I AM SPARTA!
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC. The Legend states that a mere 300 Spartan soldiers held off a 120-300,000 strong Persian army for over 3 days.
Nearing the end, the Persians demanded the decimated Spartan ranks throw down their weapons.
‘Come get them,’ they said.
The Spartan ethos lives today. It lives in the gym, in books, graphic novels, adventure races, and the movies.
Who here remembers the movie 300?
In 2006 director Zack Snyder married the Spartan legend with cheesy special effects, shirtless hunks, dance fights, and jaw droopingly bad dialogue to make one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. I left the theater about halfway through. I’ve attempted to finish it several times. I just can’t.
Besides, I already know how it ends.
Dance fighting- definition- when the good guy blindly spins and pirouettes while the bad guys run head on into his weapon. See also The Matrix sequels, The Hobbit movies and the Star Wars sequels.
And yet here I am still talking about it.
Every actor in this movie was ripped. This was a no shirts allowed set. If you weren’t ridiculously fit you weren’t getting screen time. It piqued my professional interest. How did every one of these actors get their perfect physique?
The answer: steroids. Probably.
I also found this Men’s Health article on the 300 workout : The impossibly tough workout that rounded the actors into shape. It consists of:
25 chin-ups
50 Deadlifts
50 pushups
50 box jumps
50 floor sweepers
50 clean and press
25 chin ups.
Done for time.
I worked at this for 6 weeks. The first time I did it I could hardly breathe at the end. The last time I did it my time handily beat the best amongst the actors. And my body responded. I looked ready to put on a speedo tunic and shout lines like: ‘This is Sparta! Come home with your shield or on it!’
I called my Dealer to cancel my steroid order.
I incorporate versions of the 300 into clients’ workouts. They love it. It’s incredibly hard, but there is something about working to exhaustion and seeing your times come down week by week that is satisfying. This week alone I had two clients cut minutes off of their best 300 times!
It’s a great workout. For about 6 weeks.
Typically that is the amount of time it takes for the body to adapt to imposed demands. After 6 weeks of Spartan work their muscles won’t be as sore, their results will plateau, they will get bored.
Everything works for 6 weeks: workouts, diets. Then your body figures it out.
To see results there is a need to consistently perform the same exercises, but you have to change it up occasionally too. Up (or lower) the weights, change the exercise, watch a different movie with ridiculous physiques.
Be inspired. Set new goals.
Sit down, open the notes app on your phone, jot down a few goals. Do you want to be flexible? Run a marathon? Get stronger?
Now make a plan.
That’s where a Trainer can help. We think about this stuff all the time. We’ve shape and re-shaped our bodies to run fast, do yoga, recover from injury, complete the Navy Seal Pyramid or the 300 workout.
And we’re better for you than steroids.