Gerard Butler boasted a supremely lean and muscular physique in the film300. The months of filming were also paired up with grueling workouts geared toward making the cast look like a team of Spartan warriors with physiques that would stand alone in terms of definition and muscular development.
If you would like to get in comparable shape, it will take quite a bit of planning and dedication, but it is by no means out of the question if you remain focused, and don’t deviate from your goals.
First off, if you are new to working out, the regimen presented here may be too much for you to handle. Instead, work on setting smaller, reachable goals for yourself, and after a bit of time, you might be able to handle this workout. Until then, don’t do anything that would be too drastic because it might cause you to lose motivation and wind up in a position worse off than when you started. For those of you who have a little more experience with working out, read on.
diet
As always, nutrition will play a key role in determining your success or failure with changing the way your body looks. Put poor fuel in a car, and the car won’t run right. Put poor fuel in your body, and your body won’t run properly, nor will it look good, no matter how much exercise you do.
First, you should be eating every two to three hours. Going more than four hours without a meal will put your body into starvation mode. With this sort of grueling workout, it is very easy to shut your body’s metabolism off due to lack of consistent nutrients. That would make the whole workout a complete waste of time, and would cause you to burn muscle, rather than keep it on.
So before even starting, do a little nutritional research, and then take a trip to the grocery store to purchase enough food to get you through a few days at a time. Stock up on skinless chicken breast, turkey breast or lean ground turkey, fish and eggs for your proteins, whole-grain bread, multigrain pasta, oats, potato/sweet potato, and brown rice for your complex carbohydrates, and canola or olive oil, avocado, almonds, flaxseed, and natural peanut butter for your healthy fats. Also, feel free to eat as many green vegetables as you’d like, whenever you’d like, while making sure to keep your water intake high to flush out your kidneys, and remove excess water weight which could be masking your definition.
The goal of this particular nutritional plan should be to make sure you are getting protein with every meal to maintain lean body mass, while making sure that you are getting enough complex carbohydrates to fuel you through these strenuous workouts, all while not overdoing it so that you can still drop body fat.
The exercise regimen that should have you looking like Gerard Butler in300...
the 300 workout circuit
In 300, Gerard Butler was very lean, but not overly developed. This probably means that instead of doing heavy sets with long rest periods, his workout was geared toward circuit training, and possibly more calisthenics than a lot of heavy weights at low reps. Stimulating muscles with lighter weights and doing more reps would still allow glycogen breakdown, without making the body “skinny-fat” from doing all cardio with no resistance training.
Perform all of these exercises in quick succession. At the end of the circuit, rest 30 to 60 seconds -- just long enough for you to lower your heart rate -- and then repeat the circuit again. Do this whole circuit three to five times in a row. By the end of it, you should feel like you just warded off an entire Persian army by yourself.
Exercise 1
Pull-ups -- Until failure (if you cannot do pull-ups, use the assisted pull-up machine)
Firstly, pull-ups are usually done using the pronated (overhand) grip, meaning that the palms of your hands point away from you, with your thumbs pointing toward each other. With this in mind, stand under the pull-up bar, grasp it and relax your shoulders. Keep your arms straight and simply hang off the bar while keeping your body vertical, trying not to rock back and forth.
Pull your chest up toward the bar by bending your arms. The motion should be smooth. Pause for a moment before you start lowering yourself back down. Slowly begin straightening your arms and lowering yourself toward your starting position. Pause once you've lowered yourself completely to a hanging position, then repeat the exercise.
Exercise 2
Dumbbell deadlifts -- Pick a weight you can handle for 25 reps
Stand in an upright position while holding dumbbells at your sides. Lower the dumbbells down toward the floor by first sitting your hips back, then bend your knees and torso until you reach the floor or just slightly above. Keep your back flat and your head in a neutral position throughout the movement. Make sure you keep the dumbbells near your sides. Don’t let them swing out in front of your body. This is a great exercise for developing your legs and back.
Exercise 3
Push-ups -- Until failure
Lie chest-down with your hands at shoulder level, palms flat on the floor, slightly more than shoulder-width apart, with your feet together and parallel to each other. Look forward rather than down at the floor. The first contact you make with the floor with any part of the face should be your chin, not your nose. Keep your legs straight and your toes tucked under your feet. Straighten your arms as you push your body up off the floor.
Keep your palms fixed at the same position and keep your body straight. Try not to bend or arch your upper or lower back as you push up. Exhale as your arms straighten. Pause for a moment and then lower your body slowly toward the floor. Bend your arms and keep your palms in a fixed position. Keep your body straight and feet together. Lower your body until your chest touches the floor. Try not to bend your back. Keep your knees off the floor, and inhale as you bend your arms. Pause for a moment. Begin straightening your arms for a second push-up. Exhale as you raise your body.
Exercise 4
Jump rope -- 1 to 2 minutes (If you can’t jump rope, jumping jacks will do.)
This exercise will keep your heart rate up in between the circuit resistance training and add even more of a cardiovascular benefit.
Begin by grasping handles in your hands and relaxing the middle of the rope at your ankles with both hands at your sides. Swing the rope over your head in a forward motion, keep your feet together and jump over the rope. Increase your speed as you feel more comfortable.
Exercise 5
Dumbbell clean and press -- Using a weight you can handle for 25 reps
Stand in an upright position while holding dumbbells at your sides. Lower the dumbbells down toward the floor by first sitting your hips back, then bending your knees and torso until your reach the floor or just slightly above. Keep your back flat and your head in a neutral position throughout the movement. Make sure you keep the dumbbells near your sides. Don’t let them swing out in front of your body.
Exercise 6
Burpees -- 25 reps
Start in a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you. When ready, kick your feet back to a push-up position. Immediately return your feet to the squat position. Leap up as high as possible from the squat position. You should repeat this procedure moving as quickly as possible while keeping good form.
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