Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The 300 Workout Revealed

The 300 Workout Introductions

I am sure many of you have seen the great film 300 in which 300 Spartan Warriors kept King Xerxes and his Persian Hordes at bay at the famous Battle of Thermopylae.

In this film the men who played the Spartan Warriors and other warriors of famous Greece all had muscular and toned bodies, even without the CGI graphics added at the end of filming.

Many have heard how the actors who played the 300 Spartan Warriors had a grueling training regime that finished with the now famous 300 workout. For those who are new to the 300 workout you are about to find out that the actors and stuntmen in the film 300 really did push themselves to the limits to condition their bodies for this immense film...its not all CGI graphics you know!

What is the 300 workout all about?

The 300 workout is actually a one off test of strength and endurance the actors of 300 worked towards throughout their grueling training regimes.

From the feedback post filming it is understood that only half of the actors were of a training level at the end of their grueling few months training regime to try the 300 workout. Further still out of the actors that were ready to try out the 300 workout only a small number of these actually managed to complete the 300 workout.

With this knowledge it is important to note that you might take time to be able to complete the full 300 workout, don't despair if you don't manage it first time. Remember to think like a Spartan Warrior and persevere to achieve your goal of carrying out the full 300 workout.

The 300 workout unveiled

The idea behind the 300 workout is that you have to complete 300 reps total over a number of different exercises without a break and in the quickest possible time.

The exercises used in the 300 workout are:

Pullups - 25 reps
Deadlifts with 135lbs - 50 reps
Pushups - 50 reps
24-inch Box jumps - 50 reps
Floor wipers with 135lbs - 50 reps
Single-arm Clean-and-Press with 36lbs Kettlebell - 50 reps
Pullups - 25 reps

For those of you who know these exercises I am sure you can see this is quite a feat to complete with no break between reps.

Exercise definitions

For those who are unsure what each exercise is please find a definition of each exercise below.

Pull Ups - Also called chin ups are where a person holds onto a bar with their body dangling below (no support) and pulls themselves up so the bar comes to their chin before returning to their starting position.

Deadlifts - Lifting a bar from the floor to waist height using your legs and lower back, always ensuring your arms are kept straight and not used in the lift.

Pushups - Also called press ups are when a person lies flat on their stomach and uses their hands at shoulder width apart or wider to push their body off the ground leaving only their toes and hands on the ground. The person will then bring their body down towards the ground again till their nose touches the ground before pushing back up.

24-inch box jumps - Jumping onto and off a 24-inch box

Floor Wipers - Lying flat on your back and holding a barbell in front of you at arms length the same as when you start a bench press you. Lift your legs (keeping them straight) straight up and to the right before returning to the starting position and bringing them straight up to the left and repeating.

Single-arm Clean-and-Press - With a Kettlebell in front of you squat down and pick up the Kettlebell lifting it to shoulder height before squatting slightly and pushing the Kettlebell above your head in a shoulder press.

Who completed the 300 workout?

Not all the actors that attempted the 300 workout and of those that did many took a very long time to finish. The person who finished in the quickest time was Andrew Pleavin with a staggering time of eighteen minutes and eleven seconds,

Andrew Pleavin played Daxos, one of the Arcadian soldiers. Andrew Pleavin was born in 1968 in Birkenhead, England and is a black belt in martial arts which he attained at the age of 18. It is his martial arts background that really helped him push through the 300 workout in such a quick time.

300 Workout Summary

This is a grueling workout and even though the actors of the film 300 only carried this workout once as a test of strength and endurance just before filming it is still worth putting into your workout.

I would suggest carrying out the 300 workout once every week or two as part of a larger training regime so your body improves through overall conditioning, endurance and strength.

What is good about the 300 workout is that it not only supports those who want to build muscle it also supports those who carry out martial arts, boxing, athletics and sports games such as basketball and football.

Just another gentle reminder

I know I mentioned this at the start of this article but please remember that it is not certain that you will be able to complete this workout in its entirety the first time you carry it out.

It may take a few attempts to complete the full 300 workout so keep pushing yourself to achieve it and once you have, keep pushing to improve your times and add heavier weights!!

300 Workout

Have you ever tried the 300 workout out before? Do you want to try it out? Or had you never heard of the 300 workout before reading this article?

Where ever you fit into the above please endeavor to give the 300 workout another go, you will certainly be pleased with the results.

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Bodyweight Workouts - Do the 300 Workout With Your Bodyweight

The 300 workouts, from the film "300" is still a widely popular workout for people who want to challenge themselves with super intense workouts. However, many people are unable to do perform the full 300 workout because they lack a barbell and kettlebell.

Well, you can easily set up your own 300 workout using just your bodyweight. The idea behind the 300 workout is to perform 5-10 exercises with high repetitions each, and to complete the workout as quickly as possible.

The original 300 Workout looked something like this:

Pullups - 25 reps
Deadlifts with 135lbs - 50 reps
Pushups - 50 reps
24-inch Box jumps - 50 reps
Floor wipers - 50 reps
Single-arm Clean-and-Press with 36lbs Kettlebell - 50 reps
Pullups - 25 reps

Mens Health, who was the first magazine to publish the workout, actually did come out with a Bodyweight version. It looked something like this:

15 bodyweight rows
25 bodyweight squats
15 pushups
50 jumping jacks
20 mountain climbers
10 close grip pushups
15 bodyweight rows

As you can see, this workout only has 150 repetitions. You can double the repetitions to make it 300. There are hundreds of different variations to the this workout that you can perform.

All it takes is a little creativity. For example, if you wanted to create a workout that trained your body to be more explosive, then you can perform a workout like this:

30 Chinups
50 Squat Jumps
30 Clap Pushups
100 Jumping Jacks
40 Tuck Jumps
20 Dive Bombers
30 Pullups

Keep experimenting and come out with your own 300 workouts.

One of the best Bodyweight programs I've come across is Workout Without Weighs. To learn more about this incredible program, check out my blog ShahTraining.com You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable) and references and copyright info.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Variations For the 300 Workout

It seems like the most talked about aspect of the 300 movie was the actor's bodies. Every Spartan solider looked ripped with their chisled abs and strong chest and shoulders. So how exactly do you get a group of actors to look like one of the greatest armies in history and legend?

Well Mark Twight, an exercise expert and avid mountain climber developed what he calls the 300 workout. He trained the cast for 8-12 weeks, with the 300 workout being the final test. I've been giving this workout to clients once in a while (and myself) and it's a definite "feel the next day" routine.

The 300 Workout

25 pull-ups
50 deadlifts at 135 pounds
50 push-ups
50 box jumps with a 24-inch box
50 "floor wipers" (a core and shoulders exercise at 135 pounds)
50 "clean and press" at 36 pounds (a weight-lifting exercise)
25 more pull-ups

For a total of 300 reps

Routine progress is suppose to be measured by the time it takes to complete the routine. Try to rest for as little time possible in between exercises. It may take multiple sets to get through an exercise and that's perfectly fine. The fastest in Twight's group was a speedy 18 minutes! Consider yourself in great shape if you can finish in 30-45.

This routine is not for beginners. However it can be modified to suit different fitness levels.

Variations for the 300 Workout

-Pull Ups can be performed assisted by using a stability ball or stepping stool under the pull up bar. Or by using an assisted pull up machine, like the Gravitron.

-Deadlift, floor wiper and clean and press weight amounts can be reduced.

-For deadlifts I prefer Romanian deadlifts for less work on the low back and more focus on the legs and glutes. 50 stiff legged deadlifts is a lot for anyone that does not regularly practice them.

-Push ups can be modified.

-Box jumps can be substituted for step ups if you don't have a 2 foot box. You can also use an aerobic step or the first step on the staircase for less height.

This workout is great for anybody that loves a challenge and loves to sweat. Even though I don't want to look like a Spartan warrior I love this workout because it forces me to be tough on myself. I am being timed and all!

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The 300 Workout For Ordinary Mortals

The truth about the 300 workout has become somewhat obscured by the legends surrounding it, which is similar in many respects to the movie itself. Whatever the truth is surrounding the 300 workout, one thing is certain: it helped make the 300 actors incredibly fit, and bursting with muscle.

The 300 workout is not for weekend warriors; it is extremely brutal. It is a complex of exercises done continually with little or no rest, for a total of 300 repetitions. Could ordinary mortals like you and I hope to emulate and learn from a workout that was done by modern day Spartan Warriors?

The short answer is no we cannot emulate them (at least not without months of training). Having said that however, the basics of the 300 workout can provide a template for structuring a fun and challenging fitness test, which can tell us how close (or far away) we are from becoming a Spartan Warrior.

Lets take a quick look at how Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training, one of the creators of an original 300 workout, modifies this workout for mortals like you and I.

a) Pullups - 5 reps (if you can't do real pullups, use the assisted pullup machine or even pulldowns)

b) Deadlifts with 25lbs - 30 reps (in the original workouts, they used 135 pounds. We'll decrease the weight and use the EZ curl bar instead. Alternatively, you can do dumbbell squats with 15 pounds per hand).

c) Pushups - 20 reps (do a combination of regular and kneeling if necessary)

d) 12-inch Box jumps - 25 reps

e) Floor wipers - 20 reps (Use the EZ Curl Bar again, or a broomstick)

f) 1-arm Clean n Press with 10lbs Kettlebell - 20 reps total, not per arm

g) Pullups - 5 reps (same as above)

Or if that workout seems too challenging, Criag offers a beginner option.

5 bodyweight rows

15 bodyweight squats

5 pushups

50 jumping jacks

10 mountain climbers

10 lunges

5 bodyweight rows

Both of these workouts offer ordinary folks like you and I the opportunity to complete a 300 style workout to test our fitness level. And who knows, maybe we can imagine ourselves as Spartan Warriors in training?

Dave Wilcox writes articles on topics such as self-improvement, spirituality, diet, and fitness.
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Monday, February 13, 2012

Get Ripped Strong and Powerful in 2012 With the 300 Workout

implemented the 300 workout into my weekly workout routine about 14 months ago and have achieved great results ever since. By following this routine, I have been able to significantly decrease my body fat percentage and significantly increase my lean muscles as well as get a lot stronger.

The 300 workout was first introduced to the general public in Men's Health magazine and the workout was inspired to help the actors from the movie 300, get in the best shape of their lives for the movie. The workout is comprised of 7 sets with 6 different exercises totaling 300 reps in the following order.

1. Pull Ups - 25 Reps

2. 135 Pound (60 Kg) Deadlift - 50 Reps

3. Pushups - 50 Reps

4. 24 Inch (0.6 Meter) Box Jumps - 50 Reps

5. Floor Wipers - 50 Reps

6. 35 (15 Kg) Pound Dumbell Clean & Press - 50 Reps

7. Pull Ups - 25 Reps

This workout is designed to increase muscular endurance, increase your work capacity and increase your muscle strength. The goal of this workout is to try and complete it as fast as possible and therefore you will want to take as few breaks as possible. The fastest time by one of the actors in the movie 300 was 18 minutes. This is a very challenging time to beat and it would be questionable if the actor who completed it in such a time, even took a break at all during the 7 set marathon!

Therefore, in order to improve, keep the weight and volume the same each time you perform this workout and always strive to try and beat your personal best time. This is an advanced workout so for beginners and intermediates, you can do less reps until you build up to the advanced level and number of reps. The important thing to follow is the format of the workout and continually progress from one exercise to the other by taking as few breaks as possible.

1. Pull Ups - 25 Reps

Begin the workout by trying to complete 25 reps of pull ups. If you have trouble with pull ups, you can use the Assisted Pull Up Machine to counter balance your weight and make it easier until you are able to pull up your own weight.

2. 135 Pound (60 Kg) Deadlift - 50 Reps

Next, place a plate on each side of an Olympic Bar and try and perform 50 deadlifts in any combination of sets.

3. Pushups - 50 Reps

Following deadlifts, immediately start doing push ups. Do as many sets as it takes until you reach 50 reps. You can also vary your hand position in order to target different muscles. Having your hands closer together will enable you to focus more on your triceps. Having your hands father apart will enable you to focus more on your chest.

4. 24 Inch (0.6 Meter) Box Jumps - 50 Reps

In order to develop explosive strength in your lower body, set up a two foot box and jump on and off the box for 50 reps.

5. Floor Wipers - 50 Reps

Floor wipers are the most challenging part of this workout. Set up a mat on the floor for sit ups. Take the 135 pound Olympic Bar that you used for deadlifts and set it over the mat. Lay down and hoist the 135 pound Olympic Bar over your body as if you were doing bench press.

Hold the Olympic Bar above your body and do a leg lift first touching the left plate on the Olympic Bar with your feet, then bring you legs back down to the center position, hold for a moment and then do another leg lift touching the right plate on the Olympic Bar.

Repeat this process for another 49 reps. This is a very challenging exercise that requires you to stabilize the Olympic Bar over your body while you attempt to do 100 leg lifts. When done correctly, it is one of the best ab development exercises.

6. 35 Pound (15 Kg) Dumbell Clean & Press - 50 Reps

Place a 35 pound dumbell in your right hand. Lift the dumbell from the floor, clean it to your shoulder, press it over your head and bring it down to your shoulder. Perform this exercise for 25 reps on your right arm and for 25 reps on your left arm.

7. Pull Ups - 25 Reps

Complete the 300 workout by performing another 25 reps of pull ups in however many sets it takes to achieve this. Prior to starting this workout, make sure you stretch and are well warmed up. Don't forget to set up all the equipment prior to starting the workout so you can move from one exercise to another and don't forget to time yourself so you have something to focus and improve upon the next time you do this workout.

Workouts like the 300 workout are circuit training workouts. Circuit training workouts are the best way to build muscular endurance and muscle strength and are the most important workout programs to follow and perform if you wish to get a ripped, strong and powerful athletic body. Its also very important to vary your circuit training workouts as your body adapts very quickly.

For maximum results, you want to make sure your body is always in a state of shock and therefore you want to ensure that you continually change up your circuit training workouts so your body never gets a chance to adapt.

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How To Customize The 300 Workout To Be The Ultimate Fat Burning Workout!

The 300 workout became popular because of the incredible physiques that the actors of the movie "300" were able to obtain in just a few short months.

Since then, there have been countless variations of it and many people are STILL doing it wrong!

One thing that is horribly wrong with the way most people design a workout is that they simply make a template - i.e. something that everyone should follow. But obviously that's not a good strategy because guess what? EVERYONE is different!

How I Would Design A 300 Workout

If you want a great workout, consider making yourself a 300 workout. It can be easy enough for a beginner to complete or hard enough for a professional athlete to complete - that's the beauty of it.

Just as an example we'll 2 do of them - 1 for a beginner and 1 for an expert, just so you can get the idea.

As a beforehand note - write down all these exercises before you make up your own schedule and see how many you can perform before failing. That way you can get an idea of what you can do and what you can't.

For a beginner, you might want to stay strictly to bodyweight exercises. So it could look something like this:

25 bodyweight squats

15 pushups

60 jumps on a jump rope

10 tricep dips on a chair (with feet on the floor)

10 reverse pullups (you can buy a pull up bar for about $10)

20 Bicycle Kicks

10 Hip extensions

Do that twice in a row which should take less than 20 minutes, and you're golden!

Here's a more advanced 300 workout that will knock the socks off pretty much anyone:

25 Overhead Shoulder Presses

25 Squats

15 Pullups

15 Dumbbell Bench Press

10 Deadlift

25 V-Ups

10 Single Legged Goodmornings

Again, everything would be done twice. For these 300 workouts you would simply go through the entire lift twice. Don't do 25 shoulder presses, then 25 again. You would do 25 shoulder presses, then 25 squats, etc.

For the advanced workout you would be using weights obviously and using weights that you would be able to complete for the recommended amounts just before hitting failure.

The goal would be to go through the entire workout without stopping - which would show that you have a tremendous amount of lung capacity and are in great shape. However, like I mentioned earlier I don't like templates, so feel free to go ahead and re-arrange that to suits your goals, how much equipment you have, etc.

I wouldn't recommend doing these 300 workouts too often because they're extremely taxing on your body. But feel free to do the same workout once a month to track your progress. Once you can do it without stopping, either increase the reps or increase the weight!

For all your other workouts, I highly recommend product #3 on my website. When I learned of these techniques I instantly changed the way I was working out and lost 20 pounds within about 2 months - and I've kept it off.

Jeremy Reeves is a fitness enthusiast who built his website - [http://www.fitness-product-reviews.com] - to help people learn how to create a healthier, sexier, more energetic body. He has spent hundreds of dollars on fitness products and reviewed them for you so you don't waste money like he did!

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The 300 Workout - Get Body Like 300 Movie Cast

When I watched the 300 movie, I was amazed(spell bound might be the right word) by the cast. Their bodies were like perfection. I had to go and find out more about these guys (Mark twight from Gym gones). As I read and watched their videos, I realized how these guys got their bodies. And first words from my mouth were "No wonder".

Their workouts were incredible. For example, this is the workout that made the news. This is the ultimate challenge in the 300 workout. You are supposed to do it once. So this is not a workout in a sense to get stronger. Out of those who tried only 17 people passed this benchmark (with Mark twight and other instructor as 2 of them).

25x Pull-up +

50x Deadlift @ 135# +

50x Push-up +

50x Box Jump @ 24" box +

50x Floor Wiper @ 135# (one-count) +

50x KB Clean and Press @ 36# (KB must touch floor between reps) +

25x Pull-up

300 reps total

Being a fitness enthusiast and trainer, this was a challenge for me... I have to confess, I couldn't finish it the first time around. But after this experience I know how to build upto this program.

How to get body like 300 movie guys

First of all, I noticed around in forums, how most people were like "There's no way these guys can get bodies like this in 4 months". You know if you are one of those nay-sayers, you'd never achieve this kind of result. As a trainer I have seen crazy transformation. Unfortunately I can't tell others about it, because they are nothing short of miracles. People often look at miracle and forget about the hard work that gets put behind the miracle.

So anyways here's few ideas about getting ripped and still retaining functional strength.

1. Calorie restriction : Specially carb restriction is must if you want to get ripped. You have to restrict your carbs, starch. It's pretty delicate balance for restriction. If you do it too much, you'll gas out in workout and if you do it too less, no results. I found you can restrict carbs upto 100 gm per day and get same results as low carb diets.

2. Challenging your body : If you want to change your body chape, you have to attack and train your body from different angles. Weight lifthing, powerlifting, bodyweight, odd objects (i.e. strong man training), you have to challenge your body every time you train. There is no other way around it.

3. Recovery : In carb restricted phase, you can't just go out daily and workout like mad. You have to employ proper recovery strategies. Of course mark twight has physiologist work on these guy everyday. So you have to be more careful if you can't afford a physiologist every day.

As you can see, I am not giving you program in any sense. In fact its hard for me to give because thing kind of training program can only be uniquely designed for you. The basic premise behind working out like 300 movie cast is strength training. As you can see, Vincent reagent took his deadlift from less than bodyweight (205) to more than double-bodyweight (355) and consequently lost 40 pounds in 4 months.

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