Henry Cavill’s training program for “The Man of Steel”
If you saw the movie “Man of Steel” you have probably noticed the body structure of the main actor Henry Cavill who played Superman.
His training program allowed him to add muscle to the right areas while keeping his fat percentage below 10%.
It also helped him add about 8 kg of muscle in 9 months of training and proper nutrition, which brought his body from a weight of 80 kg to a weight of 88 kg!
Some were surprised to find that he was under 90 kg, with a height of only 182.
The beauty of this is that if you manage to maintain a low body fat percentages and add muscle mass wisely, you will always look 4.5 to 7 pounds larger than it seems.
So let’s talk about the training program,
In Henry’s training program, you require to include work on strength and pump training.
Strength work will focus on lower repetition ranges in order to improve and become stronger over time.
But to maximize muscle mass, you will also need to work with pump training to increase blood flow to the muscle.
This type of training is done by a higher amount of sets and repetitions along with shorter rest periods.
As a basic rule – always make sure you do the basic exercises (strength exercises) at the beginning of the workout.
A:
An upper body training (with an emphasis on the chest)
Incline barbell bench press
2 sets of 6-8 repetitions
2 sets of 8-10 repetitions
Rest 2-3 minutes between set and set
Machine rows in a narrow grip
2 sets of 6-8 repetitions
2 sets of 8-10 repetitions
Rest 2-3 minutes between set and set
dumbells bench press
4 sets of 12/10/8/6
30 seconds rest between set and set
Standing barbell curls
3 sets of 6-8 repetitions
2 minutes rest between set and set
Lying triceps extension
3 sets of 8-12 repetitions
2 minutes rest between set and set
Standing lateral raises
5 sets of 12/10/8/6
+ 12-15 repetitions in the last set
30 seconds rest between set and set
B:
Legs and abs
Squat
3 sets of 6-8 repetitions
3 minutes rest
stiff leg deadlift
3 sets of 8-10 repetitions
2 minutes rest
Machine leg extensions
3 sets of 10-15 repetitions
90 seconds rest
calf raises
3 sets of 10-15 repetitions
Hanging Straight Leg Raises
4 sets of 10-12 repetitions
60-90 seconds rest between set and set
Dumbbell Ab Rollout
4 sets of 10-15 repetitions
60-90 seconds rest
C
Upper body training (with an emphasis on shoulders)
Pullups + weight / deadlift
2 sets of 6-8 repetitions
2 sets of 8-10 repetitions
2-3 minutes rest between set and set
Standing shoulder press with a barbell
2 sets of 6-8 repetitions
2 sets of 8-10 repetitions
2-3 minutes rest between set and set
Incline dumbells press
4 sets of 12/10/8/6
30 seconds rest between set and set
Incline dumbells curls
3 sets of 6-8 repetitions
2 minutes rest between set and set
Poly triceps extension
3 sets of 8-12 repetitions
Minute rest between set and set
Lower poly lateral raises
5 sets of 6/8/10/12
+ 12-15 Reps in the fifth set
30 seconds rest between set and set
A number of emphases:
This program will be done 3 times a week rather than overlapping days, for example: Sunday / Tuesday / Thursday.
In each workout, in the first two exercises, I recommend 3 sets of warming up. First set 5 repetitions with 60% of the workload (your actual set). Set 2, 3 repetitions with 75-80% of the working weight and the third set with 90% of the work weight for one repetition only.
In the first 2 exercises in each workout, note that you have repetition ranges where the work is heavier between 6-8 repetitions. You will then reduce your weight by 10-15% and perform 2 additional sets for 8-10 repetitions.
In the third exercise in the upper body workout, choose a weight that you can perform 12 repetitions with. Rest only 30 seconds between set and perform reverse pyramid. Resulting in fatigue of the working muscle and growth and activation of sarcoplasmic muscles. You will also use the same weight in all sets so the rest time is shorter.
Do the same for lateral raises only after you finish the fourth set of 6 repetitions, lower the weight and follow the fifth set to 12-15 reps.
In all exercises, I recommend not to reach a complete failure.
Throughout the program, make sure that you are trying to improve continuously, by making more repetitions with the same weight or by increasing the weights.
There are a number of key features to achieve the body structure of the “man of steel” and one of the main is the ratio between shoulders and waist.
What this means is that you will need to build a larger upper chest, a wide back, round shoulders and be at a maximum of 10% body fat.
An increase in muscle mass in these areas will significantly improve the shape of your body.
After that, what is left is to keep everything balanced and proportionate.
You need a wider back
Your shoulders are much smaller than your back and there is a limit to how much thickness you can add to them. On the other hand, the lats are the largest muscle in your upper body and have tremendous growth potential.
The quickest way to build your lats is by deadlift and weighted pull-ups.
Be sure to experience with different variations (wide / reverse grip / narrow grip)
You need a larger upper chest
The biggest visual difference is a massive upper chest.
A large upper chest creates a more muscular and symmetrical appearance.
Unfortunately, a developed upper chest is not something that you will find in many men today because of two main reasons:
First of all, a lot of men are obsessed with lying bench press l because they can lift more weight that way. To get your upper chest muscles developed, you need more work on the upper incline presses.
Second, most men are not sufficiently lean and have some fat in the lower chest, which makes the upper chest look smaller.
In order to build an impressive chest, you will need to be lean enough and perform at least 2 exercises for the chest muscles at an incline angle.
You need to build a round shoulders
When you have a larger back and a bigger and more impressive chest, then round shoulders are the last part of the puzzle.
To develop a round shoulders muscles you need 2 things:
Heavy lifting: sitting/standing, dumbells/bar will work fine.
Heavy shoulder presses will help you add more thickness to your shoulder muscles.
Lateral raises – do the best job of improving the middle delt muscle. Shoulder presses do not work to isolate the middle delt muscle so lateral raises are necessary to achieve this. 4-6 sets of 8-12 reps with 30-60 seconds rest will do the trick.
Do not forget that you are making movement here with one muscle so it would be a mistake to lift heavy for lower repetitions. You will not really work with the middle deltoid because it is not strong enough to withstand such load and therefore your body will “use” other muscles to compensate for it.
4. You should keep your waist narrow and your midsection flat
Keeping your waist narrow and flat midsection is what makes the difference between a good physique and an amazing one!
Even a few centimeters can completely change what you see.
In order for this to happen, you have to maintain a low body fat percentage while you increase muscle mass.
My recommendation would be to aim for 200 grams increase in body weight per week. This is certainly the limit to how much a natural person can grow.
If you look at the change that Henry Cavill made, he added to his weight about 8 kg in 9 months, which comes out almost 900 grams per month and that is something that is possible to achieve naturally.
So in conclusion,
To achieve the look of the “man of steel” it takes time, patience and consistency. Once you have implemented and persisted with the principles that are written in this article, over time you will see that you will begin to see improvement on your physique.
And remember: IF YOU CANT MEASURE IT- YOU CAN NOT HAVE IT
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