So there are a ton of great articles on Henry Cavill's workout for Superman. Interestingly, most of them focus on the brutal "metabolic" workouts he did. That's only half the story. And I always like to tell the other half of the story that everyone else missed.
Metabolic workouts are just workouts where you weight train with circuits, usually for time, for a set amount of time, or in intervals. But also can be supersets or giant sets with compressed rest.
But we're not going to talk about that.
We're going to talk about the numbers. I like things that can be quantified. When you look at the numbers, it actually shows you exactly how close or how far away you are from getting a Superman body. If you know where you are at, and where you have to go, then you've got a road map to the body you want.
Superman's Strength Stats (In Real Life)
Muscle and Fitness reports that with his trainer Mark Twight at Gym Jones, Henry Cavill hit these numbers:
His Deadlift went from under 300 pounds (starting) to 435 pounds
Cavill's Push Press hit 245 pounds
His Back Squat got up to 365 pounds
Cavill Front Squatted a brutal 10 sets of 10 reps with 225 pounds
and his "Heavy" Front Squat day was 4 sets of 4 reps with 305 pounds
What most people reading this should learn is that they actually have a strength deficit to getting the body they want.
That Henry Cavill got pretty awesomely strong.
He didn't get powerlifter strong, but you go into most gyms and almost no-one is putting up these kinds of numbers. And the people are putting up these kinds of numbers are either superhero jacked, or they are super fat - depending on how their diet looks.
Superhero Jacked or Super Fat
So the people who lift this heavy are either muscular and jacked, or they are super fat. Here's what's up:
Henry Cavill ate between 5000-6000 calories per day of good food (lean meats, fruits, veggies), and he slept 9 hours per night. Mandatory.
Mark Twight was quoted as saying "Do you want to be f*cking Superman or not?" That the sleep might be the most important part of it.
Strength for Muscle Gain: Check Yo' Self
I know some bodybuilding coaches who say that "It's not about how much you lift, it's about how you lift it." And then you dig deeper and find out that they had a phase of their life that they powerlifted, and that's why when they are bodybuilding they lift so much effing weight.
Strength standards are a common conversation among strength coaches. What's the minimum strength we need athletes to have to be able to play this game.
I've talked about strength standards for fat loss - if you are strong enough to hit your fat loss goals.
Look at Henry Cavill's numbers above - Deadlifting 435, Push Pressing 245, and Front Squatting 225 for 10x10
If you have huge strength gaps between your numbers and his, and you want a Superman body, the first place to start might be to work up your strength to that range. This are legit long term goals, and worth putting in the time for.
If you can already hit those strength numbers, and you don't have a superman body, it's time to look at your diet and your sleep.