was to want to add an exercise like barbell hip thrust or GHR’s to this program, would I stick them on the leg day and possibly at the end of one upper body days? I’m trying to work on my posterior chain weakness I’ve been having for a while.

  6. Quick question Keith, on Shoulder day (Friday), should I increase the weight per set for the seated shoulder press or keep the weight consistent?

          1. Ok but if I’m doing upper body on day 1, lower body day 2 then wouldn’t I have had the required rest for my upper body to come in on day 3 & 4 to complete the rest of the workout?

          2. Ok thanks. With the bicep and tricep exercises, should I increase the weight by small increments or keep consistent for 6 sets?

  7. Thank you for the awesome workout. Few questions.

    1. Wouldn’t shoulders & back on Monday​ followed by deadlifts on Tuesday be counter productive?

    2. If so, could I add deadlifts to Monday and replace with (normal) squats on Tuesday?

    3. Could I add ab work (3 sets each of planks & weighted situps) on Tuesday & Thursday or maybe Wednesday & Saturday?

    4. Which workout do you personally like or prefer between Man of Steel workout (this) or Captain America: Civil War workout? (Trying to decide which I’ll stick to next few months)

    1. 1. I don’t find it to be a problem for most people.
      3. Yes.
      4. The one you can stick with. Consistency trumps everything.

  8. Hey Keith, I just wanted to say thank you for putting out this lift. It’s like a complete switch got flipped in my brain. Ever since I started it my eating habits have completely changed up, hell I’m even counting every protein, fat, etc.

    Bout 4 weeks into it and I’m hitting it full steam. I’m pushing to exhaustion on each exercise. Hell I feel like Superman already and I’m only 4 weeks in!

    Happy lifting

  9. Keith

    If I wanna swap exercises around to freshen things up, could I do flat bench with incline flyes for day 4 instead of incline bench with flyes?

  10. Hey Keith,

    I just started this workout. I’m trying to build and tone up but maintain not gain too much more than I have. Could I add running or will that mess it up? And if I can how could I fit that in this workout plan to lose fat without losing muscle?

  11. Hey Keith, I was just wondering if we could work in some extra bicep work on maybe day 1 (Monday) or Day 4 (Thursady) if we feel like we need it. Thanks

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