Famous for his portrayal of Clark Kent, a.k.a Superman in the DC franchise, the infamous Man of Steel takes on another physically harrowing role as a legendary Witcher— an itinerant monster slayer for hire.
After seeing Henry Cavill play as usually conserved characters, it’s a refresher to witness him spice it up with a horror-themed fantasy-adventure role. However, the actor has never deviated away from one thing, that his almost inevitable choice of roles enables him to flaunt every inch of his rippling muscles. We got Immortals, Superman, and Mission: Impossible, to name a few. He definitely knows how to use his assets to his advantage. Give him the opportunity to pull out his guns, and he will—as he should. The man is jacked.
It’s easy to see how the 37-year-old Henry Cavill, with his sculpture-like facial features and greek god-like physique, got the producer’s approval to play the Nordic-inspired protagonist, Geralt of Rivia.
So, how does Henry Cavill achieve his almost literal body of steel? Is this even an achievable feat? In this article, we’ll go over Henry’s workout plan, diet and teach you how to workout like the Witcher himself!
Disclaimer:
Before anything, please remember that actors, especially those in action genres, are paid in huge amounts to look the way they do. It is best to always take their workout routine, diets, and other means of physical enhancement with a grain of salt. Steroids or Testosterone Replacement Therapy are viable ways to effectively increase muscle mass with visually significant results in a short period of time.
Now, we’re not implying that Henry Cavill or any other actors mentioned in our articles default to steroid use. We wouldn’t want to discredit all of the efforts he placed to look as good as he did for the role of Geralt.
Regardless, it is best to always keep an open mind with transformations like this. Not everyone is capable of putting in the necessary hours to work out. For actors with limited timeframes and deadlines, the convenience of using supplements to look the part is more practical.
What is Henry Cavill?
So, what is Henry Cavill? For starters, the man is British, giving him an automatic leg up in the sex appeal department. Add that to the fact that he is incredibly easy on the eyes and towers over 184.2 cm (6ft and a half), and you’ve got the perfect character to play an all-powerful, magic-enhanced sword-wielding badass.
This man takes his workout and diet very seriously, and he’s got the physique to prove it. Outside working out, here are a few things Henry does to stay in shape.
The actor weighs an appropriate 92 kg and consumes a whopping 5,000 calories every day to maintain and get to his Witcher size.
Sources reveal that Cavill performed fasted cardio to prevent water retention and enhance muscle leanness. In an interview, he also mentioned focusing his efforts on challenging his hyperextensions, supersizing his shoulders, and improving his posterior region.
For his role, Henry strengthened his core and shoulders to keep up with all the complex swordplay his character had to accomplish.
As with all his previous roles, Henry showed strong commitment in going to great lengths to keep his body in tip-top shape. Although it’s an admirable but daunting task for a lot of us, it’s not the most impossible thing in the world.
Henry Cavill: His Genetics
Next up, we look at the varying genetic features that contribute to this actor’s hulky body image.
When you look at Henry Cavill, you must suppress the urge to drop your jaw in order to fully see that he has gifted proportions and a near-perfect shoulder to waist ratio. The actor possesses a well-defined v-taper or Dorito physique, which is further highlighted by the shoulder workouts he’s been doing for the Witcher.
Henry Cavill definitely won the genetic lottery; his muscle insertions are evident and his physique on and off the screen are both impressive.
The man is a walking mountain. While we admit that his genes gave him an advantageous start body-wise, the defining factor of achieving a similar physique is still through maintaining a healthy workout and diet. So, if you don’t have the best genetics, don’t kick the bucket just yet because we’re here to help you!
Henry Cavill’s Workout Plan
Moving on, here we finally tackle Henry Cavill’s Witcher workout routine!
To start, Henry typically spends about six out of seven days working out while usually allocating his Sundays for rest.
Unfortunately, we do not have a copy of Henry’s complete workout routine. It seems like the actor only mentions his five favorite exercises whenever he’s asked about his program. We decided to include them down below and let you know what muscle group they target, so you can just add them into your current workout plan.
Along with that, we also took the liberty of providing his cardio routine and workout circuits.
Fasted Cardio (Pre-workout)
Now, before we get to the workout that gives you the strength to cleave through boulders, we kickstart the routine with an innovative twist to cardio. In order to get more ripped for the role, Henry used fasted cardio to bulk up then maintain his weight.
This means working out when the body has yet to process or digest food, typically after waking up. This increased the actor’s ability to burn fat throughout the day.
Unlike Henry, who had to get up at 3 am to begin his fasted cardio due to time constraints, you can easily integrate this exercise without blaring an alarm at 3 am. Working up a sweat at the treadmill or biking for 20 minutes is all you need to ignite your efficient fat loss cardio workout.
Note: do not exceed 60 minutes without eating, opt for moderate to low-intensity workouts, and keep yourself hydrated to avoid fainting and injuring yourself.
Henry Cavill does fasted cardio pretty much every day of the week.
Warm-Up
Now, we first start with the following warm-up routine to get the heart pumping:
- 5-minute Stationary bike ride
- 10-meter Alternating kicks
- 10-meter High knees
- 10-meter Butt kicks
- 10-meter Bear crawls
- 10-meter Walking Lunges
- 10-meter Dynamic Lunges
The numbers look daunting, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. Although the warm-up is generally the simplest and quickest part of the workout, it seems like Henry has his full of complex full-body movements.
The Stationary Bike
Make sure you’ve built up your fitness before attempting interval training with the stationary bike. You can boost your strength and stamina through interval training by following the steps below.
Start pedaling at a low-intensity rate,then gradually progress to medium intensity before moving on to high intensity. Maintain this for 5 minutes before cooling down by pedaling at a low intensity for 5-10 minutes.
This workout helps burn calories and body fat. It’s also a good option for switching up your resistance levels quickly.
Alternating Kicks
To perform this workout, begin by standing tall with your back straight, abs engaged, shoulders relaxed, arms at your sides, and elbows bent, and feet hip-width apart. Close your hands into fists and bring your hands up in front of your chin, like a boxer.Keep your arms up at all times.
Shift your weight into your right foot to prepare to kick your left leg. A proper kick has four phases: Lift your left knee toward the ceiling. Extend your left knee to straighten your leg (foot flexed). Bend your knee again. Return your foot to the floor. Repeat front kicks on this leg and alternate legs after each kick. Perform the kicks until you kick your way across 10 meters.
Great! Now let’s move on to the next set of kicks.
High Knees
Now, this exercise is a real knee breaker! High knees are cardio-intensive exercises performed at a rapid pace. It engages your core, strengthens all your leg muscles, and improves coordination and flexibility.
Stand with a foot hip-width distance. Lift the left knee up to your chest and switch to lift your right knee up your chest. Continue and alternate legs while moving at a sprinting or running pace.
For more advanced trainees, move forward in a jogging fashion while performing high knees. Make sure to swing your arms at 90-degree angles to maintain balance. Do this at a high-intensity pace while you high knee yourself across 10 meters.
Nice! Now let’s move on to the final kick.
Butt Kicks
Butt kicks can be integrated with plyometric exercise routines. Alternating them with other powerful plyometric moves such as high knees, jumping jacks, squat jumps, box jumps, plyo push-ups, or skipping will get the heart pumping real good!
Instead of keeping the thighs perpendicular to the ground, you can work slightly different muscles by integrating high kicks with your butt kicks. To perform this
Complete as many butt kicks in 3 minutes. Then, switch to doing sets of high knees within 3 minutes. Run on the spot and bring your knees up as high as you can. With butt kicks, make sure you land gently on the balls of your feet. Alternate between sets of classic butt kicks and high knees. Continue for 30 seconds to start, then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this exercise three times, making sure you rest between each set or up until reaching 10 meters.
Now you’re almost halfway through the warm-up! Let’s keep the blood flowing and move on to the Bear Crawls.
Bear Crawls
Here’s an exercise name befitting the actor’s body. 10-meter bear crawls are a bodyweight mobility exercise that uses strength in the shoulders, quads, and abdominal muscles.
Begin by positioning on all fours, lift your knees at a 90-degree angle and hover your toes an inch off the ground. Keep back flat, your legs hip-width apart, and your arms shoulder-width apart. Move one hand along with the opposite foot forward an equal distance while staying as low to the ground. Switch sides, moving the opposite hand and foot. Repeat movement while alternating sides.
To challenge yourself, move forward with added resistance and increase the speed. By the end of this exercise, you’ll be pretty tired from all the crawling, but that’s okay because we’re going to end the warm-up with a couple of lunges!
Walking Lunges
This exercise is a variation of the static lunge exercise. To perform the Walking Lunge, stand straight with your feet positioned a shoulder-width apart. Your hands can stay by your side or hips.
Step forward with your right leg first while shifting the weight into your heel. Bend your right knee so that it’s parallel to the floor in a lunge position. Pause for a bit. Without moving your right foot, move your left leg forward, repeating the same movement on the left leg.
Pause as the left leg assumes a lunge position and is parallel to the floor. Repeat this movement, “walking” forward as you lunge between alternating legs. Perform 10 to 12 reps on each leg in 2 to 3 sets. Good Job! We’re finally down to the last warm-up exercise.
Dynamic Lunges
This stretch is a dynamic way to prepare for a workout. Dynamic lunges incorporate all of the big muscle groups of your lower legs and back in one efficient stretch.
Take a nice long step forward while bringing your hands down toward your front foot. Bring the elbow of your leg that’s forward down toward the inside of your ankle and hold the position for 5-10 seconds. After that, bring both hands to either side of your front foot and straighten your knee in the front. Hold that position for 5-10 seconds. Press your back heel toward the ground. Step your back leg up to meet your front leg, and return to the starting position. Repeat with the other leg.
You can intensify your static lunge by holding a dumbbell in each hand! Start with light weights and progress when you are able to do the required reps with good form.
You must’ve worked up quite a sweat!
Circuit Training
Now, let’s get on with circuit training! This actually consists of a consecutive series of timed exercises performed immediately after the other with varying periods of rest for each exercise interval.
Henry Cavill’s first set of circuit training involves three different sets:
Set 1
- 1A: 12 Calories on the Assault Bike
- 1B: 30M Weighted Carries (25 Kg)
- Rest for 3 Minutes
Set 2
- 2A: 5 Clean and Press
- 2B: 30M Weighted Carries (20 KG)
- Rest for 2 Minutes
Set 3
- 3A: 10 Burpees
- 3B: 10 Walking Lunges
Now I know it looks like a lot, and it is. It’s also pretty fast-paced, but don’t push yourself to injury and take it slow if you’re unfamiliar with the exercises.
Set 1 – As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) 1: 5 minutes
The assault bike workout specifically targets the chest and quadriceps. Weighted carries are integral to core strengthening while maintaining an upright posture. A strong core helps maintain a firm torso that aids in restricting unnecessary spine movement.
The Assault Bike
To do this effectively, you need to alternatively pedal as fast as you can until you burn 12 calories. After that, immediately follow it up with 30 meters of weighted carries.
Weighted Carries
The core supports both the spine and pelvis. This enables you to effectively balance yourself, especially your upper body, during any activity that requires excessive physical demands.
Grab a kettlebell or dumbbell, and hold it firmly like you’d normally grip a suitcase. Keep your shoulders square and upright. Following this position, you need to maintain an upright posture as you walk with the weight at your side while consciously trying to avoid leaning. Walk a five- to 10-feet distance before putting it down. Pick it up with your other hand, and walk the distance back. Repeat the entire thing for 30 meters.
You’re probably a step closer to looking like Henry than most people by now, in terms of sweating that is.
Set 2 – As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) 2: 4 minutes
Now that we know what to do with our weighted carries, continue doing them for this set and alternate with the clean and press. The most important benefit that this exercise offers is power.
Clean and Press
Keep your feet distanced at a shoulder-width and firmly hold the barbell about two inches away from your shins. Grab the barbell in a pronated grip, meaning your palms face your body or downward. Keep your hands a shoulder-width apart and your hips pushed back.
Steady and maintain your hips down, posture your chest upward, eyes forward, and arms elongated. Keep the core firmly tight while driving your heels to pull the bar quickly up to your chest area, immediately in front of your collarbone. Let your movements be explosive and rapid when pulling the bar, all the while keeping it as close to your body as you can. This will help you pull the bar from underneath your shoulders. As the bar reaches your chest, drive through your heels again and press it directly overhead while straightening your arms and legs. Keep your core firm and tight while doing so.
Move the barbell down by following the same steps but in reverse. The clean and press targets a variety of muscles, especially since it’s a staple exercise for powerlifters. Do five of these before moving on to another 30 meters of weighted carries.
Set 3 – As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) 3: 3 minutes
Performing several burpees in a row can be exhausting, but the versatility of this exercise is definitely worth the payoff. Burpees help build strength and endurance, burn calories, and boost your cardio fitness! Walking lunges target the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, abdominal muscles, and hips.
Burpees
A standard burpee exercise targets the muscles in your legs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, arms, chest, and shoulders. Basically, your entire body. In order to perform burpees correctly and safely, begin by assuming a squat position with your knees bent, back straightened, and feet kept about a shoulder-width apart.
Burpees are a combination of pushups, high jumps, and squats. Start by assuming a pushup position. Keep the body straight from head to heel and perform one push-up. Keep in mind not to let your back sag or have your butt stick in the air. Lift yourself up from the push-up and jump as high, or at least as comfortably, as you can. Land with your knees bent and bring your body down like a squat, before getting back on the floor for another push-up.
That’s one burpee, now do 10 of them to complete your set. After you’re done with that, go ahead and do some walking lunges. Repeat this third set as many times as you can until exhaustion.
Leg Day – Glutes, Hams, and Thighs
Moving on to Henry’s five favorite exercises. Again, we couldn’t get his entire workout plan, but we managed to compile his five favorite exercises all for different body parts. Feel free to take these exercises and include them in your current routine, so you can look like the Butcher of Blaviken himself.
Let’s start off with the legs.
Romanian Deadlift with Hip Circle
Starting off this list is the Romanian deadlift. As badass as this move sounds, the benefits are even better!This exercise focuses on your hips and glutes.
To execute this deadlift, start by standing with your feet hip-width apart with a dumbbell in front of your feet. Pick up the barbell with your hands a shoulder-width apart, you can bend your knees a bit. To lift the barbell up and assume a straight standing position, you’ll need to focus on your hips and glutes to raise your upper body together with the barbell. As PG as this sounds, imagine that you were thrusting your hips forward as a way to bring your body up.
This exercise also improves dynamic flexibility, most especially in your hamstrings and lower back.
Hyperextension on Glute Hams Machine
Hyperextensions are bound to get you a well-defined bum. Begin with the prone position while holding a couple pounds of weights close to your chest (make sure to cross your arms if you’re solely doing body weight).
Next, internally rotate your shoulders and round your upper back. Focus the majority of the tension in your glutes upon contraction. While you descend, most of the tension will bundle up in your hamstrings, but you’ll definitely feel some of that burn in your glutes too.
When you reach the bottom, pause for a second, and initiate the movement again by contracting your glutes as hard as you possibly can back to the starting position. In order to visualize the process, try to imagine initiating the movement by squeezing your butt cheeks together. Always remember to keep your upper back rounded, so you don’t solely depend on your lower back for movement.
By this point, you’ve made it halfway through the training! It’s time we move on to your abs.
Abdominal Muscle Day- External Obliques
Challenge yourself by starting to aim for a 30-second hold, and then work up to 60 seconds or longer if you can. Make sure you don’t forget to get the other side of your obliques as well.
Oblique Static Hold
Oblique static holds are a killer exercise. Lie on your side with both ankles touching while you cross your arms over your chest. Follow this up with an oblique crunch by simultaneously lifting your shoulders, ankles, and knees off the ground by contracting your side. Hold that position for as long as you can.
When you get to complete a 60-second hold, insert a 5-pound weight plate between your ankles while holding another one to your chest. You can progress later on and work up by adding a 10-pound plate.
Upper Body Day – Shoulders and Biceps
For Henry’s upper body exercises, these are his two favorite exercises for the shoulder and biceps.
3-Way Shoulder Raise
The three-way shoulder raise is Henry’s method of targeting all three shoulder muscle groups with one exercise.
Start in a standing position with each dumbbell held in place on either side of you. Raise the dumbbells out to the side, parallel to your shoulders until they are shoulder height. Next, raise the dumbbells again, but this time about 45 degrees forward to your chest from the previous rep. Finally, raise the dumbbells directly in front of you for the third rep.
Alternating between these three positions targets your posterior, lateral, and anterior deltoid muscles, respectively.
You’re almost finished, time for the last stretch.
Half-Iso Alternating Dumbbell Curl
While that title for a dumbbell curl might sound like a mouthful, don’t fret! It’s not as complicated as it seems.
To do this exercise, simply start by holding a pair of dumbbells in your hand. Lift one dumbbell up like a normal curl, and on its way down, lock your elbows in a 45 degree angle. The dumbbell should be a couple of inches away from your shoulders and your bicep should be in tension. On your other hand, lift that dumbbell up as well and bring it down, before locking it in the same angle. With both your elbows locked, lower the first dumbell you raised and repeat the motion for a complete rep.
The point of this exercise is to continue doing a dumbbell curl while taking advantage of the isometric stress and tension that locking the dumbbell leaves on our biceps.
Congratulations on making it through the week!
Henry Cavill’s Diet
The workout plan makes up only a part of the entire process in looking like Geralt of Rivia. Just as important or even more so is the diet plan.
Here’s a detailed sample meal plan for Cavill includes the following:
- Meal One – five egg whites, two egg yolks, eight oz. steak + pink Himalayan salt, Oatmeal protein shake.
- Meal Two- A scoop and a half of protein powder + ½ cup cottage cheese, two cups grapes, Handful of sunflower seeds.
- Pre-Workout – Nespresso;
- Post-Workout- Whey isolate protein shake, A scoop of protein powder, Peanut butter, Almond or cashew milk, A scoop of maltodextrin/sugar,
- Meal Three (Lunch Hour)- Curry-style Chicken, Potatoes in avocado oil, Jasmine rice, Apple.
- Meal Four (4:00 PM)- Roast chicken breast, Roast potatoes with curry sauce,
- Meal Five (Dinner Hour), Bison steak, Brown rice pasta.
The actor has also owed some of his gains by taking a few supplements namely: multivitamins, fish oil, probiotics, and magnesium.
Frequently Asked Questions about Henry Cavill’s Workout
Should I take any precautions?
Some of these exercises will require a lot of precautions, especially the explosive Romanian deadlift and the 3-way shoulder raise. We suggest taking your time with these exercises by utilizing a lower weight.
Is the Henry Cavill workout realistic?
Henry Cavill’s workout is semi-realistic. He focuses on circuit training and heavy compound exercises a lot, which isn’t too hard. But, Henry works out six out of seven days, which may not be realistic for many.
How can I get started on the Henry Cavill workout?
Henry Cavill’s complete workout is a miss, but he’s shared his top five Witcher workout exercises that anyone can do. You can get started by looking for a basic program that you’d like to do and simply incorporate some of Henry’s workouts into that training program.
A Final Word From Energetic Lifestyle
Henry Cavill is a beast of a man who not only looks handsome, but has a great work ethic when it comes to work he loves doing. The actor himself has explicitly expressed his love for the Witcher franchise, so we’re not surprised that he took his training seriously.
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