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.
Hi i am 15 years old and weigh about 100 pounds and i am 5’11 and i am trying to lose some fat is it possible to lose fat and not weight and do you reccomend this workout for fat loss?
David, at 100 lbs and 5’11 you probably don’t have little to no fat on you. Going through that age and height your going to be “unproportional”. I went in the Military at 17 at 6’1 and 155lbs. I was a twig. Focus on a good strength building workout and don’t use sups at your age. Your body is going to continue to grow and change to your mid 20’s I’m sure. A simple solid strength training program is all you need my man. Run fast, fight hard, use good form always and stay focused. Trust me, enjoy being a teen.
Yeah i understand i have fat because im kinda not yet in puberty because over the last few years i had a lack of growth hormone so i havent wrely changed my appearence in the last cuople of years but il take your advice and take it slow tnx alot:)
And also could you suggest a workout for me i tried to do somr of the workouts here but its to much equipment and i cant go to the hym so could you suggest some workout it would be a lot of help:)
Don’t you need some cardio exercises too?
no not necessary
Not even if you want to loose weight?
not needed, you only need to focus on creating a calorie deficit which is largely done through your diet.
hey I’m interested in this workout program… just wondering how heavy did Henry Cavill did to have that body… can you email me more specific/ detailed work out plan/diet… thank you in advance
what more specific do you want? I laid out the entire workout here for you.
and where did you find those informations…hehe
Hi Keith,
After 8 weeks of doing this workout what should I progress to do next?
Cheers
Have you gotten results? Have you gotten stronger?
definitely, both
Hi Keith, thank you for posting this great workout.
Two questions for you:
1) Do you recommend stretching? If so, when should we stretch? (before, after or during the workout)
2) As I have not worked out in over 3 years, I can no longer do a single pull up, let alone a weighted pull up. Any exercise I could substitute the pull up with until I regain my sttength?
Regards,
JP
1) Not needed. Just make sure you warm up properly and don’t immediately jump into your working set.
2) Lat pull down and rows.
My other half is 6’3 very wide but also very round. He really wants to lose weight (he says he’s about 28 stone) but I think its possibly higher. Its his stomach and top of legs that are main issue. Would this regime work for him? Thanks Debbie
I probably wouldn’t start with this routine. Focus on his diet first and lose some weight before tackling a routine like this.
Hi,
I’m really skinny an tall abt 160 lbs.
Whats the ratio for calculating the amount of calories?
160 x 16 calories = 2600
also what amount of weight should i start with and also how should i increase it?
Choose a weight for the specified rep range. So if you do 5 reps, you pick a weight that you can only lift for 5 reps.
Keith,
I enjoy your blog, man.
Just curious about your protein powder usage — are you still using MTS Whey?
Not right at this moment. Currently finishing up some on gold standard whey.
I am not denying it, but how do you know that this is the workout that Henry Cavill did in order to acquire the physique he possessed in Man of Steel?
It’s not, this is a workout to help you get a body like cavill but not his exact workout.
Keith,
Thanks for the all the info. I have a couple questions though. I’m really not seeing much in the way of ab focus. Any specific exercises you recommend, or is the ab development largely based on the stabilization required for the major movements? Also, how much cardio can you get away with, without breaking down the bulk process? Thanks in advance. Appreciate any info you might provide.
Exercises like dead lifts already work your abs to a great extent.
For cardio you can do it to the point that it doesn’t hamper your efforts in the gym. Plus for any extra cardio you do, you need to compensate that activity with extra calories.
I’m looking to start this program to build a better foundation for my frame. At the moment I’m about 5’11 at 170 lbs 15% bf. But I would love to bring my legs up a lot more and this program only has 1 leg day a week. Also since my body fat is relatively high, how should I structure my diet?
Well if your body fat is high you may need to diet down first before trying to build your legs.
So maybe diet down to 10% bf then? How do those macros look for a cut. My TDEE is 2600 so I would probably do a 500 calorie deficit at 2100 with 170 grams protein, 220 grams of carbs, 60g fat. At the moment I’m not sure what kind of training program I should do. I’m fairly active outside the gym. I skate 3 days a week for my cardio to help build my stamina for the hockey season and I do a full body routine 3 days a week. What are your thoughts? I’m also sort of in the process of rehabilitating my low back from an injury in the summer so back squats have sort of limited me to a small range of leg exercises like dumbbell split squats and single leg stuff. What are your thoughts?
My ultimate goal is to have a physique much like Henrys in Man of Steel. I just don’t know where I should start.
I am 17 years old my height is 5’7″and I havent grown in last three years and I am quite skinny…what should I do…I am vegetarian too…
Just do the workout and be safe. Your height will not be impacted.
Hi how are you ? i have a flabby chest i have been working out for almost three years and worked out for hours and not a single result so i gave up and quiet the gym about six months ago.Now I am thinking about hit the gym again i want to lose weight like chris pratt did i dont want to bulk up or anything just to look nice specially my chest area.and my belly .i still do about 200 push ups and 100 leg raise and walk for an hour .Please suggest the routine that i should do when i go to the gym and should i do extreme exercise like before or just few routines and heavy weights .Thanks .
ps i wanted to add something more that i am what people might call chubby but not that much ..
i would ditch the push ups and leg raises and focus on the routine here.
so for chest i was thinking about bench press ,incline bench press ,dumbel bech press incline dumbell press , peck deck and cable cross over is this enough for chest .. and should i lift heavy weight or light .weight and how many set and reps should i do ??
no just follow the routine above as laid out.