After the movie 300 came out, there was a big buzz going around as to how exactly the actors become so ripped for the movie. I decided to check out the workout today to see how hard it was. Here's a link to it: The 300 Workout: Can You Handle It? The workout consists of: 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 The idea is to go through the entire list above without stopping for breaks. I decided to cut those numbers in half (the rep numbers, not the weight numbers) and did it earlier today. It felt pretty intense throughout. I'm going to shoot for doing the full 300 reps in the near future. One of my brothers did the full 300 reps earlier today with me. The record for the entire workout is 18 minutes and 11 seconds and is held by one of the actors in the movie.
I should mention that one part of this workout left me pretty sore for a few days. Deadlifting 135 lbs didn't agree with my lower back. Everything else was difficult, but attainable. I am going to do a full 300 reps next time around, but with less weight for the deadlift section. And AngelsPeak, this workout alone isn't what gave the actors the warrior bodies they have in the movie. Most of them were of decent size before and had regular running routines that they already did to keep the fat off.
Ya, I guess the actors really only did this workout at the end as a kind of test to see how far they had come. They really had to work out for 2-3 hours a day to get bodies like that. They did kind of cheat for the movie though. The actors were fed only enough to help them recover from the workout so that they had a lean look. This workout is a killer for anyone who hasn't worked out in a while. I don't recommend it for anyone who is not in shape already.
That is amazing that they did this every day. I would be done in like 3 days maximum because of exhaustion, Nobody that I know can do this regularly without some serious pain and soreness invloled.
I did this workout a couple months ago in 23 minutes.. had to sub the last 25 pull-ups with kipping pull-ups though. It wasn't that difficult because I do CrossFit, which is a similar but more varied and well rounded program, but I definitely felt it the next day. This isn't the type of routine that should be done on a regular basis. It can be incorporated effectively, but on its own it will just continually give you DOMS.
23 minutes isn't bad at all. That's just a few minutes short of the record. I won't be trying this workout again for a while because the last time I did it I did not feel very well for a few days after. I think it's good as a "checkpoint" to do every once in a while, but definitely not very often.
