300 Movie Workout vs The Bodyweight 500 Workout

There has been much hype over the film 300, or more specifically over the athletic physiques of the men that appeared in the film. Many people were soon asking, how do I get a body like that? What sort of training program do I need to follow? Is it possible for the average guy to look so athletic? In short, the answer is yes. But it requires a lot of hard work. The sculpted bodies in the movie “300″ were chiselled by the legendary 300 workout found in Men’s Health magazine. The actors trained hardcore, using kettlebells, weights, bodyweight, tires, and more.

But for most people, this workout was difficult to do because it includes a lot of equipment typically not found in home gyms or commercial gyms. So you couldn’t do the kettlebell clean and press or box jumps.

That’s why Men’s Health expert Craig Ballantyne developed the Turbulence Training Bodyweight 500 workout. This is a 500 repetition workout performed using only bodyweight exercises. No weights are needed. It’s still challenging, it will still burn fat, and it will still help you achieve the body of a Greek Warrior. The great thing is that you can do it in any gym, or with a few pieces of equipment, a home gym also.

Craig Ballantyne describes how the workout developed:

“Now earlier this year I tried the 300 movie workout. It is a challenging 300 repetition workout put together by a trainer for the lead actor in the 300 movie. This isn’t how they did their workouts…it was just a test of his strength-endurance.”

Here is the workout all exercises are done without rest:

Pull-ups – 25 reps
Deadlifts with 135lbs – 50 reps
Push-ups – 50 reps
24-inch Box jumps – 50 reps
Floor wipers – 50 reps
1-arm 36lbs Kettlebell Clean n Press – 50 reps
Pull-ups – 25 reps

“That was one tough workout. But like I said, I think I’ve put together something that is just as tough, and more available for people to do. Obviously both are advanced workouts…and you shouldn’t do either unless you are as fit as a college athlete.”

Here is Craig Ballantyne’s TT Bodyweight 500 Workout:

50 Prisoner Squats
50 Push-ups
25 Jumps
25 Stability Ball Leg Curls
50 Stability Ball Jackknifes
50 Step-ups (25 reps per side)
25 Pull-ups (NO substitutions)
50 Forward Lunges (25 reps per side)
50 Close-grip Push-ups
50 Inverted Rows
50 Squats
25 Chin-ups (NO substitutions)

“Whew! Where you are really going to slow down is with the pulling exercises. That is a lot of chin ups and pull ups and rows to do in one workout. But you will have such an arm and shoulder pump after the workout it will blow you away.

If you are unsure about some of the exercises, just go to Youtube and search Craig Ballantyne or Bodyweight 500 and you’ll find a couple of videos showing you the form and more details about the workout.

However, I will say this one more time. This is a very advanced workout. So don’t do it unless you are already fit.

If you aren’t super-fit, but want to work up in a challenge, I have an alternative for you. Start with the following workout, called the Bodyweight 100. Please note: This is still not a beginner workout.

Here is the bodyweight 100. Do it once, and then a week later try doing it twice. One week after that, try doing it 3 times. Then you could be ready for the Bodyweight 500 in the fourth week.”

20 Prisoner Squats
20 Pushups
10 Jumps
10 Inverted Rows
20 Forward Lunges (10 reps per side)
15 Close-grip Pushups
5 Chin-ups or Inverted Rows

“Those are the 300 and Bodyweight 500 workouts. These will put turbulence on your muscles and help you burn fat and boost your metabolism without slow boring cardio.”

Men’s Health expert Craig Ballantyne has designed the trademarked Turbulence Training home fat burning workouts to help thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Craig’s workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig’s beginner bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

Craig Ballantyne from Turbulence Training’s Circuit Training

For more advice on bodyweight exercises read our circuit training article.

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Tags: 300 workout, body weight exercises, Bodyweight 500 Workout, circuit training

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 6:58 pm and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.