Bulking up is kind of a requirement when your grandson is the Man Of Steel.

Cameron Cuffe learned this lesson all too well when he was cast in Krypton, Syfy's DC Comics prequel series set on Superman's doomed home planet. Cuffe plays the Kryptonian Seg-El — decades before his grandson, Kal-El, grows up to be Henry Cavill.

When we meet Seg in Krypton’s pilot episode, he's more prone to bar brawls and street fights than saving the world — and Cuffe wanted a physique to match.

"My training wasn’t to look like a supermodel," Cuffe tells Men’s Health about his preparation for the role. "It was to build a body that looks like the consequence of a certain lifestyle. Seg’s lifestyle is pretty rough. He has to fight to survive, literally."

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The British actor began with a heavy bulking period, packing 15 pounds of muscle on to his frame. Cuffe worked alongside wellness company Bodyism, which put him through circuits of German Volume Training.

"It was a lot of big deadlifts," Cuffe recalls. "Ten sets of ten. Three seconds down, two seconds back up again.” (Want to give German Volume Training a shot? Here's how.)

For Cuffe — a relative newcomer who was mostly performing in small live productions and indie films before being launched in the DC Universe — the intensity was something entirely new. "Fitness is all about a lifestyle," he says. "You have to change your entire way of being."

"Fitness is all about a lifestyle. You have to change your entire way of being."

That lifestyle didn’t end when he left the gym.

"My trainer at Bodyism said, 'If you’re going to put on size, you should treat yourself like a big baby,'" the actor tells us. "Because all babies really do is eat, sleep, and move. And you grow faster than you ever will at any other point in your life, when you’re a child. So all I really did was go to the gym... After that, eat loads. Then bed early, wake up late." (Want to get better sleep? Here are 7 ways to fall asleep faster.)

But Cuffe didn’t just want to look like a Kryptonian. He wanted to fight like one. He followed up his 15-pound bulk with four months of functional strength training, focusing heavily on mixed martial arts and boxing.

“So much of Seg’s story is about perseverance and just trying to stay in the ring for one more round," he says. "Training really gave me the concept of stamina and determination.”



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Of course, when you’re stepping into any comic book property, the plates you stack in the gym aren't the only weight on your shoulders; you’re also dealing with nearly 80 years of history, billions of dollars spent, and an entire army of fans poised to tell you you’re doing it all wrong.

“We are playing in a world that means a lot to millions of people all over the world. But it’s only been a good thing. Really, genuinely, it’s only been a good thing,” he tells us, sounding confident. And why shouldn’t he be? Just a few months ago, as training wound down and promotion for Krypton took precedent, Cuffe showed off one last feat of strength: An explosive push-up turned full on Superman pose that would make Christopher Reeve proud.

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“My final steps towards becoming a fully fledged Kryptonian,” the actor wrote. Thanks [Bodyism] for teaching me how to fly.”

Krypton premieres on Syfy March 21.

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