Superhero Physique Workout And Tactics To Looking Awesome
At 192 lbs and 11-12% body fat, I am nearly in superhero condition! I have moulded my physique to the exact specifications I desire. Even at a higher body fat, my physique exudes a masculine like dominance with sex appeal still intact.
This of course, comes down to muscular superhero proportions, balance and symmetry, something that is lost in the modern day bodybuilding culture. I didn’t achieve this look by accident, I have tailored my lifting regime exactly to my body and how it responds to training, creating an aesthetically pleasing physique with harmony.
This requires you to maintain an objective outlook with your canvas. You might have the genetic capacity to develop huge arms, but if your shoulders aren’t going to keep up, you need to address that. If you don’t, you’ll end up looking sloppy.
How Did I Bring Myself to Superhero Status?
To bring my body from it’s current condition to superhero status, a few things need to be done.
First and foremost, I need to drop 5-6 lbs of fat so I’m sitting at a chiseled 8-9% body fat. This will do a few cool things that will change my physique completely.
Firstly, this will bring my waist down an inch, which will create a more impressive v taper and make my upper body appear bigger in comparison. Secondly, this will bring in more definition and separation throughout my body. My abs will become more visible and defined, my shoulders will have more separation, my muscles will appear harder and more toned and my face will become angular.
The one other obstacle I’m facing is that my arms are getting overpowered by my chest, shoulders and back. I will need to start hammering my biceps and triceps with more volume to get a bit of sarcoplasmic growth so my arms can hold their own. After accomplishing this my physique should go from impressive to down right fucking breathtaking. I now wish to share with you a few key tips and tactics to take your physique into superhero status!
If you’re interested in the full Superhero Bulking Program, you can check it out by clicking here.
*Your results may vary. Testimonials and examples used are exceptional results and are not intended to guarantee, promise, represent and/or assure that anyone will achieve the same or similar results.
How to get to Superhero Condition
1. Get Strong as Hell
Building strength in the 5-8 rep range will have the most profound effect on overall muscle size. You can get quick gains from high volume pump work, but there is a tight limit to how much muscle you can squeeze out without becoming stronger.
For example, how many people do you know incline dumbbell pressing 100+ lbs dumbbells who are lacking muscle? My guess, is practically none! For this reason, 80% of your training should be dedicated to getting stronger. It’s important to focus on only a few movements to build strength on otherwise you’ll just be spinning your wheels.
My emphasis has been on the incline bench press, standing shoulder press, weighted chin ups, barbell curls and close grip bench. My lifts are as follows:
Incline Bench – 255 lbs x 6
Standing Press – 185 lbs x 6
Neutral Weighted Chins* – 110 lbs x 6
Barbell Curls – 135 lbs x 6
Close Grip Bench – 260 lbs x 8
*When doing weighted bodyweight movements like chins and dips, make sure you’re using a high-quality weight belt that doesn’t mess with your focus.
Training for muscle size this way forces you to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of your training. More is not better, you’ll get the best gains with only three sessions per week and you’ll be able to maintain your gains easily off two workouts per week. When you start doing too much volume and too much nonsense your lifts will stop improving.
Not to mention, training predominately with low volume and heavy lifting gives you the ability to make rapid increases in muscle size for 4-6 weeks if you add in pump work. This is a great strategy to use to get the shrink wrap effect.
2. Add more volume to your most stubborn muscles
Everyone has different genetics and thus will respond differently to the same workout program. Some people will add muscle very easily to their arms but struggle to build up their chest. Others will easily develop big pecs but will have a hard time getting their shoulders to grow.
Using myself as an example, I add size without much trouble to my chest, back and legs. My shoulders and arms tend to lag behind. As a result, I do very limited direct leg work.
For my chest and back I train for strength and do very low volume. For chest I do 2 sets of incline bench and 2 sets of close grip bench or dips. For back I do 2 sets of weighted chins and 2 sets of renegade rows. Even with minimal volume, my chest and back grow as long as the weights are increasing.
As for shoulders, I like to supplement heavy RPT style lifting with fatigue oriented pump work. This allows me to hit hypertrophy from two different angles, building the muscle tissue and increasing the fluid in the muscle. As a result, my shoulders have started to become very prominent and rounded.
The next step is to start doing this with my arms to bring them up to speed. There are a few different ways to incorporate this type of volume work to stubborn muscle groups. I will cover them below
1. Standard Pyramid Training
Select a weight you can do for 12 reps. Perform 4 total sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6 reps. Rest only 30-60 seconds between sets. You can even perform an additional 2 sets of 6 reps if you have a little left in the tank.
The focus of this type of training is maximum fatigue. With only 30-60 seconds of rest you create cumulative fatigue, which is why you are performing fewer reps each set.
On my shoulders right now, I’m doing one arm cable lateral raises. I’ll do 12 reps on my left then 12 on my right, then 10 on my left and 10 on my right, I’ll go back and forth down to 8 and finally 6 reps.
When I’m doing my left arm my right arm is resting and vice versa. This is a very time efficient method and my shoulders burn like crazy. The tricky thing is that as the reps get lower the rest periods naturally shorten making for a killer workout.
The progression for this type of training will be to shorten the rest periods. Once you work your way down to only 30 seconds of rest between sets you can increase the weight to the next increment and start back up at 45-60 seconds rest between sets.
2. Rest Pause Training
The other volume training I like is rest pause. I recommend using a weight you can do for 12-20 reps.
Once you can’t do another rep you want to rack the weight. You will perform another 4-5 sets of 4-5 reps with only 10-15 seconds rest between sets.
Why this works: With exercises that you can perform for 9+ reps, you are only getting maximal muscle fiber recruitment for the last few reps. By resting only 10-15 seconds between sets, you force your body to use full muscle fiber recruitment for all the remaining sets of 4-5 reps. This is a killer strategy for building muscle size.
For arms I like to use the cables for ease of use, cable curls or triceps push downs with the rope attachment. I’ll use a weight I can do for 12-15 reps. After, I’ll bang out multiple sets of 4-5 reps with only 10-15 seconds of rest in-between. My gym has these magnetic 2.5 lbs plates so each workout I’ll add one of those to the weight stack.
Notes
You will need to determine what your stubborn or lagging muscle groups are so you can incorporate this into your training. By exclusively using this fatigue/pump work with your lagging muscle groups, you can keep your physique balanced and proportionate.
For most men, the shoulders can never get too big. Natural lifters tend to have a hard time adding lots of size to their shoulders. So I definitely recommend most guys supplement heavy shoulder pressing with high volume laterals.
You will need to determine what other one or two muscle groups are getting overshadowed. Maybe it’s your back, maybe it’s your chest or maybe it’s your arms.
3. You Need To Maintain a Taut Waist
This is huge and will make all the difference in the world! A slim, tapered waist will make your physique look incredibly more developed and muscular.
This is one of the Hollywood tricks many actors use to appear bigger than they actually are. Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Kellan Lutz have all kept their wast lines very slim and taut. In doing so, this creates the illusion of a bigger more imposing upper body.
Ideally you want your waist to be around 45% of your height. Measure your waist in the morning, relaxed, at navel level. If your waist is above 45% of your height then you will create the most profound physical change by focusing on dropping body fat and slimming up your waist.
If you need to lean up try my shredding program. I also recommend incorporating planks, kneeling abs wheel rollouts and renegade rows to strengthen your transverse abdominals. Strengthening your TVA will tighten up your waist keeping your stomach pulled in more, instead of hanging out.
Warning: You Need To Address Your Weaknesses
It’s very common for people to follow generalized routines without addressing their own individual strength and weaknesses. Many of the workouts found here on the site tend to address common issues including; over developed legs, poor upper chest and lateral deltoid development…. However, this may or may not apply to you!
In my Greek God Program I teach you how to adjust the workout routine to keep your physique balanced and aesthetically pleasing. This is something that should be reserved for people who have been strength training for 2 or more years. It takes time for your body to express it’s natural genetic code.
Your Kino Question For The Day: What body part is lagging for you? Which exercises will you use to fix it? Let me know in the comments below.
*Your results may vary. Testimonials and examples used are exceptional results and are not intended to guarantee, promise, represent and/or assure that anyone will achieve the same or similar results.
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Hey Greg! I have bought your Superhero course and been doing it for four months. I am quite lean and got nice gains, however not in gains as I seem to be eating at maintenance. However, what is your take on doing this program at maintenance calories? I mean, I eat at surplus on training days and combine it with 2 maintenance days and 2 low calories days. Adding all those calories would give me my maintenance expenditure. I want to get gains while staying at the same BF or even reducing it, as my waist has gone down 1cm! my weight is 73kg with 1.78m , bf should be anywhere near 11%. But we are approaching to summer here and I want only lean gains, eating at maintenance per week would be a recomp and that would lead to only lean gains, eating at a surplus per week may bring little fat. What do you think about my recomp strategy?
Yeah that will work quite well. Just make sure you’re progressing on the workouts and you’ll build muscle while getting leaner.
Thanks in advance for the great information and fantastic product. But, I have a question regarding replacing the weighted chin ups and pull ups in your program. I’m 58 years and have suffered several injuries over my 35 years in law enforcement. I have had two surgeries to rebuild my right shoulder, which has left me without enough current strength to do pull ups and chin ups. I’ve been working to rebuild my shoulder and back strength using overhead presses and weighted dips, which don’t seem to bother my shoulders. My question then, is what exercises can I incorporate into your program to temporarily replace pull ups / chin ups until I regain the strength in my upper body to start doing them again.
Thanks,
Bill
Hey Bill, good question! I would suggest doing lat pull downs to replace chin ups and pull ups. That’s the best alternative.
Hey what do you do for your obliques??
Greets from Italy
Martin
Nothing directly right now.
your workout in the site kinowear,is it a workout of super hero?is it reliable?
Yep
Hey greg,
Im curious what dip belt you use. I have a 60lb weighted vest that ive just maxed out for neutral chin ups ( my gains started accelerating rapidly after starting your course! ) so i’m ready for a dip belt and the one you have has room for plenty of plates and obviously holds the weight well.
Thanks!
Not sure… I just picked it up at a local fitness store.
Hi Greg ! I find your website very helpful with brilliant articles! Already recommended to some friends! I really like the way you’re summarizing things! thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge!
I have a few questions (forgive me for the length and spelling! I’m not an english speaking native)
I’m 5ft4 and my weight is 145 lbs with a waist of 29.5 inches. Using the Katch McArdle formula, I am slightly under 10% bodyfat although I believe I am rather at 11-12% (almost similar to you in this video though less chest volume). Overall, I believed I have achieved a decent physique (some say that I am even too big for my size).
However:
1) I still need to increase my chest (my weak spot) in order to have more symmetry
2) And I am willing to lean down to a 8-9% bodyfat
Therefore should I workout on a deficit and add a bit of volume to my chest routine? what is your opinion on my current workout routine nutrition and especially with regards to chest as this is the area I’m looking to improve?
In terms of nutrition, I have never been controlling my calories intake and macro precisely (pretty hard to measure as I have family meals) but I always eat clean and I have always increased my strength. I have implemented new changes this last month in order to make sure that I eat at least 150grams of protein on workout days and bit more on rest days, and eat 150 to 300 grams of carbs on workout days. On rest days, I am doing pretty low-carb with just vegetables and fruits. In terms of fat, I have hard time measuring and controlling it althoug I sometime grab a few nuts or a table spoon of peanut butter. Thus, it seems to me that on average my daily calories are under 2000.
Currently, I workout 3 times per week Tuesday (2 chest presses exercices, 1 back row exercice, 1 triceps exercice) Thursday (shoulder press, pull-ups, side raises, squats, biceps, good morning) & Sunday (1 chest press, rows, pull ups, side raises, good morning). I train mostly with 3 sets in the 5-8 reps but do 8-12 reps for side raises and good morning or second exercices for of a muscle group.
With regards to chest:
Tuesday : inclined BB: 3 x 4-7 reps (2-3min rest) + 45-60° inclined db press: 3 x 8-10reps (1min rest) + 1 x 5-8 reps flat or slighly declined db press
Sunday: 45-60° inclined db press: 3 x 6-10 reps (2min rest) + 1- 2 sets of shallow inclined db press
(I sometime include another only-chest workout on Friday to add volume: 5 sets of 5-7 reps of declined db/BB press + 5 sets of 6-10 inclined db press as I feel that I can recover quite quicly).
Thanks again for your great work!
Everything looks very solid Chinuinho!
I’d say that you’re going too high on the incline. 30-45 degrees incline is perfect. Never go about 45 degrees or you won’t hit your chest effectively. If you’re chest is lacking in size you might need to even it up with some more flat work. Perhaps 4 sets of incline and 2-3 sets of flat benching.
Track your leanness each week and if you’re plateauing then you might need to track your calorie intake to make sure you’re in a deficit.
Thanks a lot for your prompt reply. Keep on with your awesome work :)
I’m currently following your muscle building course, and i’m Doing rpt Standing shoulder Press, Then 3×8-12 lateral raise with 2 min rest.
Would it be to much to add some rest pause after the lateral raises, or Would you recommend swapping between rest pause and the more straight lift every 4-6 weeks? I want the ekstra size from sarcoplasmic growth, But i really want the strength aswell!
Thanks in advance!
You could do 2 sets of 8-12 lateral raises + a rest pause set right after.
Ex:
set 1 – 8-12
set 2 – 8-12 + 4, 4, 4, 4
Thanks man, Defnitly going to try this next workout !
Would it be to much work for the shoulders to add rest pause to both side- and rear delt raises ?
ofcause on seperate workouts (side on A, rear on B)?
That’s fine and that would work well at adding muscle to the shoulders.
greg…
I didn’t understand the lastline of ur article…are saying that ur workouts are only for those people thathave sufficient strength in squat,deadlift and bp….or do u mean something other than this…
Nope. You can definitely follow my workouts as a beginner or intermediate. But when you’ve been working out for 2+ years you should start to put more work into your stubborn groups and less work into your easy to grow muscle groups. This is when you tailor the workouts to your physique.
Greg-
I’m currently doing Phase One of VIMB. For phase two should I do Rusty’s workout or your superhero program? Also if I were to use your superhero workout, could use it 4 times a week instead of three? As in Monday – Workout A, Tuesday Workout B, Thursday workout A and Friday Workout B?
Thanks a lot man,
Jerry
It’s really up to you. You can try both workouts for 3 weeks to see which one works better. And I would stick to three workouts per week, you’ll get better gains from that due to improvements in recovery and thus easier progress in strength.
Thanks man I appreciate it. Also one last question. On my rest days should I lower my carbs or keep them steady with your principles and just lower the cals and keep them in proportion. On training days I’m taking in 3050kcal (I’m 170lbs) which is 85g fat 180g protein and 392g carbs. Should I keep those proportions and just equate them to the 2650kcals I’m taking in on a rest day? Thanks.
Well I definitely would not reduce protein intake on rest days. I’d suggest bring carbs down significantly and maybe reducing fat to 70g.
Greg,
i was hesitant to ask this but as i am totally impressed(or should i say dazzled) by your work over here,
i need to ask two questions,
one, does sex have anything to do with loss of strength(ok, i know what they say about it but i just needed to ask) or stamina which is bad for strength building?
two, i am like 5 ft.10″ and i feel like my chest is not so manly, not that its like moobs but still, it feels like my body fat is mostly stored in my chest and my waist and i am hating it plus, i feel that the more training i do, like benchpress, push ups, my chest is bulking up more and more(god, i hate it)
i just want to give it a chiselled look, like flat chest.
i hope i have not written too much but its just that i am in pain and the only person i follow right now is you.
SOS!
Masturbation or sex won’t have any physiological effect on strength. However, this can be individual. If you feel tired after having sex then it’s probably not a good idea to ‘cum’ before your workout.
You just need to cut man. If you drop the fat and lean down then you will get a masculine chest. Training your chest is a good thing and will make it look much better. But the main thing is going to be dropping fat.
Honestly,
cant thank you enough.
A quick question,
My trainer always tries to sell me some or the other supplement and i am officially annoyed by that.
(seriously, he is more like a Direct sales agent than a trainer)
Is supplement mandatory to have a good physique?
(My goal is to have a GREEK GOD PHYSIQUE)
PS: haha…”cum before workout”
LOL.
No supplements aren’t necessary to get a good physique. You can get everything you need from whole food. Two supps that are useful are vitamin d and fish oil. This is especially the case if you don’t get sun exposure or eat fish.
good job
I am happy with the results
Hey Greg, can we expect the real superhero transformation video sometime this week? Also whats your personal record for flat bench? I saw your video of you benching like 315 but that was a while ago.
Maybe in two weeks or so. Unfortunately I’ve had a couple road blocks including the flu and a sprained wrist.
Was that sprained wrist from Close Grip BP? That’s how I messed mine up. I’ll never do that exercise again. I actually tore a ligament from doing that exercise. I guess one can say my form was bad( probably was), but I’m still staying away from it. That and doing break dancing kind of contributed to my wrist injury.
It was actually very stupid what I did. I was at a club and a circle broke out on the dance floor. So I decided to hop in the middle and start doing behind the back clap push ups. I guess it was too much impact on my wrist and the next day my wrist was in bad pain.
[…] 7. Don’t be afraid to add volume to stubborn muscle groups. […]
Greg, I got an important question regarding the Adonis Index:
in the program it says you should measure your shoulders and waist AROUND and then do the maths. However, I’ve read on other articles about the AI that the shoulders should be 1,6 times WIDER than the waist. In fact, many articles which mention the perfect ratio of bodies such as Brad Pitt’s in Fight Club, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman… draw a line across their shoulders and waist (in the picture) to prove the ratio.
Therefore, what should we do? Measure around or measure across? I’ve measured both and they give diferent values. I think measuring across makes more sense bacause women are supposedly attracted to the V shape (narrow waist, wide shoulders). If you measure around, the “depth” of your shoulders interferes with the measured (and I don’t think women are attracted to shoulder “depth”. However, I’m no expert, so I’d like to get your opinion on this.
Thanks Greg.
Always measure the circumference! Measuring across doesn’t cut it. Measuring the waist across tells you practically nothing since most fat added will push the stomach out. As well, if you don’t do circumference on the shoulders you won’t get the chest and back thickness and full shoulder size.
Thanks for the reply, I’ll measure around from now on. Just one more thing: I’m thinking of starting VIMB. I’m going to do the specialization program because I have more than enough legs. Looking at Phase I, don’t you think there’s too much volume to it (specially the chest, shoulders and triceps workout)? I’m thinking of cutting the volume down (maybe eliminating 1 or 2 exercises or a few sets), do you think it’ll have much impact on the results?
VI phase one is very high volume! You can probably build up to it and maybe start with just 3 sets or cut out one exercise per body part.
Hi there Greg,
Big fan right here from the UK, currently getting lean at the moment. However when I do attempt to build more muscle (most likely after summer) I was wondering what you recommend for building some muscle in the legs? I don’t want them huge and bulky but they do need some size so my physique looks balanced. I also have trouble squatting! Thanks Greg
I really like weighted pistol squats! This can be a very advanced move and there is a big learning curve. The other option would be to do weighted bulgarian split squats for 3 sets of 8-10. You can also do dumbbell reverse lunges instead.
Hey Greg, love the blogs & the vids. Just wondering if you have any tips/programs for shaping the perfect chest like yourself.
Keep up the good work!//Matthew
Basically lots of incline presses! This is the exercise you want to really get strong at. Build up to at-least 225 for 6 reps. Supplement this with some flat bench or weighted dips.
Do you have any recommendations for athletes who train twice a day? Example
Wake up at 515 to do Insanity. Then later in the evening, around 7 pm following the superhero workout routine. Any advice as far as dieting and structuring the strength workout?
I definitely wouldn’t recommend doing insanity! It will really cut into recovery and fatigue your muscles reducing your ability to make gains on the superhero routine.
Hello Greg, big fan from the UK right here! Your workout and diet philosophy have completely changed my fitness regime for the better. I was just wondering do you think it’s possible to add some volume to your legs while trying to get lean for the summer and if so what would you recommend ?, Also after the summer I’ll be looking to add some muscle especially to my legs , chest and arms. Would you recommend a 3 day upper lower split or 3 day workout A + B (warrior workout) ? I’ve been lifting for over a year but still have a lot more to gain due to my height of 6ft 4!, thanks Greg much appreciated keep up the good work.
You could probably add some size to your legs while leaning down, provided you use a modest calorie deficit. This means not trying to lose more than 1 lbs per week. The A + B split is more ideal for people focusing on adding more size to their upperbody. You could do two upperbody days and one lower body day. Usually one intense leg workout per week is enough to grow. You’ll just keep having to add weight. I’d recommend squats and deadlifts to add size.
Hey Greg,
Amazing podcast you just put out! so much awesome information!
So i’ve been doing your super hero phase 1, and I am trying to stick with the recomp protocol…but I think I’m realizing im going too low in calories/carbs, especially on rest days (if not everyday). I’ve been trying to up that gradually but as im sure you wont be surprised hearing, Im scared to up my carbs past maintenance and gain fat. I was wondering if I sent a pic to u, u could tell me whether to keep cutting on start trying to add muscle? I think being fairly new to the transformation, it gets to a point where you cant objectively look at youself anymore and know what path to take….if that makes sense?
Also more importantly, you mentioned how your chest was starting to overpower your arms….I have the opposite problem….what would you recommend I modify in the superhero phase one, to lessen the focus on my arms and bring more to chest?
Thanks in advance Greg!
John
Thanks a lot John!
There’s really no reason to be scared of eating carbs or going into a slight surplus. You won’t gain fat. Send a pic to my email if you want – gregoryogallagher@gmail.com
The current superhero phase should give you great gains to your chest. I had to adjust it for myself to bring up my arms.
Hugh Jackman did leangains for wolverine just said it
Yah haha
That’s pretty cool! It’s really starting to catch on.
How can I do hang cleans without adding size to my traps (grow easily on me)? or should I pick another exercise?
Do sets of 3-5 reps with a weight you can do for 6-10 reps. Stopping several reps short of failure will allow you to build strength and power, without causing growth.
Thanks! Another question i’ve heard that if want slim waist you should steer clear of squats and deadlifts, but doesn’t standing presses load the core in the same manor? Also if you want to develop your legs without broading your waist which exercises should you choose?
I really doubt squats and deadlifts will add much size to the waist. If you stay at a low body fat, it will hardly be noticeable. Standing presses won’t put as much tension on the lower back, compared to squats and dead lifts. So it’s likely you won’t get that growth.
Greg,
I just recently purchased the kinobody program, how long should I stay in version one of the density program, then version two? Also how do I incorporate the specializations? Is it only I muscle group at a time or workout? Thanks in advance.
Cesar
You should spend 8 weeks on version one before switching to version 2. After three to four months of the strength and density, you should be able to determine if you have any stubborn muscle groups that aren’t growing very well. With the specialization workout, you will be performing a little extra volume on the stubborn muscle group to force it into growth.
Hey man will your muscle building course build the real delts well?
Yes, of course! I included ample amounts of rear delt work into the program.
Hey Greg, I know you recommend taking 3-4 minutes rest between sets when strength training, should you rest the same between two strength exercises? For example i normally rest 5 min between incline bench press and shoulder press.
Yah that’s fine! You can take 5 minutes rest between exercises. No need to use a stop watch but have a pretty good idea of how long you’re taking.
Hey Greg!
Ramadan is coming up in like July and goes on for about a month. I’ve been building muscle with your course since March and was wondering if I could build muscle during the fasting month or if i should go on a cut because i’m currently at my body fat set point right now so I know fat loss will be slow.
Here’s how Ramadan works:
Eat at 4-5 AM
Fast until 8:30-9:00 PM and have our first meal then and start the pattern all over again for 30 days.
Thanks a bunch!
If you’re able to train hard with good intensity and get in enough calories, you will be able to build muscle.
Also, the time of my workout doesnt matter right? Like if i worked out at 8 AM and ate my meal at 8:30 PM? As long as I get proper nutrition and a good workout
You should workout whenever is most convenient for you.
Bonjour,
I am a fan from France.
I wanted to ask you something that I’ve tried to solve myself but it’s kinda tricky.
My lagging muscles are arms and chest, I got good back-width and normal thickness, normal shoulders/legs too. I am trying to find the way to improve the arms and chest at the same time with the tactics you explain (Pyramids, etc…) but it’s hard to make a proper routine. The days I work chest/triceps I usually end too tired for triceps… and I cannot work them as I would do if I didn’t work the chest… not even close.
I go to the gym 4 times per week (Mon-Tues-Thurs-Fri) and I would like to know how you would mix the muscles for each day in a sensible way. Some info about me: 181 cm height, small bones (specially wrists), wide back (sounds strange yes, I believe the push-ups I used to do years ago helped me a lot to develop a good width).
Thanks for everything man!
Shoulders, Back and Legs – two exercises and only 2-3 sets.
For chest hit two heavy lifts – incine and flat bench and one high volume lift – flies
For biceps and triceps – hit one heavy lift and one high volume lift.
Hi Greg. Looking really good!! Just a quick question. I know your going to increase your arm size but aren’t you on a cut? I thought you needed a calorie surplus or at least maintanance for muscle growth? Thanks in advance
Good question Jim! Even though I will be in a calorie deficit I should be able to get some size training with high volume work. I’ve seen this happen before quite well. They key will be to only do the high volume work on one or two muscle groups. As well, on the two days I’m hitting arms, I will go higher in calories.
I was actually curious about high volume work on a cut. I’m doing to 2 reefed days and 5 low cal days. I do Crossfit/Plyometrics 2 days a week and before the class starts, I hit some heavy RPT for chest and shoulders. I was going to take a break from the RPT because I’ve been doing it pretty hard and intense these past 8 months and would like to give my joints and body rest. So I was thinking of taking a break from RPT and do some high rep stuff for some sarcoplasmic growth on reefed days.
Would this work to add some growth and muscle preservation while cutting?
You definitely need to keep the heavy RPT stuff, if you want to maintain strength and muscle. If you’re getting burnt out you can reduce it to 2 sets, go higher in reps, ex: 6 and 8 reps. And do RPT on a different exercise variation.
Wow Greg, your super hero look is really setting in! Producers could consider casting you in any upcoming action movies with that build, good job!
One quick question. In your muscle building program, for the barbell curls for biceps, did you want us to use the straight bar, or the EZ bar? I had built up some good strength on the EZ bar and was wondering what’s your take on the difference between the two and which you recommend/ prefer?
Thanks Aman!
I use a straight olympic bar for curls! For some people this can hurt the wrists. Go with your preference.
Thanks man!
That super hero physique! Great work Greg!
Btw, any idea on what your waist size is in this vid?
Keep it up man of steel!
Waist is about 33″ here (relaxed)
Greg I am like you where my arms could use more size then my chest and back. I am currently doing your super hero program from the muscle building coarse. What do you recommend?
You’ll be getting plenty of arm workout from the superhero program. Your arms will grow fine. If your chest or back start to get too big you can take out the standard pyramid exercise for those muscle groups.
Hey Greg
Love your website
The muscle groups i have trouble gaining size to are especially the chest, I’ve been doing chest press 4*8-10 sets for a long time, but seen no difference. So I thought I’d try the Pyramid training.
My first question is, should I just do the Pyramid training for one chest exercise, or should I do it in all of the exercises?
Second of all, my stomach does that “beautiful” pop-out, so at the moment I’m doing plank for 3*1.20 min every other day.
Is it sufficient enough to just do the plank exercise, or can I speed it up with the ab wheel or renegade rows as well?
Once again, great website!!
Hit chest 2x per week. I’d recommend 3 sets of incline bench RPT, 3 sets of flat bench RPT and standard pyramid on a chest isolation exercise like machine flyes, db flyes or cable cross overs.
Quick question, I just wanna be sure..
When you say RPT, do you mean Rest Pause Training or Reverse Pyramid Training?
Reverse Pyramid Training. Rest Pause = RP. But usually I would just say rest-pause
Hey Greg so once u reach superhero status what does a maintenance workout look like to keep the superhero look. Once u reach your desired physique size do u still incorporate higher volume for maintenance?
To maintain the extra muscle size from the volume training you will need to keep doing the volume stuff. You just wouldn’t need to raise the intensity. So you would maintain the same weight, reps/sets and rest periods. If you cut back on the amount of volume lifting in your routine, it’s possible you will lose some of that extra size. This is different with strength lifting. As long as you maintain your strength, you will maintain your muscle size associated from heavy lifting.
Hey Greg,
You mentioned you do upper body twice per week and lower body once. Do you hit each upper body muscle group once or twice?
I’m hitting arms on both days. Chest, back and shoulders are getting hit once per week only.
Awesome, Greg. Honestly though, don’t get any bigger. You should just maintain that till you die, seriously. Your physique is perfect. Any more bigger, then you’re just taking your physique to “Meat Head” territory. Although I could be wrong, but that’s my opinion.
BRING Project Mayhem! Free us all Greg from the tyranny of the fitness and supplement company. Bring truth to us mere mortals and set our minds free! If you need subordinate to take care of some dirty work like bombing supplement company’s or assassination, COUNT ME IN! :D
Yo Jason!
Yah haha. I’m literally maintaing my lifts and current muscle size. Trust me, I know. I definitely don’t want to get any bigger. Girls are digging the muscle but anymore and it will start to look overdone and stupid.
I hear that bro! I might start by trashing the breakfast myth.
You look amazing Greg, looking forward to see you at 8-9% bf!
I’ve been following your workout manual for 4 months and my physique looks better than ever, thank you very much! Now I can lift weights that I could never imagine and I break my personal record almost every workout! As you said everyone has stubborn parts in the body and in my case my forearms and legs are getting behind. I added 2 sets of farm walking on monday and friday, at the end of the workout and switched the hang cleans from workout B, sample 1, for squats (RPT). But when I perform squats I feel knee pain, is there a good exercise to develop my legs without taxing my knees? And should I perform farm walking after workout B or maintain on monday/friday?
Thank you Greg!
Farmers walk 2x per week is sufficient. If squats are hurting your knees, perhaps you’re not keeping your weight on your heels. Maybe try doing them on a box, at parallel or 1-2″ below parallel. Make sure to sit back. If this still hurts you can try doing bulgarian split squats or pistol squats as a leg exercise.
Thank you for the answer Greg! I researched about the best form to do squats and my knees aren’t hurting anymore. I’ve started the superhero workout and was thinking about incorporating deadlifts in workout B, so I would do the farm walking after workout A. Can I incorporate deadlifts or is It too much (I’m doing squats RPT)? And how should I incorporate (how many sets/reps and weight)?
Thank you!
You can incorporate deadlifts into workout b. Just do 1-2 sets of 3-5 reps.
Thank you very much!
Hey bro ! Awesome article as always ! I just got a little question cos you actually got me lost on a little thing. When it comes to building mass for the super hero body, should you still be doing a two day split where you’ll be alternating between workout A and B, or should you be doing another split ? Thanks in advance bro !
You can do the Workout A/B split. That works very well.
Thanks a lot man. Keep up the good work. I’ll be uploading you with my results
Hey Greg, your doing an awesome job, cant wait for the final video!
I have a question. I am eating around 3700 cals on days I workout and 3100 on rest days. now i find that the day after i eat 3700 cals my weight increases by about 0.8lbs. so for example. from around 168.4lbs to 169.2lbs now i know some of this is bound to be food weight. Then after i weight myself again after a rest day of eating 3100cals. i seem to return too 168.4lbs.
I only want to gain 0.5lbs a week like you recommend. do you have any ideas to what is happening here?
i was thinking that it might possibly be that by eating 3100 cals i’m hitting a certain number of calories that is causing my metabolism to work harder which is actually causing me to burn more and therefore I’m losing weight. have you ever experienced this? and therefore is it possible that just by gradually increasing my off day calories i will find the sweet spot?
(I’m currently doing your superhero phase from your program)
Cheers Man!
Hey Mark!
Don’t worry about daily fluctuations in weight, that is irrelevant. You want to focus on the weekly trend and gaining about 0.5 lbs per week. If you’re not gaining, try increasing your calories by about 200 per day. Keep doing this until you find that sweet spot.
Good work Greg man amazing work amazing job. Im currently doing the superhero phase myself and hit a brickwall with incline bench. Im stuck on curling 12.5kg for the 6 reps can get to 4 then ill have to do a few cheat reps just to try get the negatives but being stuck like this for a while. Was wondering if i could sway for standing barbell curls as i can micro load the bar then?
Also ive never being able to get the form right with hangcleans, was wondering if i could incorporate pistols? although i am still learning to do them. Im happy with my legs as i do hill sprints, do you think sprints and maybe do some depth jumps will be enough.
Just want to say thanks to replying all the time and thanks for the amazing course, couldnt be happier with the progression on incline bench and weighted chins thanks man
ooo and one more thing to ask.. I fast until dinner (leangains) on cardio days i normally do fasted morn cardio with rusty moores deep ab routine. Do i still need to take bcaa before, 2hours after then 2hours after then meal? Cheers Greg
No, that’s a bit excessive. Only if you’re doing high intensity cardio would I recommend taking BCAA. And then it would only be one dose 10 minutes before training.
Hey Greg,
Nice work. Can’t wait to see what the superhero physique will look like when you are done. I have a question. If I want to have a great physique like you, should I do visual impact muscle building or your get shredded workout program? Currently, I am 15 and am 5’4”. I weigh around 105 lbs. I have left comments on some of your pages before and I am very conflicted. Which one should I do if I want to have a physique similar to Henry Cavill in Man of Steel.
I’d definitely recommend my kinobody muscle building course.
This will allow you to build the necessary strength overtime to develop your physique to superhero status. 6 months of training with this program and you will be an absolute beast.
I also want to bring my body fat % down to 7-8. Should I do the Muscle building program in conjunction with the shredding program or does the muscle building program have a fat loss phase as well?
Good question! I have a recomp phase and lean bulk phase in the muscle building routine. If you want to lean down, combining the diet from the shredded program and lifting routine from the kinobody muscle building program would work very well.
Yah if you have plateau’d on dumbbell curls I’d recommend changing up the exercise variation. Standing barbell curls is your best bet. Yah for legs I think you’d get awesome results with pistol squats, weighted box jumps and calf raises. Weighted box jumps build power similar to hang cleans. I recommend sitting on a box that’s parallel and then jumping up onto a box as high as possible. I do this onto a 30″ box and aim to land with my legs as straight as possible. I do this with 15-25 lbs dumbbells in each hand for 3-4 reps per set.
Hey man just wanted to say thanks so much for all this awesome content. I’ve never read better. So i need to gain about 15-20 lbs in order to get the superhero look. Im in my mid 30s and have worked out for several years with minimal to moderate intensity/consistency. Assuming i bust my ass with all out effort, how long do you think it would take me to gain that much muscle mass?
Gaining 15-20 lbs of muscle can be accomplished in 1-2 years. When you’re more advanced gaining 5 lbs of muscle per year is pretty good.
Greg, how do you measure your bf%? what´s the best way? i only have a scale and a measuring tape.
I usually estimate bf% because I have a pretty good idea of what the different ranges look like. I’d recommend tracking waist measurement instead.
Another great article, thanks.
Greg tell me please how many times a week you do cardio now and for how long?
Im 5,9 tall, 153lbs, around same bf level as you now. Im doing your ,,Build Muscle Like a Greek God” program and I wonder if doing 3 x per week cardio for 30 – 40 minutes is enough to drop down with my bf?
Here is my most recent photo:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/478318_516210558442728_456468996_o.jpg,
Im far from being satisfacted with that so I have big motivation, but is greek god program optimal for me now? Can I incorporate some muscle pumping techniques from this article to it?
30-40 minutes of cardio 3x per week is plenty. Diet should take care of most of fat loss. Cardio will help speed up the process. Yah, you can add muscle pumping to 2 muscle groups that you want to give more attention.
Hey Greg, which is your favorite close grip bench or dips? I’m personally one of those guys with huge arms and back, but lagging shoulders and chest. i’m looking for an alternative to dips, since I easilliy make it into a tricep exersice. Should I give close grip bench a try?
Also I recently hit a strength plateau, should I try doing 2 instead of 3 sets on my main lifts (incline bench,chin ups etc.).
Yes, you can also play with different rep schemes. So if you are used to doing 5, 6, 8 (RPT) you can try 4, 5, 6 or 6, 8, 10
If you’re lacking chest I would recommend regular barbell flat bench and incline bench press. Don’t do close grip unless you’re using it as a triceps exercise.
Thanks for your answer! How would you incorparate flat bench into at chest shoulder tricep workout, where you are already doing incline presses, standing press and dips/close grip? Should a substitute one of them or just add it in?
Flat bench would replace dips/close grip.
Thanks! Does it have to be barbell? after incline and shoulder press, i’m usually pretty gassed. So I would much rather be doing it with dumbbells.
Yah, you can do dumbbells.
Hey Greg,
Great article! Quick question, are you still using your Beach Ripped diet set up to reduce bodyfat? Or will you be reducing your carb intake?
Thanks
Yes, precisely. I like to keep my carbs high, especially because I’m going to be incorporating high volume training on my arms and shoulders.
Hey man looking awesome. Quick question. Im 5’8 so assuming a 9% bf what would be an ideal weight to shoot for given my height for the superhero physique?
Somewhere around 165-170 lbs.
Is your muscle building course suitable for guys that train from home? I own a squat rack, a bench, weights, a weight belt, dumbbells, a chinup bar and dip bars.
You have the appropriate equipment so it would work quite well.
I’m curious here:)
As far as your diet goes it means you will have to eat at a calorie deficit to bring your weight and waist down. But, you will incorporate some pump training (high volume) for your arms during that same time. So a specialization routine can be done while on a cut and be effective but the whole super hero routine would be too much, is that it?
I’m wondering ’cause i’m cutting right now until july but my biceps are really lagging and even if my lifts went up a bit I haven’t gone up in size.
Thx!
Good question. With the superhero routine you’re going high volume on most body parts. With this strategy I mention in this article it will only be 2-3 muscle groups that you will give a little extra attention. Provided you don’t go too low in calories and carbs, this is fine.
Thx!
For evaluating your physique, I assume we use the standards in your course (good to godlike). As far as shoulders and back, do we go by eyes ’cause I don’t see how to mesure those?
When you are measuring your chest, you are getting your chest and back measurement. Lats make a substantial difference in your chest measurement. You can also measure shoulder circumference if you’d like. You want your shoulder circumference to be 1.6x your waist.
Greg you’ve helped to a lot in my journey to shed pounds and build muscle. Just bought your course and hope to send you some awesome tranformation pics in a couple of months.
Awesome dude! Looking forward to seeing your progress and thanks for sharing this.
Very impressive Greg! Thanks for the knowledge and motivation you are sharing with us.
Greg,
Looking good!
What is your ab skinfold measurement at the moment and what are you aiming to get it down to?
No idea! I just go by waist measurement. I don’t use skinfolds.