As for Corenswet, he went above and beyond in his quest to become humanity’s savior.
“He is Superman,” enthuses Mascitti. “James Gunn is amazing at casting people, and this guy was born to be Superman. Ask any cast or crew member, David is the nicest guy, and I think, the perfect Superman.”
But even Superman has weaknesses. For Corenswet, it’s the walking lunge. “He isn’t the biggest fan of them, but he does it,” admits Mascitti. “He’s great at squats, but he just doesn’t enjoy lunges.”
As for his true kryptonite, that would be illicit cereal. “He was on around 6,000 calories a day and his diet was strict, but not as strict as I would have liked,” laughs Mascitti. “Half of his training had to be done over FaceTime and half in person, as he wasn’t in Los Angeles all the time. We’d speak remotely and I’d ask him about his diet and he’d be eating cereal! He’d ask What’s wrong with cereal!? But that’s why he’s the perfect Superman, he has a realistic expectation of himself and the role.”
A Superman workout
Mascitti’s Superman protocol can help you get in shape, whether your intentions are heroic, or slightly more nefarious. But you don’t necessarily have to stop at one workout—we’re talking about the Man of Steel here, after all.
First, a super-size mass builder: “If you’re trying to gain size, your focus should be on big, compound moves,” says Mascitti. “You need to be in a caloric surplus to provide the building blocks of muscle, and you need to progressively overload the muscles, which means lifting heavier and heavier weights each time. And my obsession is getting a full range of motion, which involves really controlling the negatives.”
With that in mind, try incorporating this mass-building upper body push day once a week, aiming for 4 sets of 10 reps. If that’s too easy, up the weight for the last round and work to failure instead.
Incline dumbbell press
Adjust the bench so it’s around 45 degrees. Lie back and power the dumbbells straight up from the top of your chest. Hold with arms straight, then slowly lower for one.
Bench press / cable fly superset
Super-setting these two exercises really charges your chest, forcing the muscles to work as hard as they can. Lie back on a flat bench and power a barbell straight up, roughly in line with your nipples. Reverse the move for one. When you’ve hit your reps, go straight over to the cable macing grabbing two shoulder-height handles and powering them toward in front of your chest before slowly letting your arms sink back to the start.
Seated overhead shoulder press / lat raise superset
Adjust your bench to 90 degrees. Sitting with a flat back, hoist a pair of dumbbells straight up before lowering to your upper chest and going again. Now, grab a lighter pair of dumbbells and raise them straight out by your side, feeling the burn in the sides of your shoulders.
Reverse triceps extension / bicep curl superset
Back to the cable machine, set up a straight bar at chest height. With an underhand grip, pull down on the bar, extending your arms and feeling the burn through your triceps. Then, grab a handy pair of dumbbells and curl them up by engaging your bicep. The weight should just kiss your shoulder before you slowly lower it for one.
