You are currently viewing Spartan Training

Spartan Training

  • Post category:Training

Life is busy. Doesn’t matter how old you are, what you do for a crust or where you live. In fact when Aussies are quizzed on what’s the main reason they don’t exercise enough, it’s invariably time that crops up as the main reason.

So, if that’s the case why then are most people under the impression they need to spend three to four, sixty minute sessions at the gym each week?

The fact is if you think that’s achievable you’re more than likely kidding yourself. You may achieve it the first week but after that life’s going to get in the way. So, what’s the answer?

It’s simple really. You need to crank up the intensity of your sessions which allows you to cut your session times in half. One way I like to do this is to plan a session and do it to time. I may set myself a certain program, with programmed sets, reps and weights, and then time myself to see how long it takes me. This doesn’t mean I forego technique. Full range of motion at a controlled movement pace is still the key. What the timing does is force me to move faster between exercises which then in turn give me a cardio workout during a strength session.

One of my favourite of these workouts is the ‘300 workout’. This workout was made famous by the actors on the movie 300. They did this killer workout pre-shooting to give them their amazing bodies for the movie.

The ‘300 workout’ isn’t really one set workout, more a workout system. What you do is choose ten exercises and do thirty reps of each. Here’s a sample program.

ExerciseRepsWeight
Chin-ups30bodyweight
Squats3020kg
Push-ups30bodyweight
Lunges (each leg)3010kg dbells each hand
Horizontal pull-ups30bodyweight
Step-ups (each leg)3010kg dbells each hand
Shoulder Press3020kg
Sit-ups30bodyweight
Jack-Knife30bodyweight
Twisting crunches30bodyweight

 

The idea is not to do all thirty reps in one go but instead to do as many as you can (say 12), go to another exercise and once again do as many as you can, (say 16) and then maybe go back to the first exercise. As long as you get all 300 it doesn’t matter the order. You can chop and change as much as you like.

You might do this workout every three weeks as an assessment to see how your strength and fitness is going. If you can do the ‘300’ quicker, you’re in better shape.

Feel free to change the exercises, for variety, and also to suit the equipment you have at your disposal.

In future once you’ve conquered the ‘300’ you may want to step it up even more and do a ‘400’ or even a mammoth ‘500’. To do this you’d still do the ten exercises but do either forty or fifty reps of each.

A ‘300’ workout should take between twenty and thirty minutes. Perfect for those of us that are time poor, and what a workout it is.