Henry Cavill has a history of going above and beyond. The fitness buff first got jacked to play Clark Kent/Superman in the 2013 DC film Man of Steel, and nearly every role since has required him to keep his statuesque physique. His role as Geralt of Rivia in the Netflix television adaptation of The Witcher was no exception. While Henry Cavill was injured during the production of Season 2, the onscreen monster hunter was up on his feet again before you could say ‘Yennefer of Vengerberg’ – and yes, doing sprints.
Henry Cavill sat down with GQ to discuss his new ambassadorship with MuscleTech, a health company that specializes in workout supplements and protein powders. Naturally, the discussion turned to his personal workout routine, which has most recently been utilized to keep him in shape for filming Season 2 of The Witcher. Henry Cavill does pretty much all of his own stunts (including swordplay) when he's able to, which led to a rather inconvenient hamstring injury on the set of Season 2. For some, that might mean cancelling their gym membership. For DC’s Man of Steel, it meant doubling down on his workout routine and even doing sprints. When asked whether he was a fan of pre-workouts (a preparatory shake or snack), he expounded on his routine:
Absolutely. Especially on The Witcher when I was doing my physio—physical therapy is what you guys call it over there—for my hamstring. Before work every day, I was getting up at 4 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. to do about an hour and a half, two hours, two and a half hours of physical therapy. And it finished with doing sprints. So before work, where you still have to go and do a 12 hour day, while recovering from a fairly serious injury—I absolutely needed that boost.
Sprints? At 5 in the morning? While recovering from an injury? Not only does Henry Cavill play a magically enhanced superhuman on The Witcher, but it seems like he might actually be one in real life. Maybe it’s the pre-workout protein powder. Henry Cavill seems to think so:
So I would take that pre-workout before doing my sprints and I actually did notice an enormous performance difference. There would be days where I’d be saying, 'What's wrong with you? Today you're just dragging ass.' And then I’d realize, I didn't have any pre-workout. And sure enough, it's just that little bit of an extra kick which made all the difference. I was getting faster and faster. My form was better, which was especially important when recovering and doing sprints with a hamstring injury.
So, there you have it, right from the Witcher himself: if you’re trying to get in shape to protect the young princess that you accidentally claimed through the Law of Surprise, it might be time to invest in a solid blender. Or, if you’re Henry Cavill, maybe just do a couple more sprints.
The highly anticipated Season 2 of The Witcher is set to premiere on Netflix on December 17, 2021. In addition to Henry Cavill, returning cast members include Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, Freya Allan as Ciri, Joey Batey as Jaskier, and MyAnna Buring as Tissaia.
