Ever since the movie 300 came out in 2006, men all over the world have wanted a body like the ancient warriors depicted in the film. The real-life Spartans were a class of elite soldiers who took tremendous pride in the physical fitness and their fighting skills. They started their training at the age of 7 and continued to develop their skills throughout their entire lives.
The Spartan Diet
The Spartans were skilled farmers who had mastered agriculture for their time. They all had their own farms that they relied on for produce, grains, livestock and dairy. A typical Spartan diet consisted mainly of whole grains, like barley and wheat, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, eggs, as well as small amounts of meat, seafood and dairy. The Spartans had no concept of sugar. The only “processed” foods they ate were minimally processed foods, such as bread, cheese and olive oil.
The Spartan Workout
The Spartans did not have weights, gyms or exercise machines. For cardio and endurance, they would run many miles through the hills around the perimeter of their city. They team up in groups and jog carrying heavy logs over their heads. To build up their muscles they would do pushups, bench press one another, lift large clay pots and practice Pankration, which was their form of grappling.
The Modern-day “300 Workout”
The “300 workout” is a term that has become ubiquitous on the Internet and in fitness magazines. The truth is, no one knows exactly what the actors of 300 did for their workouts, except for the actors themselves and their trainers. Gerald Butler has stated in interviews that he really liked the rowing machine and would do lots of rowing for extra cardio.
What we do know about their training regimen, though, is that they used a combination of circuit training and muscle confusion to increase muscle mass and lose fat. Circuit training is simply moving from one exercise to the next without any rest in between sets. Muscle confusion is the process of constantly changing your workout routine so your body never adapts to any one particular program.
Basically, the actors got in shape by doing a different 90- to 120-minute circuit routine five days per week. In behind the scenes footage, we can see them using kettle bells, resistance bands and gymnastic rings. We can also see them doing lots of sprinting, pull-ups, farmer’s walks and tire flipping.