With Man of Steel hitting our cinema screens last week, we all noticed that Henry Cavill had gotten in pretty good shape to play Superman
So obviously we wanted to know what he was up to in the gym and whether or not we could get steal any of his tricks for our routines, and thankfully this video gives us a sneak peak at what he was up to.
No surprise, a lot of this looks to be pretty old school strong man stuff, featuring kettle bells, sand bags, and good old fashioned pull ups.
According to what Cavill and trainer Mark Twight told Men’s Health, they used the ‘tailpipe’ method, which was based around doing a 100 rep set (four different sets of exercises at 25 reps each) and taking 8 deep and controlled breaths through your nose in between each set. These exercises should all be done using a 16kg kettlebell, but if you’re not up for that yet, you can go lighter so that you get all the reps in.
You start with goblet squats using either a dumbbell or kettlebell. Hold it with your palms facing upwards close to your chest, and your elbows pointing towards the floor. Make sure your knees don’t go over your toes, push your hips back as if you were sitting down on a chair and bend your knees to lower yourself down. Here’s a quick explanation on how to get the form right on that one.
Next is the kettlebell swing. There are plenty of mistakes made on this one so form is going to be key. Set your feet shoulder with apart, and hinge at your hips, making sure that your back remains flat and your core is tight. Pull your shoulders back, pinching the blades together, and when swinging the kettlebell between your legs, make sure that you keep the kettlebell high and not down close to your knees. The power for the swing should come from your hips, and since this one can be complicated, don’t be afraid to ask a trainer at the gym to show you the proper form.
After that go for squat thrusts. Get into a squat position with your feet slightly more than shoulder with apart, squat down until you can touch the ground with your hands, and kick backwards explosively into a pushup position. From there, kick your legs forward again and jump back into a squat position where you started.
Finally, finish off the set with good old-fashioned jumping jacks, and remember that you should do a set of 25 of each of these exercises, with 8 breaths after each set (including after the jumping jacks).
This is a ciruit that you can put at the end of your regular workout to really make sure you’ve had a hard day’s work in the gym. Nutrition will also be a key part, and that means getting plenty of essential fatty acids (which you get get from avocados and whole nuts), and good sources of protein like salmon and tuna, as well as chicken or turkey. Throwing some broccoli in the mix can’t hurt either.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
