“Just Do F***ing Basic Exercises”: Alpha Male Henry Cavill Faces Exercise Scientist’s Backlash for His Coach’s Workout Choice for The Witcher

Published 06/10/2023, 3:07 PM EDT

Exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel has made a name for himself teaching exercise techniques on YouTube. Recently, the workout specialist has begun analyzing celebrity workout programs. In his most recent video, Israetel looked at Hollywood heartthrob, Henry Cavill’s workout. The Superman actor is famous for his physique and will soon grace our screens in the third season of Netflix’s The Witcher. However, while analyzing the exercises the actor’s coach chose for him, Dr. Mike Israetel had some gripes.

In his video, the exercise scientist scrutinized the Men’s Health video featuring the English actor and strength coach Dave Rienzi. While Israetel liked the first few movements, he didn’t approve of all the exercises Rienzi selected for Cavill. In fact, Israetel voiced strong disapproval for one movement Rienzi made the alpha male perform.

What ticked off Dr. Mike Israetel?

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The video began with Cavil performing stiff-legged Romanian deadlifts with a band around his knees. The creator of the RP hypertrophy app also appreciated Men’s Health, giving extra tips on correct exercise form as Cavill performed the movements. However, his approval turned into disapproval when Cavill started doing the upper body exercises.

“Finally a relevant muscle group,” said the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner. However, his excitement was short-lived. Instead of doing the standard lateral raises, Rienzi made Cavill do an advanced variation of the bodybuilding exercise. The movement started out with the actor’s arms to the side but moved inward with every rep until it became a front lateral raise during the third rep.

“Everyone gets fancy all the time. Why don’t these Hollywood trainers just do f***ing basic exercises?” questioned the Ph.D. holder. While Israetel said the variation was a “fine exercise” but was also “needlessly” complicated. Despite hitting the shoulder muscle at various angles the YouTuber concluded the complexity might be detrimental.

Israetel argued the complex movements take away the focus on the movement. The person doing it thinks about what they need to do next instead of focusing on which muscle they are targeting. According to the exercise scientist, it’s a waste of mental bandwidth. However, complexity wasn’t the only thing he had a problem with. The RP app founder scrutinized two other upper body movements.

Henry Cavill might have wasted his time on another movement

In the Men’s Health video, the actor said some exercises focused on improving strength and endurance for sword fighting. The Witcher actor said swinging a heavy sword required grip and shoulder strength, so Dave Rienzi picked out variations targeting specific muscles.

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The first one was alternating dumbbell curls with a static hold. However, Israetel disagreed, branding static holds as a “gigantic f***ing waste of your time,” and said dynamic movements were far more effective. He also recommended ditching the movement Cavill performed to strengthen the obliques for a dynamic variation.

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While Dr. Mike Iraetel didn’t approve of most of the exercises Cavill’s strength coach selected, he did the workout a 7/10. The sports scientist also said his video was not meant to offend Cavill or his coach.

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Written by:

Sagnik Bagchi is a sports writer at EssentiallySports who specializes in American sports. He has a deep understanding of combat sports, gymnastics, and weightlifting. He holds a Master's Degree in English Literature from a top university.

Edited by:

Anupama Ghosh

“Just Do F***ing Basic Exercises”: Alpha Male Henry Cavill Faces Exercise Scientist’s Backlash for His Coach’s Workout Choice for The Witcher

What ticked off Dr. Mike Israetel?

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Henry Cavill might have wasted his time on another movement