The Nero Workout

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Game(s): Devil May Cry 4 and 5

Archetype: Fighter

Class: Weapons Master

Skills/Attributes:

• Master sword fighter.
• Master gun slinger.
• Superhuman strength.
• Superhuman speed.
• Superhuman agility.
• Devil breaker/demon arm.
• Oozes badassitude.

Overview:

Nero is a badaaaaassssss.  We’ve already covered Dante, and with the meteoric success of Devil May Cry 5 you KNOW we were going to have to give Nero the same treatment!  As if all of Devil May Cry 4 were not enough to establish how legit Nero is, the damn opening credits cinematic has more ass-kicking flair than most Hollywood action movies.  Between the Red Queen and the blue Rose, Nero’s precision, technique, and strength in combat make him one of the strongest Weapon Masters we’ve ever covered.  For the workout, let’s discuss his physical attributes.

First off, Nero isn’t particularly bulky!  Like, sure, he’s in fantastic shape, but if you saw him walking down the street you wouldn’t think him capable of Bowser-throwing a four story tall demon.  Yet, here we are, with his massive strength (thank you, demon blood) packed into his compact frame.  As such, we’re going to take an approach of some seriously heavy weightlifting but a relatively limited caloric intake.  We want to look like an 85 kg Olympic weightlifter, not a 200kg strongman competitor.

Strength isn’t everything, of course.  Nero’s also very fast, athletic, and agile.  The dude easily leaps, wall-jumps, sprints, and dives his way through combat, with all the agility of an elite level gymnast.  As such, we’ll be working some agility, jumping, and speed drills in as well, especially on our cardio days.

Before we jump into the workout, here’s our usually supplementary articles.  MAKE SURE YOU READ THESE.  Especially if you’re looking to develop Nero’s compact, athletic build!  Diet is going to be key for that!

General Nutrition Info:

• Macros and You!

Lose Weight, Burn Fat:

• The Secret to Burning Fat
• Losing Weight is Not a Side Quest

Build Muscle, Bulk Up:

• The Secret to Building Mass

Before and After Workout Programs:

• Warm Up
• Cool Down

Alright, let’s get to it!

Strength

Equipment Required:

Pull Up Bar

Power Rack

Barbell and Weights

Dumbbells

Bench

Style: Station – Perform all sets of an exercise, resting 1-3 minutes between each set, before moving on to the next exercise.

Strength Workout A:

5×3-5 Bent-Over Barbell Row SUPERSET
5×3-5 Bench Press
4×8 Chin Ups (add weight if necessary) SUPERSET
4×8 Overhead Barbell Press

3xCircuit:

12 Dumbbell Incline Press
12 One Arm Dumbbell Rows (each arm)
12 Push Ups (do plyo push ups when these get easy)
12 Hanging Knee Raises/Leg Raises
1 minute Rest

Strength Workout B:

5×3-5 Back Squats
3×5 Deadlifts SUPERSET
3×5 Dumbbell Weighted Jumping Squats (light weight!)
3×12 (each leg) Reverse Lunges (barbell or dumbbell weighted)
3×12 Standing Barbell Twists

Strength Notes:

For any exercise recommending 3-5 reps per set, you should be going HEAVY, like, as heavy as you can while still managing three reps per set.  For the 8 rep and 12 rep exercises, you should feel like you might have another rep or two in the tank when you’re done with your last set, so set your weight up accordingly.  When first starting out, you should be adding five pounds to your bench press, overhead press, back squat, and deadlift every week or two.  As you get stronger, this progress will probably slow down a bit.

In strength workout A we get your working sets out of the way with two supersets of compound motions.  Remember, a superset means you do a set of one exercise followed IMMEDIATELY by a set of the next exercise, then rest. So, for example, you’d do five barbell rows followed immediately by five bench presses, then you rest, and you’d repeat that 5 times.  For the circuit after that, the goal is just to get all of your reps in, so don’t be afraid to go light when starting out.

For strength workout B we’re going very leg heavy.  Your jumping squats are pretty high impact, so start with super light or even no weight on those.  Just focus on exploding upwards and slowly ramping up the weight from week to week.  Your barbell twists are a great exercise to develop rotational force, enabling you to deliver stronger sword swings and other combat maneuvers!

Cardio

Equipment Required:

Sledgehammer
Old Tire

Cardio Workout A:

30-60 minute Run (start with walking if you need to)
3×3 minute Weapons Drills (rest a minute or two between each set)
3×1 minute Sledgehammer Slams (these are burnout sets, do them as fast as you can)

Cardio Workout B:

4-8xCircuit:
5 Box Jumps
20 Speed Skaters
10 Jumping Lunges
20 second Sprint
30 second Rest

Cardio Notes:

For cardio A we’re looking to just build overall cardiovascular fitness, and then do some application-specific anaerobic conditioning with your weapon drills and sledgehammer slams.  Cardio workout B is all about supplementing your leg workouts with athletic, combat-related maneuvers with loads of anaerobic conditioning thrown in.  On workout B, start with four circuits, but work your way up to 8.  Make sure you’re performing everything as fast and hard as you can (or as high as you can, in the case of the box jumps.)  You SHOULD finish feeling like your lungs are going to explode and your legs are going to fall off.

Schedule:

Day 1: Strength A
Day 2: Strength B
Day 3: Cardio A
Day 4: Strength A
Day 5: Strength B
Day 6: Cardio B
Day 7: Rest

Schedule Notes:

This is a six days on, one day off schedule, so it’s pretty intense.  I mean, you are looking to become a devil hunter, right?  Nevertheless, we want to make sure you’re able to recover enough between workouts so feel free to take an extra day of rest on Day 4, push Strength A to day 5, and skip your second Strength B workout when you’re first starting out.  Your legs are going to get lots of work with Cardio B anyway, so you can afford to take out that extra leg day at first if you need to.  Listen to your body, don’t overtrain, and don’t get injured!

That’s it for our time with Nero, but it’s not our last dip into the Devil May Cry universe, yet.  Come back next week for The Trish Workout, or just go check it out on Patreon RIGHT NOW.  All Patrons get to see workouts early for any level donation!

We’ve also got our weekly live hangout on The Be a Game Character YouTube channel tonight at 7PM EST, so I’ll see you there!  Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!

The Best Dan Wallace