Superman V Batman Workout: Which Super Workout Is Right For You?

The battle has begun! Can you handle the super workouts of these heroes?

See which plan is for you. Super powers not included. Batman Workout V Superman…

With Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice breaking box office records following its first weekend in theaters, moviegoers across the world are wondering how to emulate the 3 body types of each hero.

Lucky for them, we’ve got them covered.

We’re going to take a look at how you need to train to match the physicality of Ben Affleck’s Batman or the insanely toned version of Henry Cavill’s Superman.

In much the same way that both heroes do battle, these muscle building workouts will be pitted against each other so that you can choose a side and pick your favorite.

The Batman workout is based around building the strength necessary to battle an opponent as formidable as Superman.

Meanwhile, Superman workout is designed to get toned and really show what a perfect being looks like.

Batman Training: Bulking

Affleck’s Batman is the biggest version of the character that the world has ever seen.

Guess what?

Batman training plan reflects that. To look like Affleck’s Batman, you’ll want to lift big, eat big and hit the heavy bag hard. The best real-world comparison to training like Batman would be to actively train as if you are going to be a heavyweight MMA fighter. This is way different than the Dark Knight workout. 

The most important part of bulking up and gaining muscle is keeping your body balanced.

You’ll want to work your muscle groups in an alternating fashion, switching between push and pull exercises.

To put this in a way you might use it, you’ll want to work your back on days when you also work your chest workout.

The principle behind this is that opposite muscles are utilized as the secondary muscle group in compound movements. So in this example, it helps you because working out your back can improve your bench press, allowing for you to lift heavier weight and see greater results.

Balancing out your muscles by working your front and back will let your stabilizing muscles take on more of the work during your lifts and will help you increase your strength.

This method is not just limited to your back and chest. It can be applied throughout your body with exercises such as front and back squats, biceps curls and triceps extensions.

Working out the push and pull portions of muscle groups will let you see a greater increase in not just your overall strength, but in your body size as well. This is one of the most important parts of bulking up.

It is a key method used by actors when putting on size and all athletes including bodybuilders.

You Need Compound Lifts For a Ripped Workout

The next important step is to focus on compound lifts when you hit the gym. These lifts work more than one body part at a time, and will let you see the best results when gaining new muscle.

Even more importantly, especially if you want to be like Batman, these lifts result in gaining explosive strength that will let you apply lots of force in whatever activity you’re participating in.

There’s a reason most athlete workouts are based around the big three compound lifts, squats, deadlifts and bench press.

They’ll work out your entire body while helping you build explosive power. This is a great ripped workout.

The muscle and power you’ll build from compound lifts will help you push through all of your other lifts and will allow you to lift heavy so that you can build a heavy frame like Affleck’s Batman.

Batman Workout: Lift Big To Get Big

It’s a timeless adage because it’s true: Lifting big weight will let you see big results.

And, they will let you see results faster.

Just because you want to lift heavy doesn’t mean you can. You shouldn’t try to lift 1,000 pounds and expect anything other than injury. But, lifting heavy weight relative to what you are currently lifting will let your muscles grow.

To start, you should use a weight under your one rep max, but high enough that you need to rest after three to five reps. Most consider this the right rep range to optimally increase strength. One of the most beloved variations on this is a 5×5 plan that includes five sets of five reps.

When lifting heavy, it is vital that you don’t sacrifice form for weight. Make sure the heavy weight you’re going to lift is something you can handle with proper form.

Otherwise, you’ll be hurting your results and will inadvertently be doing more harm than good to your progress.

Remember, your weight increase should always be something you are comfortable handling. If you can’t handle it, then you should dial it back a bit and know that you’ll get there eventually.

The Batman Diet

On top of lifting big, you’re going to want to eat big as well. According to Muscle and Fitness, Affleck’s diet consisted of “eating egg whites and оаtmеаl in the morning; salad, double рrоtеin, and vegetables at lunch; fish or сhiсkеn at dinner with brussеls sprouts, саuliflоwеr, or brоссоli.”

From this quote, it seems as though Affleck was able to do a clean bulk.

For your quest to look like Batman, you can either clean bulk or dirty bulk. Clean bulking is the safer route, as you’ll only be eating up to 500 calories over your maintenance diet threshold.

Dirty bulking can cause some gym goers to add too much extra fat, as they will be eating at least 500 calories more than their maintenance threshold. This means that they can consume as much as they want of whatever they want.

The tricky part here is finding a balance of eating everything in sight while keeping the fat off. If you’re not careful, you’ll gain too much fat and begin losing your physique.

Superman Workout: Shredding

Henry Cavill’s Superman is no slouch. But, he’s not built to have the same physically imposing brute strength as Batman. Instead, Superman follows a leaner workout plan focused more on agility, speed and getting toned (after all, he already has super strength).

They don’t call them “abs of steel” for nothing. One of the most defining aspects of Superman’s physique is his washboard abs.

For exercises that target your abs, there are a number of tools you can use to sculpt an unbelievable six-pack right at home workouts using nothing but your own bodyweight. This means that even if you can’t make it to the gym, you’ll still have a way to build your six-pack.

Of course everyone knows about crunches, but they can put unnecessary strain on your back. Also, they only work out part of your abs.

If you insist on doing crunches, you should incorporate crunches to each side of your body as well so that you are fully targeting your abs. Which for the Superman workout you need to definitely focus on your entire abs.

An even better alternative is the plank. This is a simple exercise that most gym-goers are familiar with. Start out by aiming for one minute per plank. Work your way up in time to track your progress.

This will help strengthen your core and will help you with core endurance so that you won’t get tired during other core exercises.

Traditional Weights Are Your Friends

Traditional weights are yet another option you can use to train your abs. Both plates and dumbbells can be combined with bodyweight exercises to increase your core strength even further.

One of the many benefits of working out your abs this way is that you can progressively add weight, as your core muscles get stronger.

As long as you are tracking your progress and staying consistent with these exercises, you will see an increase in your core strength, definition and muscle develop.

Going from something like a plank to a weighted plank will challenge you and help you push your limits in your quest for washboard abs. Weights are not only an important part of getting the best abs, but they can be used to really lose weight and lower your body fat to superhuman levels.

Superset Your Way To Superman’s Physique

Training using superset workouts can be a great way to mix cardio and weight lifting. You’ll get in your cardio in a nonstandard way because you’ll be lifting weights without taking a break.

They usually involve doing two or more exercises in a row without resting.

While this can lead to fatigue quickly, it will be a surefire way to break down multiple muscle groups in one workout period.

For example, you can do bench press and pec flyes for a chest superset, or bench press and dumbbell rows for a push/pull superset. The idea is to fatigue your muscle groups and stimulate growth when you are recovering.

Supersets are a great way to build muscle and burn fat, ideally giving you a muscular and shredded physique.

The Superman Diet

If you’re not already doing it, you’ll need to switch to a completely healthy diet to get in shape like Superman. It’s easiest if you make small, incremental changes over a designated period of time.

Trying to overhaul your simple diet plan all at once can leave you slightly overwhelmed, as well as turn you off from dieting completely. By making small subtle changes (a salad for lunch twice per week instead of a sandwich) that slowly grow into bigger changes, that eventually become habits, you’ll be able to completely overhaul your diet without even noticing!

For the most part, you’ll be relying on lean meats, eggs, fruits and veggies.

For the sake of variety, you’ll want to try to mix in as many different recipes as you can throughout the week to keep your meal plan from getting boring or stale. Condiments such as mustard and hot sauce are simple, easy add-ons to meals that are low fat and provide a lot of flavor.

One of the biggest changes for many people is that they need to dial back their drinking or, better yet, eliminate it completely (there’s a reason you never see a drunk superhero). They don’t have lower belly fat. 

If you insist on going out and drinking, try to avoid mixed drinks that are made with sugary beverages, as well as heavy beers that are full of calories.

Stick to wine, light beer or mixed drinks that are made with the alcohol and either water or seltzer.

Depending on your age, this may seem obvious but avoid binge drinking. Not only is it unhealthy and unsafe, it will wreck your weeks’ worth of dieting in one night. The other problem is that a night out of heavy drinking can usually lead to eating junk food either at night or the next day to help your hangover.

Being hungover won’t really affect your abs directly, but it will probably keep you out of the gym the next day, which can hurt your progress.

Conclusion

These are two drastically different methods of training and dieting for two very different heroes, so that you can see different results! If you want to pack on size and eat frequently, join the Batman workout.

If you want to get shredded in time for the summer, join team Superman.

No matter which hero you align yourself with and model your training routine after, you’ll be equipped with a transformed physique that you can be proud of. Of course, we can’t guarantee you the fame, fortune or success of either one of these characters.

But, if you stick with your routine, you’ll see real results and feel like a superhero, even if you don’t go around saving the world at night.

By Mark Rubino