300 workout

Post by **reinhard** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:52 pm

I've heard this is a terrible movie, but those Spartiates sure are buff. And the workout that got them that way (at least for the movie) has a thing or two in common with shovelglove:

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=35

Pity they didn't hire me as a consultant. Maybe I'll get my chance when the film the battle of Teutoburg Forest

Reinhard

P.S: my T,W shovelglove routine has at least 476 (admittedly, not quite as hard) reps

storm fox · Post by **storm fox** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:46 am

My wife and I saw that movie. Its apparent political message disturbed me greatly. To lionize a king who declares an illegal war against the will of his advisors bothers me (besides, I don't think that part is actually historical, but is rather a post-911 twist). And the idea that the Spartans knew that they were defending "freedom" for future generations seems more than a touch on the goofy side. Portraying the Persians as barbaric and hedonistic irked me as well. Besides, the historical 300 were backed by an additional 10,000. The movie doesn't bother with that, though.

I tried to blank out the politics and just tried to groove on the action. I couldn't help but be overtaken by envy over the physical condition of the actors! That movie is in large part what finally brought me back into the fold. I decided that envy wasn't as constructive as bringing out my best.

SurfingBuddha · Post by **SurfingBuddha** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:09 am

I saw the movie last night and liked it...and I think people that are reading political overtones in it must remember that the movie is based on Frank Miller's comic book (hardback came out in 1999). It's a warrior/battle movie. Historically, King Leonidas did move against the Persians during the time of the Carneian, which made the movement of troops illegal (or against the will of the Gods, if you want to go that route). It can also be argued that if the Greeks had not marched when they did that Western Civilization as we know it would not exist.
The Miller book is here...
http://www.amazon.com/300-Frank-Miller/ ... 450&sr=8-1
A lot of what you see on the screen comes right out of it, sometimes shot for shot. As for history, check out the battle itself, Frank Miller's vision of events is not far from the mark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae
It may be of help to check out Herodotus, a lot of the anti-Persian stuff is in there and Miller sites it as source material.
http://www.amazon.com/Histories-Everyma ... 639&sr=8-2
He also sites this one by Victor Davis Hanson,
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Way-War-I ... 556&sr=8-5
But if your not a comic book person or battle movie person check out Steven Pressfield.
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel- ... 450&sr=8-1
his fictional take on the events and the battle make for a great summer read.
By the way if anyone wants to buy any of the above mentioned books, remember to buy them through Reinhard's Amazon link.

SurfingBuddha · Post by **SurfingBuddha** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:15 am

Can you tell it's been a long day in surgery?? I forgot to post this link to an article I read which is a different version of the same workout that Reinhard is talking about...
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.d ... 0013281eac____
I'm looking forward to the weekend and NOT being on call!

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:50 pm

Can you tell it's been a long day in surgery?? I forgot to post this link to an article I read which is a different version of the same workout that Reinhard is talking about...
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.d ... 0013281eac____
I'm looking forward to the weekend and NOT being on call!

If anyone is interested, those rings he's using for pushups are a terrific training aid. I have a set. They are called Power Rings and are available from ringtraining.com (I think that Tyler now sells a similar set of plastic rings instead of the white metal ones).

For those with shoulder issues, these things are a real blessing. Keeping them "located" while you perform exercises keeps all the little muscles in your shoulders pinging and twitching. You do pullups, pushups and dips with your shoulder in the most comfortable plane. I had a frozen shoulder that now has almost complete range of motion and very good strength.

They are an excellent counterpoint to SG.

Post by **reinhard** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:54 pm

I'd actually love to see this movie... (I'm willing to forgive quite a bit given the classical theme, which I'm very into -- reading "A War Like No Other," by Victor Davis Hanson right now) but there's no way my wife is going to go for it, and with the arrival of kid #2 looming, I'm not sure sneaking off with a buddy to see it is in the cards either.

Reinhard

VanillaGorilla · Post by **VanillaGorilla** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:38 pm

As a pure action movie, I enjoyed this film a lot. Someone called it a fictionalized retelling of an actual event and I guess that is as apt a description as any.
To be honest, I get a bit tired of everyone trying to read something into every film, television show and book and sometimes block a lot of that out and focus on pure entertainment. Life is heavy enough most times...Must our entertainment and recreation always be that way as well? Just my humble opinion and I could be (and probably am, lol) wrong.

As far as the training, that is one brutal circuit they had going. My kudos to them for busting their butts and getting it done.

Post by **reinhard** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:35 pm

Not to knock what these guys accomplished, but it is important to note that this routine is utterly unsustainable. The point of the routine wasn't to be sustainable -- it was to get these guys maximally buff for a movie shoot. At that, it succeeded brilliantly. But that's not what most of us here are out to accomplish. So by all means learn what can be learned from this, take some of the movements, take the focus on "functional fitness," take the fun inspiring image of Spartan warriordom, but do keep that important reservation of sustainability in mind -- the historical Greeks certainly did.

Reinhard

hockeystar · Post by **hockeystar** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 4:38 am

Actually, they trained the crossfit way, this is how they train all the time. If you look at gymjones website and look at the schedule you can see that. I think, however, the pople that can sustain this are far between. They are constantly speaking of "pukey" a semi mascot which is a clown throwing up which is a good thing who train this way. I highly admire these folks for their will and discpline but for my purposes I'd rather have a workout that I feel good afterwards, not sick. Much respect to the athletes who work out this way though.

VanillaGorilla · Post by **VanillaGorilla** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:18 pm

reinhard wrote:Not to knock what these guys accomplished, but it is important to note that this routine is utterly unsustainable. The point of the routine wasn't to be sustainable -- it was to get these guys maximally buff for a movie shoot. At that, it succeeded brilliantly. But that's not what most of us here are out to accomplish. So by all means learn what can be learned from this, take some of the movements, take the focus on "functional fitness," take the fun inspiring image of Spartan warriordom, but do keep that important reservation of sustainability in mind -- the historical Greeks certainly did.

Reinhard

And even if some do want to get into that kind of shape, you can do it without grindng yourself into the dirt every single day, imho. For the majority of us that have wives/girlfriends/kids, that work 40-50 hours a week and so on, I don't think it's very feasible either. Putting a program like this on top of an average person's schedule for too terribly long is doing nothing but asking for trouble. A select few might be able to sustain it, but over the long haul, most people would just end up worn down and burnt out with barely enough steam left to collapse into their beds.

Post by **reinhard** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 2:59 pm

Maybe it's how they theoretically train all the time on some website, but I dunno about these actors:

from:

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.d ... ___&page=2

Of course, the downside to an extreme transformation is just that -- it's extreme. Case in point: During production, Butler would often train with Twight, train with LiCastro, and then do his sword-and-shield work for hours on end. As a result, every joint in his 6'2'' body ached by the time he set down his shield for the last time. And at some point along the way, he became overtrained, a state in which the stress of training has surpassed the body's ability to recover fully from it. (*4) As a result, once filming wrapped, Butler stopped working out as abruptly as he'd started. Understandably, his body -- and mind -- needed a break. But the upshot was that his no-holds-barred training regimen turned into an equally hard-to-shake layoff, one that would last 8 months. Neither approach is healthy long term.

According to Butler, it's all a result of his obsessive personality, which is at once an asset and a liability.

storm fox · Post by **storm fox** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:33 am

Update:
I admit, I did read into it way too much. It comes from my media analysis training. Thankfully, this time I was wrong. So I can enjoy it as a kick-arse highly embellished telling of something that happened. Good. I'm going to go see it again. It's good motivation.

Most of what can be said about the severity of the program has been said. This was short term. It was also motivated by people's professional reputations, millions of dollars, etc. How many of us have that motivation for anything we do? I think any average Jane or Joe would have burned out before 4 months.

An Amish mason I know recommends "Don't work too hard, now...Just steady," and for the most part, those should be words to train by.

An old painter recommended lifting just a little each day and staying within your abilities in favor of hard, heavy sessions I was doing at the time. His reason was that it takes less of a toll on your body.

The father of a friend of mine was reputed to be very strong, and maintained his strength and flexibility into advanced age. He thought training all-out was much more destructive than most folks give it credit for. He was no wuss, either, and his family vouched that in the service, he could lift 100# overhead.

Before he went on his crazy endurance thing, Steve Justa recommended daily lifting with the goal of feeling stronger once you've finished lifting, and said that training at or close to your max is only good once in a while, as too much/too hard/for too long inevitably leads to dreading your workouts. Justa didn't say "habit," but he did say the most important things in training are consistency and patience.

Sorry, this has gotten seriously overlong.

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:02 am

Storm Fox, nicely said.

storm fox · Post by **storm fox** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:48 am

Sorry, I made an error. The 100# overhead is no big deal. This gentleman was only using 1 hand, and wasn't very big, even in his youth. He was very proud of it and I want to make sure I relate it accurately.

TigerCrane · Post by **TigerCrane** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 10:45 pm

I don't recall the subplot about the king going against the will of his advisors in the comic book. I think that was indeed a post 9-11 twist.

Everyday Systems

300 workout

300 workout

Rings...

Nicely said