💥 The Avengers Superhero Workout!

Happy Independence Day Week!

Call me basic or corny, but Captain America has always been my favorite Avenger. If you’d like to fight me on that, reply to this email and we’ll duke it out. I can do this all day.

So, in honor of Cap and other heroes in our lives, this week’s Move to Improve is a bit of a new format. I present to you:

The Avengers Superhero Workout!

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The Avengers Superhero Workout

A couple notes: I’ll go into some detail about form or how to properly execute each movement. But this assumes you either already know how or can learn these exercises through practice or the World Wide Web. I’m including one exercise per hero (along with a modified, easier version of each), with a few ✨bonus✨ moves at the end. Of course you can also modify movements, set, reps, time, etc. as needed.

For this first Avengers Workout, I’m just going to stick to the original six: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye… plus Spider-Man, because who doesn’t love Spidey? Stay tuned for future editions that feature other fave superheroes! And maybe super villains? 😈

Without further ado, Avengers… ASSEMBLE!

Move 1: Cap Curls

• To curl a helicopter back onto a building, you need some pretty solid lats and biceps.

• Standing perpendicular (90 degrees from directly facing) to a cable machine, set the cable height to face-level and choose a one-hand grip. Holding your arm out like Cap here, curl the weight in toward your face, give it a good flex, and return slowly.

• Modify it: If you don’t have cables, use a dumbbell, heavy book, or jug of liquid and start curling away!

• 3-4 sets, 8-15 reps

Move 2: Iron Man Push-Ups

• We all know the iconic Iron Man pose, arms extended out straight in front of him, shooting repulsors from his hands. I can hear their sound now.

• To build that same chest and stiff-arm strength, hit the floor for some push-ups! Hands just a hair outside shoulder width, lower slowly and explode up. Bonus points if you make the sound.

• Modify it: You can do push-ups from your knees instead of on your toes, or do them on a wall or higher surface like a table or couch.

• 3 sets of however many you can do, stopping a rep or two shy of reaching failure

Move 3: Thor Mjolnir Deadlifts

• We all know (or now you know) that Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, is impossibly heavy to lift for those who are not worthy. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try!

• Using a single heavy kettlebell or dumbbell, place your feet firmly on the ground about hip-width apart. Keeping your spine neutral (not overly rounding or arching), hinge at the hips, bend your knees a little more, and lift the hammer of the gods. Lower slowly and repeat. Should feel it in your glutes, hamstrings, and quads!

• Modify it: Best way to modify a deadlift is just to use lighter weight. If you wanna focus on hinging form first, grab a yard stick/pvc pipe and hold it along your spine. It should have three contact points: tailbone, mid-back, and the back of your head. With a soft knee bend, hinge at the hips, maintaining all 3 points of contact, until you feel a good stretch along the back of your legs, then return to starting position.

• 3 sets of 6-12 reps depending on the weight

Move 4: Hulk Med Ball Smash

• In the iconic smash, Hulk slams both hands into the ground with all the force he can muster. Now it’s your turn to do that, but with a little less collateral damage.

• Find a medicine ball, sandbag, or other heavy object meant to be slammed around at the gym. Pick it up off the ground with similar form to your deadlifts, raise it above your head, and quickly and forcefully use your abs and arms to slam it down onto the ground. Just watch your face in case it bounces back up! (If there’s nothing you can throw without getting in trouble, just do some tricep pushdowns on a cable machine to get those hulkish triceps!)

• Modify it: Lighter weight or do tricep push-downs with rubber resistance bands hung over a bar/door/hook.

• 3 sets of 30-60 seconds continuous SMASHING

Move 5: Black Widow Pose Cossack Squats

• Her sister may actually do it better 👀 , but the Black Widow sure does know how to strike a pose. Improve your leg strength and mobility with a Cossack Squat that would make Natasha proud!

• Stand with your legs far apart, toes facing slightly out. Holding your hands (or a weight) out in front of you, squat down to one side, putting most of your weight on that leg. If your mobility isn’t great, this might be challenging, but go as low as you can, trying to keep your back as erect as possible.

• Modify it: Elevate the foot you’re squatting on onto a step or something higher than the ground. This decreases the range of motion required.

• 3 sets, 8-10 reps per side

Move 6: Hawkeye Rows

• Everyone’s favorite archer. It takes some serious back strength to pull a bow taut over and over again. Let’s build up our backs with the Hawkeye Row.

• Using a cable machine, dumbbell, kettlebell, or really any lateral row machine in your gym, pick a weight you can do with one hand. Brace yourself and grab the weight, arm outstretched in front of you. Pull it back as far as you can, thinking about tucking your elbow back and down. Return to starting position, get a good stretch through your back and arm muscles, and go right into the next row.

• Modify it: Resistance band rows, or even find a heavy door and pull it open repeatedly!

• 3 sets of 8-12 rows, each arm

Move 7: Spidey Swings & pull-ups

• You may not be able to shoot webs, but you can still channel your inner nerdy teen and swing around! Reference one of my very first posts for the benefits of hanging from things.

• Find some sort of pull-up bar. If you can do pull-ups, crank those babies out. See how long you can hang with both hands, then try with one. If you’ve got monkey bars in your gym or neighborhood, give them a go—I promise they are way more difficult than they seemed as a kid!

• Modify it: If you’re not able to do pull-ups or swinging yet, just hanging can be beneficial! You can find a lower bar or stand on a chair to use your feet to support some amount of body weight.

• 3 sets to near failure if doing pull-ups. Swing to your heart’s content!

BONUS EXERCISES

Bonus 1: Cap Sprints

• “On your left,” as he laps Sam yet another time.

• 400m repeats, baby. Using a track, treadmill, path, or road, figure out a distance of 400m (or ¼ mile). Run at a fairly fast pace.

• Modify it: Pick any cardio machine or walk. Go “somewhat hard” for a few minutes, then go “easy” for a minute or two.

• 4-8 400m runs with 1-2 min walking in between

Bonus 2: Iron Man Lift-off Box Jumps

• While you may not be able to fly miles high, you can still lift-off like Tony Stark!

• Grab a box or stable platform of any height ~12–36 inches. Starting off standing with both feet facing it, squat down and explode up to land on top of the box/object. Hop or step back down.

• Modify it: Pick a step of any height and do step-ups!

• 3-4 sets of 8-12 jumps

Bonus 3: Thor Mjolnir Hammer Curls

• Too good to pass up. The exercise is literally called a hammer curl. Want to pump up those superhero arms even bigger? Grab your local Mjolnir (dumbbell) and get to work.

• Standing or sitting, doesn’t matter. What makes a curl a hammer curl is your hand position. Your grip should be “neutral,” not supinated or pronated, with palms facing the middle. Thumbs on top, pinkies on bottom. That’s your grip. Curl the weight up, squeeeeze, and lower slowly.

• Modify it: same form, lighter weight

• 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps

Bonus 4: Peter Parker Push Press

• Peter Parker picked a peck of pic—wait. Maybe not. But he’s not just a web-slinger! Build super-strength delts with Spidey’s signature push-press.

• Using a barbell, dumbbells, or a kettlebell, stand with feet hip width apart. Hold the weight just above shoulder height, just outside shoulder width. Press up! To make it a true push press, you can also use a little bounce from your legs to help launch the weight up each rep.

• Modify it: Even the weight of water bottles might be enough to give you a good workout!

• 3 sets 8-12 reps

Bonus 5: Romanov Russian Twists

• I’m not quite asking you to do whatever this move is lol. But if you want a snatched waist like Miss Romanov, you can’t forget to train your abs!

• On the floor, rock back into a position where your legs are lifted and bent, and only your tailbone area is on the ground. Clasp your hands together or use a small weight and twist side to side.

• Modify it: Still lean back, but leave your heels on the ground!

• 3 sets of 30+ seconds or 50+ reps

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Give one or more of these moves a try, and use the modified versions if needed! Don’t be afraid to look up exercise tutorials on Youtube. There are tons, and they’re quick and easy. Functional Bodybuilding has a great database of them!

Level 2: Try all 7 moves in one workout and let me know how it goes!

Level 3: Do all 7 exercises plus the 5 bonuses to achieve the superhero physique of your dreams!

This newsletter is brought to you by… me!

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Know someone else who might be? I’d love to get to know you and/or your business and see how we can partner together. Reply to this email!

✍️ Drew's Picks:

• Podcast: The Fundamentals of a Fit and Healthy Body by Dr. Joey Muñoz. This is one of the biggest bang-for-your-buck podcasts out there! In 46 short minutes, he covers 90% of the advice I hope to impart to you in Move to Improve. Just discovered this guy last week and have loved his content!

• Watch: Secret Invasion on Disney+. Marvel’s newest TV show, featuring lots of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and more plot twists than Russians Twists you’re about to go do. I love it!

If you enjoyed this new creative workout-style post, let me know! I’ve got a few more of these churning in my mind and would love to know if they’re fun and beneficial to you guys.

And as always, click the button below and I’ll love you forever! 💝 

Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).