Question about Superman: why does he have abs? How?

Cafe Society
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For the few who don’t know, this is Superman:

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Superman is an alien from the planet Krypton who, because of differences between the Kryptonian system and our Solar system, is blessed with damn-near supernatural strength (and vision, and hearing, and imperviousness to bullets, and the ability to fly, and other attributes which would earn one the moniker ‘Superman’).

Inna and I were viewing a trivia video on YouTube and one of the questions had to do with Supes, complete with a picture of him, and it occurred to me… why does he have well-defined abs and pecs and biceps and thighs, etc? HOW does he have these things?

I mean, he has superman-like strength regardless of physique. He can’t just go to Gold’s Gym and get on the ab crunch machine because, even if it maxxes out at 500 pounds, he’s Superman. His strength comes not from his muscles but because of his genetic origins on Krypton and our Sun and what not. 500 pounds is immaterial for our boy.

Inna suggested that it’s not the weight, but the repetitions, and while that makes sense to start out with, if he’s at Gold’s he can’t go faster than a normal human because that gives the game away. And perhaps he can build an ab crunch machine that gives him a workout at the Fortress of Solitude, most bodybuilders will attest that you don’t get a physique like that by working out just on Saturday’s. (Remember, the rest of the week he has to cosplay as Clark Kent, so he can’t be a gym rat M-F.)

I mean, Superman can look like this…

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And he would still be Superman. In fact, he probably would look like Ricky from Better Off Dead because it’s not like Earth’s gravity is consequential for the guy. He’s not going to lose a few pounds by taking up daily walks or anything.

So what’s the Straight Dope? Why does Superman have abs?

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He’s got a gym in the Fortress of Solitude with neutronium free weights.

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Also, if he does attain the reps at Gold’s because he’s crunching at Superman-speed, this causes problems with air pressure (the wind would be a nuisance to the other people), heat (can an ab crunch machine even go at 500 crunches a minute without burning up?), and other things I can’t think about.

Inna also suggested that maybe he gets his physique because he has to restrain himself, and it’s this restraint which gives him Super muscles, but I just don’t see how purposely slacking off would make one look like Supes, even if your situps were performed in such a manner that you don’t end up flying out of Gold’s.

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But if he has weights so heavy that Superman can’t lift them, how did he get them to the FoS?

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These are the questions which keep me up at night…

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Because not only does he have super strength, he has a super metabolism and super endocrine and super hormone levels. Basically, as a Kryptonian, his body is super atuned to super perfection.

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You realize you’ve just created an alternative fan-fic universe where ‘Ricky Smith’ is Clark Kent, ‘Lane Meyer’ is actually Lex Luther, and ‘Monique Junot’ is Lois Lane, right? Charles De Mar is Jimmy Olsen, the owner of Pig Burgers is Perry White, and ‘Roy Stalin’ is Steve Lombard.

Just imagine Bruce Wayne in this universe….

Stranger

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Bruce Wayne…

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Zod doesn’t have this physique, nor does Superdog, nor… for that matter… Supergirl. So I don’t think this is the answer, sorry.

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I mean, the answer has a lot to do with whatever version of Superman you’re looking at, and how the writers want to answer. A few include that his powers didn’t kick in until high school, before which he was a tall, very hardworking farm boy doing a lot of physical labor. Why didn’t the powers then negate future exercise then? Reasons of course.

Or the fact that several versions are the result of Kryptonian super-eugenic project. They’re built from the ground up to be perfect by their standards, which may well include some cellular mechanism to keep at perfect, Adonis-like weight and body form.

Or, of course, he is an alien, no matter how human he looks. For all we know what appear to be muscles are nothing more than swollen Yellow-Sun-Energy storage packs. That would explain why in certain comics, where his energies have been all-but completely drained, he appears emaciated (I’m thinking of the post-nuclear-hit appearance in the Dark Knight comic).

But again, pick whichever option you want. None of the above seem consistent over the many versions and years the character has existed.

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My takeaway from this thread is that George Reeves wasn’t so implausible (physique wise) as is thought. Probably shouldn’t have bothered trying to hold his stomach in and so forth.

Or am I confusing him with Adam West’s Batman?

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I feel compelled to drop this here:

https://larryniven.net/?q=man-of-steel-woman-of-kleenex-by-larry-niven

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I was just about to look for a link to that.

ETA: “that” = the Niven piece. On phone I keep hitting the wrong reply button.

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I think there are many unanswered questions about Superman, and it may be best not to delve too deeply. As a kid I had a Superman comic book that dealt with the origin of Superman and tried to explain some of his powers. It turns out, he can’t really fly – what appears as flying is that he’s so incredibly strong (due to our Yellow Sun™) that his feats of apparent flying are really just very powerful jumps.

This fails to address his apparent ability to maintain controlled flight and effortlessly land at any intended destination, and to do so without creating a crater. One might also raise further questions about his costume. One might forgive his propensity to wear his underwear on the outside of his tights – maybe that’s considered good form on Krypton – but that cape is a mystery. It surely can only contribute to turbulence and drag during his amazing controlled high jumps. The purpose of the cape, aerodynamic or otherwise, has never been explained.

I’m also curious about how much Superman weighs, given his ability to (for example) hold up a falling building with one hand and push it back into place. This sort of performance suggests a mass of at least 500,000 tons, which makes me wonder how, as mild-mannered Clark Kent, he doesn’t fall through the floors of the “Daily Planet” office building.

Yes, there are many unanswered questions about Superman. I think questions about his abs are probably the least of them. :man_superhero:

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Yeah, the fact that Lois can’t tell the difference between Clark Kent and Superman always bothered me. Those glasses and the forehead curl ain’t hiding much.

I try not to think about my comic entertainment too much.

I watched Logan this weekend and the claws coming out of the knuckles is clearly a problem that can’t be very disguised.

Oh, the problems of the comics. Kinda boggles the mind.

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Maybe that’s just his abs suit.

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Let me try. It’s his favorite blankie from when he was an infant. Ma Kent used the rest of his blankets to make his costume.

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What if he’s telekinetic? Then you explain controlled flight — and landings, and hovering in between — not in terms of leaping, but as a twist on how he levitates stuff (a) with his mind, and (b) without him being especially heavy; and, any weights that he isn’t levitating with his mind, he can get a workout from physically lifting?

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But why did Ma Kent make an adult-sized costume? Just how many blankets were sent with him on the ship from Krypton, anyway?

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And exacty how was Ma Kent able to do anything to that blanket? How did she cut it? What did she use for a needle?