“Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty… for tonight, we dine in hell!” This is what King Leonidas (played by Gerard Butler-star of the movie 300) yelled as he readied his warrior army on a hill at Thermopylae. Butler did more than demonstrate the power of his voice during this movie. Remember the surreal looking musculature each soldier had? It was thanks to an intense regimen the actors, all playing warriors, followed to get in shape for the film. In the process, Butler and the rest of his Spartan army inspired a fitness craze that came to be known as the “300 workout.”
The 300 workout consists of 50 repetitions of 7 exercises including simple standard moves like pull-up’s and push up’s, as well as lesser known movements like the kettle bell clean and press and floor wipers. If you tally it up, you are performing a total of 300 mind-boggling reps. The evil mastermind behind this workout is Mark Twight, a former world class mountain climber. According to an interview Twight gave to WebMd.com the workout is based on a person’s starting point. For example, if your exercise program consists of one set of chest presses and one set of squats, then that is your starting point. You should continue training within your limits until you can perform the entire routine. Twight believes a person’s “rate of change” is directly affected by how intensely they work; this routine then becomes a measure of a person’s hard training. Most people have to train long to meet the physical demands this workout imposes. The complete routine would be the “final test.”
Basics
The nuts and bolts of the warrior training program, as well as the specific muscles each movement works are as follows:
- 25 pull-ups (works the lats, biceps and deltoids – i.e., your shoulders)
- 50 dead lifts at 135lbs (works the back, lower back, glutes, quads, hamstrings and forearms)
Perform by squatting from a standing position; lift the bar by driving your chest towards the ceiling and extending your hips and knees. To lower the bar: maintain your flat back position and allow your hips and knee to flex as you slowly lower the bar.
- 50 pushups (works the chest, triceps and front deltoids)
- 50 box jumps on a 24-inch box (works the quads, glutes and calves)
- 50 floor wipers (works the core and shoulders)
Perform by laying flat on your back. Keep both legs together and raise them straight up. Then rotate your lower trunk from left to right, much like a windshield wiper.
- 50 clean and press with a 36 lb. kettle bell (works the core, shoulders and triceps)
Perform by quickly and forcefully pulling a kettle bell from the floor to the front of the shoulders in one movement. It’s immediately followed by pressing the bell overhead.
Tired? Don’t look now, it’s not over yet. Topping off the torture is another set of 25 pull-ups. That’s a whopping 300 reps! If you think that banging out that many total repetitions of this grueling workout isn’t enough, try doing it without any rest in between exercises. That’s right sports fans; this routine is performed without any breaks or breaths in between.
Bespoke
So, before you run off to your nearest gym with visions of gladiators in your head, remember one thing: this workout, in its final state, is intense and not meant for newbie gym goers. It can – and should be – scaled down to fit your current training status and then progressively built back up to the final version. One way of altering it is by dropping the total number of reps for each exercise in half. Another option is to substitute exercises with ones that are less taxing, but resemble the same movement as the one being replaced. For example, substitute the box jumps with body weight squats. Both utilize a squatting to standing motion and will work the same muscles. A final way is to simply add a rest period between exercises. To see more of the workout, check out the video below 
Remember, this isn’t Sparta. But nothing says that you can look like one of its warriors.
If you found this article helpful. Check these out: Fitness to the Core; Tough Mudder: Exercise in Survival