Think you have what it takes to get as ripped as David Corenswet did for "Superman"? Once you find out how intense his workouts were, you might just decide to stick with your usual routine.
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00:00Think you have what it takes to get as ripped as David Cornsweat did for Superman?
00:04Once you find out how intense his workouts were, you might just decide to stick with
00:08your usual routine.
00:09"'Ain't nobody got time for that!"
00:11How long did Cornsweat have to get ready for filming?
00:14Paolo Mussitti, the actor's personal trainer, told British GQ that he and Cornsweat started
00:19meeting five months prior to the start date.
00:22Did this end up being enough time?
00:23Obviously, yes, but the journey wasn't easy.
00:26To get Cornsweat into super shape, Mussitti prescribed incline dumbbell presses, bench
00:32presses, leg raises, and incline running, among other high-intensity techniques.
00:37Mussitti said,
00:38"'If you're trying to gain size, your focus should be on big, compound moves.
00:42You need to progressively overload the muscles, which means lifting heavier and heavier weights
00:46each time.
00:47And my obsession is getting a full range of motion, which involves really controlling
00:51the negatives.'"
00:53Cornsweat showed an impressive work ethic while preparing for his role.
00:56The actor trained by himself for two hours each day while also fitting in three to four
01:01weekly sessions with Mussitti, and that was on top of a loaded filming schedule.
01:06According to Mussitti, Cornsweat was determined to look the part.
01:09He told British GQ,
01:10"'He's 6'4, but we wanted to put more bulk on him.
01:13He probably went from 200 pounds to 240 pounds, but some of that mass will shed as he continues
01:19to tone up.'"
01:21Cornsweat's determination more than likely came from the fact that playing the Man of
01:24Steel is a dream come true for him.
01:27While responding to comments about physical similarities between himself and Henry Cavill
01:30in 2019, Cornsweat told Entertainment Weekly,
01:34"'My pie-in-the-sky ambition' is definitely to play Superman."
01:39Mussitti believes that it's a part the actor was meant to play.
01:42The trainer said,
01:43"'He is Superman.
01:44James Gunn is amazing at casting people and this guy was born to be Superman.
01:49Like any cast or crew member, David is the nicest guy and, I think, the perfect Superman.'"
01:55As anyone who is trying to pack on muscle will tell you, what you're eating is just
01:59as important as what you're lifting.
02:01Being that Mussitti is, of course, very well aware of this, he made sure Cornsweat was
02:06getting everything he needed in terms of food.
02:08He told British GQ,
02:10"'You need to be in a caloric surplus to provide the building blocks of muscle.'"
02:14However, sometimes he was shocked to find out that Cornsweat had been straying outside
02:18of the diet he advised.
02:20Mussitti revealed,
02:21"'He was on around 6,000 calories a day and his diet was strict, but not as strict as
02:26I would have liked.
02:27We'd speak remotely and I'd ask him about his diet and he'd be eating cereal.
02:31He'd ask, what's wrong with cereal?
02:33But that's why he's the perfect Superman.
02:35He has a realistic expectation of himself in the role.'"
02:38If 6,000 calories sounds like a lot, you might be surprised to learn that some superhero
02:42actors have even more than that during their training period.
02:45Mussitti's client, Fula Borg, was consuming a whopping 7,000 calories a day while getting
02:51in shape for the Suicide Squad, which was due to his fast metabolism.
02:54"'Does sound horrible.'"
02:57Despite his willingness to go hard during his months of training, Cornsweat wasn't able
03:01to give himself over to his new workout program entirely.
03:05He still had other obligations to fulfill, and that meant taking time to train even when
03:09he and Mussitti were many miles apart.
03:12As such, Cornsweat resorted to working out over FaceTime whenever he wasn't in L.A. to
03:16do it in person.
03:18Mussitti's flexibility shows that he is focused on putting the needs of his client first.
03:23And while that includes working around filming and travel, it also means building sessions
03:27that work toward specific goals.
03:29He told British GQ,
03:30"'We focus on moments like presses, pull-ups, pull-downs, rows, all the big ones.
03:36We switched a little bit after a while, but kept that focus on progressive overload to
03:40encourage muscle growth, keeping track of reps and weight and trying to advance each
03:44week.
03:45It's a simple approach, but it's tried and tested."
03:47According to the veteran trainer, there are a lot of fads that don't always get results.
03:52He said,
03:53"'A lot of trainers online are looking for the next best thing, but it's not about showy
03:57moves.
03:58It's about mastering the exercise and focusing on things like full range of motion, mastering
04:02the negative, stretching, and trying to progress in weight and reps.'"
04:07As for how the exercises were split up, Mussitti told British GQ that Corn Sweat's schedule
04:12consisted of a push day, a pull day, and then a leg day.
04:16According to NBC's Better, Mussitti's strategy of mixing up the routine comes with its benefits.
04:21Fitness instructor and food coach Liz Barnett told the outlet,
04:24"'The body works in different energy systems, so it's important to vary strength and cardio,
04:29mobility and flexibility training.
04:31Many workouts focus on one thing more than another, so it's good to change it up.'"
04:35There are, however, some downsides to this approach.
04:38Workout coach Dan Trink believes that constantly switching up exercise classes can sometimes
04:43have a negative impact on a client's momentum.
04:46If you're in it strictly to have fun or as a form of socializing, that's great.
04:50Have a ball.
04:51If you're looking to maximize your fitness, however, you can fall into the trap of mixing
04:55it up at the expense of actually making progress, getting better, and reaching your goals.
05:00In the end, it all comes down to what works best for you and what you're hoping to achieve
05:04in the long run.
05:05"'Just doing my workout, Tuesday's arms and back.'"
05:09Just as no Superman movie is the same, every actor who plays the Man of Steel takes a different
05:14route in terms of getting into shape for the coveted part.
05:16Coren Sweat and Henry Cavill may look similar, but their approaches to tackling Superman's
05:21larger-than-life muscles were quite different.
05:24While Mussitti told British GQ that Coren Sweat was naturally lean before they started
05:28their work, Cavill walked into the role with an even leaner figure due to a previous project,
05:33weighing in at 170 pounds, 30 pounds shy of Coren Sweat's starting weight.
05:38Coren Sweat and Mussitti hit the ground running with intense workouts, while Cavill and his
05:42trainer, Mark Twight, decided to slowly ramp things up over the course of their first two
05:46months together.
05:48Twight told Muscle & Fitness,
05:49"...stable fitness requires a wide, solid foundation.
05:53The deeper that foundation, the more stable that condition will be and the easier it is
05:57to maintain."
05:58As for their schedule, Cavill and Twight did their best to meet five days a week.
06:03They squeezed in two training sessions on these days, which is very different from Coren
06:07Sweat's three to four sessions per week with Mussitti.
06:10Twight also demanded that Cavill get 10 hours of sleep so that his muscles had adequate
06:14time to recover.
06:15One thing the actors had in common, though, was that they both focused heavily on squats.
06:20No matter who ends up playing Superman, the guy's gotta have legs that look strong enough
06:24to propel him up into the stratosphere at a moment's notice, right?
06:28Before Coren Sweat or Cavill, there was one actor who perfectly embodied the role of Superman
06:33and became synonymous with the big-screen version of this character.
06:36Christopher Reeve first flew onto the big screen as Clark Kent in 1978's Superman, ushering
06:41in a new type of superhero movie.
06:43"...Easy, miss.
06:44I've got you."
06:45"...You've got me?
06:46Who's got you?"
06:49He would continue to play the role over the course of almost ten years, starring in Superman
06:532, Superman 3, and Superman 4 Quest for Peace, which was released in 1987.
06:59In a 1998 interview with Ability magazine, Reeve explained that he had to gain 30 pounds
07:04for the role, just 10 pounds shy of Coren Sweat's goal.
07:07And, like the new Superman, the changes made to Reeve's diet and exercise were immediate,
07:12including a new weightlifting routine.
07:14Like Paolo Massidi, Reeve's trainer David Prowse, the same David Prowse who played Darth
07:18Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, also focused on simple exercises that were staples
07:24of many workouts.
07:25In many ways, Coren Sweat's approach to getting into Superman shape was more similar to Reeve's
07:29than it was to Cavill's, which may come as a shock, considering the time gap and overall
07:34difference in standards for men's physiques when it comes to playing caped crime fighters.
07:39Think Paolo Massidi's expertise was only utilized for Coren Sweat's benefit?
07:43Think again.
07:44Turns out, he was tasked with training other cast members, too, including Maria Gabriela
07:48de Feria, Sara Sampaio, and Nicholas Holt.
07:52De Feria plays shapeshifter Angela Spicca, also known as the Engineer, Sampaio portrays
07:58Eve Tessmacher, and of course, no big Superman story is complete without Lex Luthor, played
08:03by Holt, who has already proven that he can play a bald guy with a plum.
08:07What a lovely day!
08:09De Feria posted a video to Instagram showing herself and Sampaio working out with a caption
08:13that reads,
08:14"'Facetime session with Paolo Massidi on a Saturday because, as Paolo would say, nobody
08:20cares about your sad stories, do five more.'"
08:23Massidi told British GQ that the cast of Superman sometimes joins in with Coren Sweat's specifically
08:29tailored routines.
08:31The trainer also does solo workouts with cast members, depending on what the schedule looks
08:35like.
08:36He explained,
08:37"...there are times where David is really busy so I train Nick and others without him and
08:40other times when it's just been Nick and I together.
08:43There's no specific plan, but they're all welcome to join in with whatever they're doing,
08:47whoever is there."
08:49Motivation can be a key to starting and completing a workout, and having fun can be the jump
08:54starter that keeps that motivation going.
08:56Massidi told British GQ that there is plenty of room for competition when the Superman
09:00cast gets together, and that includes when Coren Sweat and Holt battle it out in the
09:04gym.
09:05He said,
09:06"...it's really fun.
09:07It's a very easy environment to work at."
09:10Put all of his strategies together and out comes a winning workout recipe, which is evident
09:14in the results.
09:15In an Instagram post, the trainer shared an image of Coren Sweat flexing his massive arm
09:20muscles that got the internet buzzing.
09:22That same post also includes the reveal of Coren Sweat's muscles in the famous super
09:26suit, with a caption that reads,
09:28"...David Coren Sweat worked his a** off."
09:31I can't wait to share more of the training we did to prepare to play this iconic character.
09:36Stay tuned for more.