A new historical drama starts on Friday – Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Showing on cable channel Starz on Friday night the new series features Australian actor Andy Whitfield, along with Jai Courtney, Peter Mensah and Erin Cummings. At first glance the series is very much in the style of 300, i.e. scantily clad me, with muscles oiled, wielding swords and generally putting there testosterone to good use with snarling, shouting, fighting and plenty more action on top of that.

Learn a 300 Workout with Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training*

As with the film 300, the lead characters are very well toned, with strong athletic muscle on show. Luckily we had the chance to take a peek at a behind the scenes training workout for the actors working on the series.

Andy Whitfield Spartacus Workout

The workouts to prepare for the role of Spartacus are very much gladiator inspired workouts, using bodyweight exercises and free weights.

Andy’s main tips for getting in shape are incredibly simple: “Train more and Eat Less”

These are the key elements to his workouts:

• Acrobatics – jumps, dives, rolls etc. to help compliment fight training
• Gymnastics – to learn to tumble
• Fighting techniques – specific weapons training plus martial arts exercises to condition and tone the fighting muscles
• Focus on compound exercises.

Spartacus Weight Training Routine

The actors were sent to Gladiator Boot Camp 2 weeks before filming started to get them extra toned and ready for filming. Peter Mensah, who worked on 300 and also has extensive martial arts training, said that he did more training in preparation for Spartacus than he did in his competition days! They would train for four hours every morning.

• Deadlifts
• Squats
• Bent Over Rows
• Lunges
• Press Ups with side planks
• Kettlebell Raises
• Pull Ups
• Dips
• Bicep Curls

This video shows the routine that was put together by Men’s Health and is done by Nat Jones.

Spartacus Cardio Training Routine

• Rowing machine – also works upper body
• Shuttle Runs
• Medicine Ball throws
• Mountain Climbers

Spartacus Diet

• The actors consumed 4 energy/protein shakes per day to help fuel and build muscle.
• Calories were reduced to help with fat loss

*Please note that Craig Ballantyne did not invent the 300 Workout or train the actors, but he did provide video tutorials for the more obscure exercises and these featured in Men’s Health magazine. This is how be became associated with the 300 Workout.