Want that true Hollywood Look? Then you may want to give the 300-rep Spartan workout a try - used by the cast of the movie – for a full body workout.
Be for warned this is not for the faint at heart. If you are just starting out or haven’t been wiegth lifting for at least a year. I highly recommend that you start out with Craig Ballantyne’s, Turbulence Training; or Rusty Moore’s, Visual Impact Muscle Building.
It may not be apparent why some movies flop and other take off, and sometimes that reason can be readily apparent. Take the movie 300, for instance. This epic account of a great and ancient battle between the Spartans and Persians contained some of the most amazing eye-popping visuals and head-snapping violence that men can’t get enough of.
While it isn’t just men who loved the movie, plenty of women, too, appreciated the parade of mass ripped bodies. This fact may account for why the movie made a record $70 Million in opening weekend and more then $450 Million worldwide.
One of the most watched video’s on MensHealth is Craig Ballantyne’s demonstration of the “300 Workout“. Craig Ballantyne is a strength and conditioning couch based out of Toronto Canada. Craig as also created some of the most succesful online fitness products, such as Turbulence Training.
It looks simple on paper, but promises to be a great muscle building workout.
Ballantyne put together this workout video series for you to follow along with and—provided you’re fit like a king—try for yourself.
“One actor from 300, Andrew Pleavin, completed the workout in 18 minutes, 11 seconds,” says Ballantyne. “He didn’t practice this workout … and neither did I. My time? 19:07. My butt was kicked by a Hollywood actor!”
“It’s a brutal workout, starting out strong and slowing down, finishing at a crawl,” explains Ballantyne. “I don’t plan on doing that any time soon or, really, ever again.”
So What exactly is the 300 workout?
The 300 workout is a Spartan-sized challenge on your daily workout routine. All of the exercises are done without scheduled rests between moves, talk about supersetting!
THE “ORIGINAL” 300 WORKOUT
- Pullups – 25 reps
- Barbell Deadlift with 135 lbs. – 50 reps
- Pushups – 50 reps
- 24-inch Box Jumps – 50 reps
- Floor Wipers – 50 reps
- Single-Arm Clean-and-Press with 36 lbs Kettlebell – 50 reps
- Pullups – 25 reps
As you can see it is a very intense workout routine. Garad Butler was one of those cast members who used the 300 workout. He simultaneously built muscle, increased muscular endurance, and stripped away fat fast. This allowed the cast members to achiever the movies muscular look that popped, talk about an unorthodox 300-rep rite of passage.
To become King Leonidas, Butler, who by his own admission was in less- than-ideal shape when he was tapped for the starring role in 300, spent 4 months transforming both his body and his mind. Early on, it became an all-consuming task. That’s because the intense training required to build a warrior’s physique — aesthetically and functionally — simultaneously cultivated a warrior’s mentality. Or maybe it was vice versa.
Five weeks before the cameras were to roll, Butler took on extra sessions with a Venezuelan bodybuilder named Franco LiCastro in order to exaggerate the physique he was after. “I wanted to look really strong,” says Butler. “I’ve seen so many actors play these kinds of roles, and you see all this equipment on either a big belly or skinny little arms.”
It worked in more ways than one: On-screen, the bearded actor lords over the battlefield like testosterone incarnate, with the steely gaze, cobblestone abs, and broad, chiseled shoulders you suspect one would need to command 300 men to their slaughter.
At this point in the training Franco most likley started to incorporates a common technique in Hollywood, called “The Shrink Wrap Effect”. This allowed their skin to mold and form right to the muscles giving them that eye popping muscular look. Other stars that have used this technique incluse Taylor Lautner (Twilight: New Moon), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Brad Pit (for most of his movies).
NOT READY FOR THE “ORIGINAL” 300 WORKOUT, TRY THIS INSTEAD!
THE INTERMEDIATE 300 WORKOUT
- Pullups – 25 reps
- Dumbbell Deadlift – 50 reps
- Pushups – 50 reps
- Body-Weight Squat Jumps – 50 reps
- V-Ups – 50 reps
- Dumbbell Push Press – 50 reps
- Pullups – 25 reps
Obviously, this is still a challenging workout…you shouldn’t do it unless you are already in great shape. I highly recommend that you start out with Craig Ballantyne’s, Turbulence Training; or Rusty Moore’s, Visual Impact Muscle Building.
Fortunately if you do want to give this a try, this routine can easily be adapted. Appropriate exercises can be subbed in: Drop down to 150 total reps, or 4-6 exercises of 15-25 reps each. For example, you might try this workout, great for a guy with moderate fitness:
THE BEGINNER 300 WORKOUT
- Body-Weight Rows – 15 reps
- Body-Weight Squats – 25 reps
- Pushups – 15 reps
- Jumping Jacks – 50 reps
- Mountain Climbers – 20 reps
- Close-Grip Pushups – 10 reps
- Body-Weight Rows – 15 reps
Start slowly with your version of the 300 challenge; modify the reps as needed. And remember: the warrior did not rise to such challenges overnight.
