I finally got to watch 300….

I am lost for words. It is the most ‘gaya’ movie possible. From every angle I swear that all the characters were holding poses as they spoke their lines with vigor and passion. Anyway this posting I wanna just clear the air on the whole abs discussion between me and ’some’ people. So it’s not going to be about me reviewing the movie.

First off, lets talk about the 6 weeks of vigorous training that the cast of 300 had to go through in porder to get the fantastic ripling pectorals and abs that they HAD to show in order to make the movie look believable that they are Spartans. Below is a video showing the 300 men had to go through in order to get the body were suppose to portray. The training was done by Gym Jones, or more so the trainer is Mark Twight. And if you noticed, it is none of the typical gym routine that you see where men have to look at themselves after pumping a bit of iron. Oh no no, They went through hardcore variations of training everyday so that their muscles would learn how to to cope if say they were actual Spartans.

Spartan workout and also Journal #3

If you want to try it out, do it like so.

Start in the low numbers and work within your own fitness levels. The 300 exercise is not, I repeat NOT, for the beginners and faint hearted.
It goes like this:
Without resting between exercises,

1. Perform 25 pullups,
2. 50 deadlifts with 135 pounds,
3. 50 pushups,
4. 50 jumps on a 24-inch box,
5. 50 floor wipers,
6. 50 single-arm clean-and-presses using a 36-pound kettle bell,
7. 25 more pullups.

Ouch!!!!!!

These should be done in succession without rest. All this must be done in addition to utilizing other unconventional yet equally taxing training methods, such as tire flipping and gymnastics-style ring training. Seasoned gym rats can’t claim immediate facility to the 300 workout. It takes a different kind of guts to master push ups laterally using your shoulders as balancing all your upper weight in the air, with the lower half of the body supported on a bench.

Twight’s gym routines include running, bungee jumps toward a retreating kettle bell, and pull-ups until failure. Beginners should start off by doing 100 reps using four to six different exercises, 10 to 25 reps per exercise. Yoga and condioning is needed just to build up the body to the point it can take this kind of abuse. Build up from there until 300 can be done without rest. Swap in cross training sets of complementary exercises such as jumping jacks, dumbbell curls, and Swiss-ball crunches,

“Lie on the floor holding a 135-pound bar straight overhead,” says Twight. “Keeping legs straight, touches the feet to one plate, lower them to the floor in the center, and then raise them up to touch the other plate.” That’s one repetition. Try it yourself, but with an empty bar first, raising your feet until they’re about 8 inches away from the bar (since there’s no weight plate to touch)

The 300 workout is extremely time efficient, since almost all the time is used for max burn. Cape not included.

- taken from associatedcontent.com

Next thing I want to talk about. Seriously if you can have people already with the pecs and abs for a hotshot movie like 300, why would they want to make it more difficult and enhance it further via digital imaging. Already as it is 90% of the movie was shot with a blue screen. So why add in more work?

Anyhow enjoy some of the behind the scenes here which you can also find on youtube and on the actual 300 website but I’ll make it easier so you can check it out here ^_^ . Also for those who are motivated..hehe.. to get pumping in the gym check out Men’sHealth on the 300 workout too here.

300 Video Journal

Journal #1

Journal #2

Journal #4

Journal #5

Journal #6

Journal #7

Journal #8