If you’ve watched the new ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ movie, you’d know why me and gym ous all over the world are chasing a new physique.
Peter Parker showed up in this movie stronger, bigger and more jacked than any Spider-Man before him.
A lot of you may have seen the clip of Tom Holland explaining his training routine. He does something called CINDY (who knows what means lol) which is basically a huge superset (more than one exercise done in a single set) and a single set would like something like this:
| Exercise | Reps |
|---|---|
| Pull Ups | 1 |
| Dips | 2 |
| Push Ups | 3 |
| Sit Ups | 4 |
| Squats | 5 |
You’d do this for 10 Sets, adding 1 rep to each exercise, so by your 10th set, your reps would like this:
| Exercise | Reps |
|---|---|
| Pull Ups | 10 |
| Dips | 20 |
| Push Ups | 30 |
| Sit Ups | 40 |
| Squats | 50 |
But you’re not done yet, you still have to go back down and do another 10 sets, but this time removing 1 rep from each exercise every set, so your final and 20th set would look like the first table.
This is a crossfit workout called AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible).
Gymgeek’s thoughts on tom holland’s cindy
It’s crazy bro.
The volume you’d be doing in one session is monstrous and you’d probably be completely drenched, tired and sore the next day.
In terms stimulating muscle growth, it could be good because at some point, you are going to hit failure within those 20 sets.
There’s a bit of contradiction with this routine because Holland claims that it takes him 20 minutes - probably because he isn’t doing the full 20 sets. So why tell people to do 20 sets and that it takes 20 minutes total? Doing the full 20 sets could probably take you anywhere between around 1 to 3 hrs (depending on how fit you are, and how much rest you need between sets).
As a home workout, it’s perfect because you wouldn’t need any equipment besides a pull up bar, which are easy enough to find to mount on your door or wall.
However, if you look at Peter’s physique in the movie, it’ll take more than a crossfit workout to build. In my opinion, it’s built through muscle-specific targetted bodybuilding training.
A more spider-sensible approach
If you don’t want to train like a madman every session, there’s a smarter way to get results.
From a bodybuilding perspective, Peter’s new physique is easily attainable using smart bodybuilding techniques. Luckily for you, Your Friendly Neighborhood GymGeek is here to save the day and suggest weighted exercises for you, muscle-by-muscle.
Chest:
- Peter has a fully stacked chest build with a prominent upper chest.
| Muscle Group | Exercise |
|---|---|
| Upper Chest | Incline Dumbbell Press - Incline Machine/Smith Press - Incline Cable/Dumbbell Flies |
| Mid & Lower Chest | Standard Bench/Dumbbell Press - Low Cable Flies - Standard Machine Press - Dumbbell Flies - Push Ups |
Shoulders:
- Peter’s shoulders are well rounded and you can clearly see the separation between all delts (especially front and side delts).
| Muscle Group | Exercise |
|---|---|
| Side Delts | Dumbbell Lateral Raises - Cable Lateral Raises |
| Front Delts | Dumbbell Shoulder Press - Viking Press Machine - Smith /Regular Machine Shoulder Press |
| Rear Delts | Dumbbell Rear Delt Flies - Rope Face Pulls - Reverse Peck Deck |
Arms:
- Spidey’s web-swinging needs some strong and massive arms to keep holding on.
| Muscle Group | Exercise |
|---|---|
| Biceps | Dumbbell/Cable/EZ Bar Curls - Dumbbell/Rope Hammer Curls - Spider Curls - Incline Curls - Preacher Curls |
| Triceps | Rope/Bar Pushdown - Rope Overhead Extension - Skullcrushers - Dips |
Back:
- Spidey has definitely got serious back gains from trying pull MJ again.
| Exercise Type | Exercise Explanation |
|---|---|
| Rows (Thickness) | Bent Over Barbell Rows (Mid to Upper back) - Chest Support TBar / Wide Grip Cable (Upper Back) - Close Grip Cable (Lower Lats) |
| Pulls (Width) | Pull Ups (Majority of the lats)- Close Grip Lat Pulldown (lower lats) - Wide Grip Lat Pulldown (Upper Lats) - Cable Pullovers (Mid to Lower Lats) |
Legs and Glutes:
- If you’re like my homie I saw the movie with, you noticed how absolutely caked up Spidey is now.
| Muscle Group | Exercise |
|---|---|
| Quads and Glutes | Barbell/Smith Machine Squats - Hack Squat - Goblet Squats - Weighted Lunges - Leg Press |
| Quads Only | Leg Extensions |
| Hamstrings | Seated/Lying Leg Curls - Dumbbell/Barbell RDLs |
| Glutes | RDLs (any variation) - Hip Thrusts - Hip Abduction Machine |
| Calves | Seated/Standing Calf Raise Machine |
And there you have it, more focused and targetted exercises to stimulate muscle growth.
You could essentially do any split you want. To simplify it, pick one or two of the exercises I suggested above for each muscle group and aim to get stronger on each of them - consistency combined with strength gains will grow the muscle.
The great thing about these exercises is that they can be mixed-and-matched every now and then to stimulate the same muscle group, and they also fit into any type of split:
- Push Pull Legs
- Arnold Split
- Bro Split
Where’s abs you may ask? Well I subscribe to the fact that you will get abs just by doing compound lifts such as squats, rows, RDLs and even bench press because abs play a big role in stabilization - they grow too, especially as you lift heavier weight.
However, feel free to add crunches, planks and sit ups as you’d like.
With great gains, comes great responsibility
Supplement your training with a high-protein diet (1.6 to 2.2 grams per kg of bodyweight).
Consistency is key - get stronger at the same lifts over time to see the best results.
And always remember, stay natural.
STAY OFF THE SPIDER HORMONES
