In only a few short days, the latest installment of the Avengers – Avengers 2: Age of Ultron – is hitting the theatres. Two of the cast members have incredible physiques… Can you guess who they are?
I’ll give you a hint: they have the same first name…
Yup! Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans.
Both of these actors have quite remarkable muscle development and leanness.
I would categorize them both as having the “Superhero physique”. The Superhero physique is the third and highest level of Kinobody development (Warrior being the first stage and Greek God being the second stage).
In this post, I’ll teach you how you can achieve a Thor or Captain America Avengers status muscle and physique.
Watch the Video Here
First Things First: Strength is King
There’s no shortcut to adding a ton of muscle. I’m sorry, it’s just the truth. Packing on 20 lbs of muscle in 2-3 months is… well… out of the realm of what’s possible. It’s just not in the cards.
The research doesn’t support it in the least (unless you’re regaining muscle that you lost)… Gaining a good chunk of new muscle takes months. Adding about 20 lbs of muscle takes a good year of training.
Now the only way you’re going to be able to support an extra 20 lbs of muscle is if you become a hell of a lot stronger. There’s no doubt about it. If you’re benching 150 lbs, you’re not going to add a lot of size to your chest until you can rep out 225 lbs.
It’s just really freaking hard to have a lot of muscle and be weak. Funny enough, no one really argues that. I mean, you’re not going to be able to do 100 lbs dumbbell shoulder presses (per hand) and have small shoulders.
However, most muscle building workouts people follow don’t focus on the number one driver of muscle growth: Progressive overload!
Every week you want to be pushing for some type of personal record, whether it’s one more rep or an extra 5 lbs on the bar. If you do this week after week, you will gain muscle consistently.
This is why I recommend lifting only three times per week (to maximize total recovery), focusing on key movements and getting strong at them and using a reverse pyramid set up so you can push hard for personal records without getting burnt out.
The bottom line is this – if you’re not getting stronger week after week, your chances at building a Hollywood Superhero-worthy physique are pretty much all but gone.
Leanness Over Mass
When it comes to looking like a real-life superhero, or even playing one on the big screen, leanness trumps mass. It doesn’t matter if you’re 220 lbs, no one cares – it’s the look that you have.
Russell Crowe in Gladiator probably had about 20 lbs on Brad Pitt in Troy, but no one was talking about the “Gladiator workout”. Everyone wanted to look like Achilles.
Well, the same goes for building the Superhero Body. Leanness and proportion beat mass. And in order to have great leanness and proportion, you’re going to often weigh a lot less than you’d expect.
Why? Because body fat and waist measurement need to be very low. This is what will support great definition, muscle shape and this is what will create the illusion of being a lot bigger than you are.
Don’t obsess with packing on the pounds. That will kill the chance of you looking like a superhero. Instead, take the weight gain slowly to ensure little to no fat gain.
If you’re getting stronger and progressing on your workouts, you’ll be building muscle and supporting an awesome physique (don’t worry about adding weight quickly)
Pack on Muscle in the Right Areas
Focus on packing on muscle in a way that will have the most powerful effect.
For the Superhero look, you want to build just enough size on the upper back to support a great V shape. This can be accomplished with a regular dose of heavy weighted pullups (building up to the 100-Pound Club).
You also want to build some big, rounded superhero-worthy shoulders. This requires a combination of heavy shoulder presses and high volume lateral raises and rear delts.
The third most important area to build is the upper chest. A thick and full upper chest gives you a powerful, aesthetic and masculine appearance. Your chest will look like a plate of armour or even a superhero suit.
I recommend focusing primarily on heavy incline presses to develop the upper chest. Another great movement is to do hybrid incline dumbbell flyes or Kino Flyes (featured at the end of this post).
Finally, if you want to fill out your sleeves and have a great looking set of arms, you’ll need to do ample curls and triceps extensions. That said, this is the icing on top of the cake.
Building a great upper chest, shoulders and back will naturally support good looking arms. The direct arm work will take things to another level.
Prioritize Two Key Muscle Groups
During a Superhero-style bulking program, I recommend prioritizing two muscle groups that you really want to build quickly.
People make the mistake of trying to get huge fast everywhere, at the same time. As a result, they see little to no progress. The idea is to make slow and steady progress on your entire physique, while making dramatic results on two muscle groups.
For Thor, I would focus heavily on the upper back and shoulders (Hemsworth has an awesome upper back and shoulder development). Therefore, these two muscle groups would be hit with more volume than the rest of the physique.
For Captain America, I would focus heavily on building the chest and biceps. This seems to be where Chris Evans muscle has the best development. In both cases, these guys would be slowly adding muscle to their entire frame.
Only their prioritized muscles would be growing the fastest. What you’d notice is with Thor muscle – his back and shoulders would pop out and strike you. With Captain America, you’d be blown away by his chest and biceps.
Utilize Rest Pause Training on Prioritized Muscle Groups
To take muscle gains to the next level, we’d want to do a form of ‘pump training’ to maximize fluid-based muscle growth (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy). The most efficient and effective form of pump training is known as rest pause training.
This is where you pick a weight you can do for 10-15 reps. After this ‘activation set’ you rest only about 10-20 seconds. Using the same weight, you rep out about 3-6 reps. Rest 10-20 seconds, perform another mini set of 3-6 reps. Rest and repeat for a total of 4 mini sets.
This protocol works so well because it allows you to maintain a high degree of muscle fiber recruitment with a relatively light weight. This almost gives you the benefits of heavy weight training and the benefits of lighter weight training – in one simple protocol.
Bonus – Rest Pause Movements for a Thor Physique
Here are my favorite rest pause movements for a Thor physique. These exercises are going to focus on providing more volume onto the shoulders and back.
These are supplemental exercises in nature, and are to be performed in addition to heavy compound movements.
Movement #1: Cable Lateral Raises
//www.instagram.com/p/xC_hlMFnV0/
Movement #2: Incline DB Lateral Raises (No Cables No Problem)
Movement #3: DB Cuban Presses (to Destroy the Lateral & Rear Delts)
Movement #4: Sternum Pull ups or Seated Cable Rows (for a Great Back)
Rest Pause Movements for a Captain America Physique
The following movements are my favorites for building a Captain America physique. These exercises are going to hit the chest and biceps beautifully.
These are supplemental exercises in nature, and are to be performed in addition to heavy compound movements.
Movement #1: Kino Flyes or Machine Flyes (for a great chest)
Movement #2: Pull-Down Machine Curls
Movement #3: Kino Curls (No pull down machine, no problem)
Super Big News
Oh yeah and super big news!
I know how excited people are about the launch of the Avengers movie. And I know how naturally, people are going to want to be more motivated than ever before to take their strength and muscle gains to superhero status.
So, I decided to do something special… I decided to let people get my latest muscle building course – the Superhero Bulking Program -for $30 dollars off… Yep, for a limited time (because of the Avengers 2 movie coming out) it’s now only $47.
And I rarely – like RARELY – ever discount my Superhero Bulking Program.
It’s simply packed with so much value, that it’s worth its weight in gold. That said, I want you to take action and achieve the superhero physique. So if this gives you the kick in the butt you need, then I’m happy!
Your Own Team of Avengers
What’s even BETTER is that I’m starting an elite Facebook group for my Superhero Bulking Program…
It’s called “Project Hollywood Physique”.
This is where you can interact with other people following the program, ask me questions, share progress and share pictures of your meals or clips from the gym.
It’s going to be the most awesome thing ever. It will be like having your own team of Avengers to get jacked with you. But to get access to the elite group, you need to be on the Superhero Bulking Program.
If you haven’t picked it up yet, click here to get access to superhero bulking.
(You’ll get the invite to the exclusive FB group in the member’s area, so you’ll be able to join it right away.)
NEW Article - Get Shredded on 2 Workouts Per Week
How I stayed lean while gaining muscle traveling Europe this summer, training just 2 times per week. You need to try this. Click Here to Read...
*Training just 2 times per week has allowed me to gain strength and muscle at rate I never knew was possible.
Makes it easier to stay lean as well. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but let me show you precisely the body part split I’m using.