Henry Cavill Man of Steel Workout 3: Arms & Shoulders

If you have not read the first two parts, you may do so here: 

Henry Cavill Man of Steel Workout: Chest & Back

Henry Cavill Man of Steel Workout 2: Legs & Abs

Superset 1:  Bicep Curls/Tricep Extension
Superset 2:  Bent Over Delt Raise/Shoulder Shrugs
Superset 3:  Hammer Curls/Triceps Kickback
Superset 4:  Concentration Curls/Laying Triceps Press (One Arm)
Superset 5:  Reverse Curls/Triceps Pushdown
Superset 6:  Shoulder Press/Lateral Raise

Henry Cavill Man of Steel Workout 2: Legs & Abs

If you have not read the first article on Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel workout, do so here before reading this one: Henry Cavill Man of Steel Workout: Chest & Back

I explained how the sets, reps and weight works in the last article, so be sure to read that one first, before going over this one.

Superset 1:  Squats/Leg Raise
Superset 2:  Lunges/Crunch
Superset 3:  Dead Lift/Side Bends
Superset 4:  Toe Raise/Ab Roll out
Back Extension

After you have finished the weight lifting portion of this workout, end with 20 minutes of moderate cardio of your choice.

Henry Cavill Man of Steel Workout: Chest & Back

Looking to get into Henry Cavill (the new Superman) shape?  Try this Man of Steel workout!  Henry Cavill’s Superman workout heavily consisted of supersets (doing 2 exercises back to back) and working opposing muscle groups together (chest/back, biceps/triceps, etc.).  You move fast during this workout, only taking a 1 – 2 minute break between each superset.  You also do not move on to the next series of exercises until you finished every set of the one you are on.  There are 3 basic workouts in this program and you will want to workout 4 days a week (simply starting the program over once finished with the third workout).

There is room to play around with your exercises in this workout.  For instance, if you don’t have the ability to do the bench press, you can substitute in push ups instead.  If you do substitute in an exercise, just make sure it works the same muscle group as the exercise you are exchanging out.  You are looking to lift heavy here so find a weight you can only do 6 – 10 reps with.  If you can do more than 10, lift heavier.  Henry Cavill also went on a high calorie diet (5,000 calories a day) made up of healthy foods and consisting of a high protein intake.  The following is a basic Chest & Back workout (but again, you can put in any exercises you like, just push yourself):

Superset 1:  Bench Press/Barbell Row
Superset 2:  Incline Bench Press/Pull Ups
Superset 3:  Dumbbell Chest Press/One Arm Back Row
Superset 4:  Dumbbell Fly/Rear Delt Raise

How To Get Six Pack Abs (Part 2)

Okay, after having everything in place that I mentioned from the last article, it’s time to build up your abs so you can see that shield of muscle you have built up.  There are lots of different abs exercises one can do, but you mainly just need to make sure you are working every section of your abs.  When you break it down, you basically have the top (the part people think of with a sixpack), the sides (obliques) and the lower abdominal area.  You want to work all three of these sections.

To work your upper abs, there is nothing better than the classic crunch.  You just need to be careful and not pull your own neck when performing these.  Your abs themselves should be handling moving your body.  You can see how to perform a proper crunch here:  How to do a perfect crunch  When you are a little more advanced, you can perform a crunch on a swiss ball or use weighted resistance as well (by holding a weight plate behind your head).

To work your obliques, you can do what is called a Side Bend.  For your lower abs, perform a Leg Raise  When you are more advanced with these you can switch to a hanging leg raise (same movement, you are simply hanging vertical from a pull up bar).

Follow what I gave you in the last article, along with these exercises and you will be on your way to a six pack in no time!

How To Get Six Pack Abs

Virtually everyone wants a six pack.  Six pack abs are probably the most common thing people will think of when they think of what it means to be in shape.  Before I get into any specific exercises one needs to do in order to get a six pack, I need to clear up some misunderstandings most people have.

1.  There is no such thing as spot reduction.  You can’t get rid of fat in a certain area by doing exercises for that area.  Most people still believe if you want to get rid of fat on your stomach, you have to do exercises for your stomach.  This is completely untrue.  Any exercise you do will remove fat from your entire body, but your body has certain areas where it stores the fat the most.  Simply doing crunches won’t target fat from that area.

2.  In order to lose weight to become lean enough to see your abdominal muscles you need to take in less calories.  You can do all the exercises in the world, but if you are taking in more calories than you need, you still won’t see your six pack because it will be covered in a layer of fat.  You have to reduce the amount of calories you are taking in everyday so you become more lean.  I don’t recommend drinking any at all, but just by cutting out 1 Pepsi a day, you can lose about 15lbs in a year.

3.  Working big muscle groups builds the most muscle, which in turn burns the most calories.  If you had to choose between doing squats or crunches to become lean, squats would win without question.  Doing compound exercises (squats, deadlift, bench press, pull ups, etc) will work multiple muscle groups at the same time and build the most muscle.  Muscle is a fat burning material, the more you have, the more fat you burn all day, even when you aren’t even exercising.

4.  Change your cardio.  Instead of doing low intensity exercise like walking on a treadmill for hours, switch to The Tabata Method.  This type of exercise will not only get you into better shape in much less time, but it’s not as boring and has other benefits like increasing your growth hormone production.

Next time I will get into specific exercises one can use to build up the muscles in the abdominal area.

Slow Weight Lifting for Fast Results

Have you stopped growing and making improvements during your workouts?  I have been doing something different over the last month and I have already seen results.  In fact, my chest is sore today from my workout yesterday!

What is this big secret that helps overcome plateaus?  Lift weights slowly!  Instead of burning through all of your sessions as quickly as possible, perhaps even using bad form, slow the movement down.  You will not be able to lift as heavy of a weight, but so what if it is helping you grow.

This is a simple change to make.  Using Bench Press as an example you will want to take 7 or 8 seconds to press the barbell up, then lower it over 7 or 8 seconds (this can be done with any exercise).  Not only does this allow you to use perfect form (and prevent injuries), but this puts your muscles under tension for a longer period of time, forcing you to fight gravity the whole way.  You want to aim for 8 – 12 reps.  Lower or increase your weight until you are within this range.

Do not cheat!  We are not talking about counting to 8 as quickly as you can, but a real 8 seconds period.  Another advantage of this type of training is it doesn’t allow you to cheat using momentum.  A lot of people will use a heavy weight and just swing it with the help of their entire body (this happens a lot with bicep curls).  It is called a bicep curl for a reason, you are supposed to be using your biceps (only) for the movement.

Try this method for the next 3 months and see the dramatic results!

The Tabata Method

If you are tired of wasting endless hours running on a treadmill or any other type of boring cardiovascular training I would highly suggest the Tabata method.

The Tabata method is named after its creator, Dr. Tabata, for the purpose of training Japanese Olympic athletes.  This method of exercise not only burns fat and increases your VO2max, it also helps your body produce more growth hormone (essentially the hormone that makes you young).  The bodies production of growth hormone drops like a rock starting at 30, making this type of exercise that much more important.

Here is the real kicker; not only is the Tabata method better for you than traditional cardio training, it takes less time!  Tabata is all about intensity, not time.  Just do a 3-5 minute warm up and you are ready to go.

You can use any type of exercise for Tabata training you want really (sprinting, kettlebells, etc.).  As an example I am going to use sprinting.  For 20 seconds you are going to run a sprint, then follow that with 10 seconds of rest.  Repeat that 7 more times and you are finished with 1 Tabata round.  It may not sound like much, but trust me, 4 minutes of Tabata training is HARD.

You can do this type of training between 3-5 times a week depending on your goals and what you are training for (everyday Joe or a serious athlete).

Example of multiple rounds:
Round 1:
1. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
2. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
3. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
4. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
5. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
6. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
7. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
8. Sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest

End of round 1, take 1 minute break then start round 2.

*As a beginner you may not even be able to do the 8 sprints required for round 1.  That’s okay, just do what you can depending on your fitness level.  Start with just 2 sets of sprints, instead of 8 and build from there.  And again, instead of doing sprints you can substitute anything you want.  Do 20 seconds of push ups or squats or you can even mix them and alternate each of your 8 intervals.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)