Becoming Superman isn’t just about donning the cape — it’s about earning it. And after five months of hard graft in the gym and lots of food later, David Corenswet had done just that.
The actor's journey from lean to legendary for the new Superman movie involved gruelling two-hour workouts, three to four times a week, as well as a lot of calories – up to 4,500 a day! In fact, the 32-year-old got so jacked that he told GQ it felt “claustrophobic” trying to fit into his Superman suit come filming.
“They had built my costume based on my screen test measurements, where I was 6'4" and 195 pounds, and then I showed up four months later, five months later, still 6'4" but 240 pounds," he said.
So, what did Corenswet do to get into Kryptonian shape?
Becoming Superman
Corenswet sculpted his physique under the watchful eye of celebrity trainer Paolo Mascitti, who’s also whipped stars like Tom Ellis, Nicole Scherzinger, and Christian Slater into peak shape.
The actor followed a traditional push, pull, legs split so that he was able to focus on specific muscle groups, whilst ensuring he built a balanced physique.
An Instagram post by Mascitti shows it included lots of compound movements, like pull-ups, rows, squats and presses. Plus, isolation exercises, like tricep pull downs and lat raises to build those boulder shoulders and thick arms that every superhero needs to take down their nemesis.
As with every strength, muscle-building program, Mascitti said progressive overload and eating in a calorie surplus were key for Corensweat’s progress, and that they tried to shift reps or weight of each exercise every week.
It wasn’t just a battle with physical strength that Corensweat endured; showing up day in day out to undertake hours of training was a mental challenge too. He told GQ: “There is a certain loneliness and isolation that comes at the gym. It's just you against the heavy weights."
And yet, that solitary grind is exactly what transformed Corenswet into the Man of Steel. It wasn’t just about looking the part, it was about embodying Superman’s relentless discipline and resilience.
Here’s one of his push day workouts, so you too can build superhero-level strength and size.
The Superman workout
Exercises with 'A' and 'B' are supersets, where you perform the two exercises back to back, or with a short rest period inbetween (30-60 seconds). We'd rest for 2-2.5 minutes between sets.
- 1. Incline Dumbbell Press – 4 x 10 reps
- 2A. Bench Press – 4 x 10 reps
- 2B. Cable Fly – 4 x 10 reps
- 3A. Overhead Shoulder Press – 4 x 10 reps
- 3B. Lateral Raise – 4 x 10 reps
- 4. Reverse Tricep Extension – 4 x 10 reps
