Ask anyone to make a list of their favorite celebrity physiques and there’s a good chance you’ll both Dwayne Johnson Y henry cavill muscular bodies sit on top of him. But did you know that his superhero heights are the result of the work they do with the kinesiologist and celebrity trainer? Dave Rienzi?
speaking to men’s health, Rienzi explains how he began working with Johnson in 2010. Back then, The Rock was looking for a trainer who could also handle his injuries, sustained from years of playing football (oval, not round) and competing in professional wrestling. Since then, he has also chosen Cavill as a client and says that while the pair have great genetics, their size is also due to hard work.
“Genetics definitely play a role,” says Rienzi, “but it’s also hard work and discipline. I also think a lot of people don’t understand the importance of nutritionand how if you want to gain muscle you need to eat and you need to eat constantly.
“I think it’s a combination of genetics, but just hard work and the passion that they put into it, and the prioritization that they have towards their fitness goals.”
Still, what’s the point of coming to men’s health if not can we provide a shortcut or two? We asked Rienzi for 5 exercises to prioritize over all others. So if he, and by extension Black Adam and Superman, could only do 5 exercises for the rest of their lives, these are the moves they would choose.
Use this information for good, not for bad.
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(Barbell) Hip Thrusts
How:
- Lie down with your upper back supported on a bench and your feet flat on the floor in front of you.
- Rest a barbell in the crease of your hips and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
- Hold as you count, then slowly return to starting position.
Rienzi says: “It’s such an effective exercise to isolate the glutes. buttocks They play a key role in athletic performance, minimizing the risk of injury and reducing the risk of knee or lower back pain. So I would put hip thrusts at the top of the glute posterior chain exercises.”
lunges
How:
- Stand up straight with your hands at your sides, palms facing your body. Push your right leg forward as far as you can, bending your rear knee until it almost brushes the ground.
- Use the heel of your right foot to push your upper body back to the starting position. Repeat with the opposite leg.
- You can perform this exercise holding dumbbells to make it more challenging.
Rienzi says: “For legs, I’m a huge fan of lunges. I love the unilateral movement. So I love the challenge of that. It’s an exercise where you get a really nice deep stretch and it really isolates the legs really well. It’s definitely my favorite leg exercise and one exercise I’ve found has given me the most results.”
Dumbbell Bench Press
How:
- Lie on a flat bench holding two dumbbells across your chest with an overhand grip.
- Push up until your arms are straight, then lower under control.
Rienzi says: “for the chest, I have to go with a dumbbell bench press, an old flat dumbbell bench press. I love the movement, and I love the stability of it. Interestingly, and you’ll see it in our Black Adam workouts, I like to do high-rep stuff with the flat bench press. Doing sets of 20 reps of a moderate to moderately heavy weight is extremely challenging and really gets a lot of blood pumped into the muscle.”
T-Bar Rows
How:
- Load one side of a barbell with weights and secure the other end in a corner of the gym.
- Straddle the bar and grab onto the weighted end. Pull the bar toward your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body and squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top.
- Lower to the starting position and repeat.
Rienzi says: “T-bar paddles are one of my favorites. There’s something about that exercise; really, really target the lats and hit the lats hard when you get to the top and pause and hold that max contraction. You really feel the muscles working. It’s just a great general exercise to increase the size of the lats.”
Dumbbell Lateral Raises
How:
- Choose a pair of dumbbells and stand with them at your sides, palms facing your body. Keeping your upper body still—that means it’s not swaying—raise the dumbbells out to the side with a slight bend in your elbows.
- Raise until your arms are parallel to the floor and then slowly lower back to the starting position.
Rienzi says: “for shouldersI love dumbbell lateral raises. They really welcome that shoulder cap. I do a lot of techniques with that where I alternate them from a static hold, so you’re really maximizing the tension on the lateral deltoids. It’s also a pretty crazy burn when done right.”
