Ever since the movie "300" came out and the rippling abdomens and rock-hard
pectorals of dozens of stars and extras made their debut, many versions of the
so-called "300 workout" have arisen on the internet. As a trainer and someone who
enjoyed watching that movie, I was interested in what types of exercises these
body-breaking workouts were employing, and I managed to find three or four different
variations on the same theme.
The general rules they followed were:
1. Use a multitude of exercises
2. Hit every part of the body possible
3. Use ridiculous reps and weights
4. Hit 300 reps as the total of all repetitions
Typical exercises would include 50 throws of a 45 lbs. dumbbell from the ground to over
your head. Retrieve the weight and do it again! Or even weight sit-ups with 70-100 lbs.
sitting on your stomach. Needless to say, that's a hell of a load!
My goal was to create a workout for my Haidong Gumdo students that would mimic the
overall feel of the 300 workout (hitting the whole body with a multitude of exercises), but
it would be achievable by even my weakest students. I took to doing some of the
exercises suggested by several of the 300 workouts and started picking and choosing
those we could do without extra equipment. Also, these would have be appropriate for
practicing on an indoor basketball court at a college (which is what we were doing).
After some trial and error, as well as a few practice sessions with the actual class, I
came up with this general regimen. You can switch it up slightly, but the order is
designed to hit different parts of the body in succession, then go back and hit them
again. The goal was a good workout without overly taxing any one portion of the body at
a time, but getting to overall failure (or nearly so).
The Martial Artist's 300 Workout
Here I've indicated the sequence of exercises I used to drill my students into the ground
without them realizing it. I've indicated the exercises, the portion of the body they work,
and any special instructions for performing them you would need.
You'll notice as you go through that I don't include any time for rest. This is because
there isn't any! The workout is designed to be hard, and you shouldn't take any more
then 15-30 seconds to change positions between exercises. If you want to add in some
sort of rest during the workout, allow them to take 1 minute intervals for water before
Decline Push-ups again before lunges.
100 jumping jacks
This is a total body exercise, emphasizing the legs and arms as the gross movement.
Perform it as a 4 count move where "spread-in-spread-in" equals one repetition.
20 push-ups
This one emphasizes chest and arms. The instructor calls the exercise with "dow, up"
commands, where down is held with the chest about 1-2 inches off the floor, and up is
held with the arms straight.
30 bicycle crunches
Abs and obliques are the main target with these. Lay on the back with your hands
behind your head, elbows out. When you rep up, touch your elbow to the opposite knee,
and keep your legs off the floor. You should look like you're riding a bicycle (just a very
uncomfortable one) during the movements.
20 prisoner squats
Great one for legs, emphasizing the thighs. Stand with your legs shoulder width apart,
hands behind your head like you're being arrested. Squat down to at least 90 degrees
(sitting on a chair), but as far as 30 degrees. Stand up and repeat. Try not to fall down.
10 decline push-ups
This one really hits your chest and arms, placing more weight on you during the
movement. You'll need something to place your feet on that's at least eight inches off
the ground, but as much as two feet. Perform push-ups with your feet so inclined as
normal, with the instructor calling "down-up" commands.
5 suicides
I hate to run, but for total body, cardio, and legs, suicides are awesome. Pick a good
amount of area, about 100 feet long and able to house your students side by side on
the short side. Mark out a place 50 feet down the line, then 100 feet down (we used a
sword on the ground and the wall of the gym). Have them run to the mid-line, back to
start, to the end line, and back to start. That's one rep.
30 sec flutter kicks
Lower abs especially love flutter kicks, but it isn't bad for legs either. Lay on your back
with your hands just barely under your glutes. Raise your feet about six inches off the
floor and lift your head up to look at them. Now raise one foot another six inches,
keeping your other leg at the same height. Kick them like your swimming between the
six inch and twelve inch marks for 30 seconds. You should complete 30 reps or more
during that time.
5 pyramids
Back to the arms and chest. Pyramids start in push-up position. You'll call "down-up"
and perform one rep, then immediately turn over into a sitting positions with your hands
straight over your head. Call "down-up" and bend your arms down to the shoulder, then
back up again. Immediately flip over to push-up position after. That's one rep. For rep
two, you'll do two push-ups and two arm drops, then three each for the third rep, and so
on.
For added "fun you can make them go back down the scale from 5 to 1 after going up
from 1 to 5! They will probably hate you though.
20 lunges
Lunges are an excellent leg exercise, and they give you ample opportunity to practice
good posture and strengthen your back as well. With your hands on your hips, step one
leg forward, planting the other foot, and bend your knees so that you are almost
kneeling, but don't touch the floor. Stand back up in an identical, opposite motion, then
do the same with the other leg. One lunge is equal to going out and back with both legs.
15 leg throws
Abs, obliques, legs, and arms beware, the leg throws are going to be tough on you,
especially after all the other reps in this workout. Choose partners, with one partner on
the floor, back down, holding onto the standing partner's ankles. The standing partner
throws the other's legs to the center five times, the left five times, and the right five times.
Hard. And the laying partner stops their legs before hitting the floor, and raises them up
again. When one partner finishes, switch.
10 min Stretching
You can either stretch freely, use your own routine, or refer to my article on "Stretching
101" to finish up. Just make sure everyone hits all the muscles that they worked out in
this exercise. I didn't start with stretching because I assume you would have already
done that during your normal class time. I finish with it because it is essential to making
sure you keep the now-fatigued muscles cramp free and help them heal.
pectorals of dozens of stars and extras made their debut, many versions of the
so-called "300 workout" have arisen on the internet. As a trainer and someone who
enjoyed watching that movie, I was interested in what types of exercises these
body-breaking workouts were employing, and I managed to find three or four different
variations on the same theme.
The general rules they followed were:
1. Use a multitude of exercises
2. Hit every part of the body possible
3. Use ridiculous reps and weights
4. Hit 300 reps as the total of all repetitions
Typical exercises would include 50 throws of a 45 lbs. dumbbell from the ground to over
your head. Retrieve the weight and do it again! Or even weight sit-ups with 70-100 lbs.
sitting on your stomach. Needless to say, that's a hell of a load!
My goal was to create a workout for my Haidong Gumdo students that would mimic the
overall feel of the 300 workout (hitting the whole body with a multitude of exercises), but
it would be achievable by even my weakest students. I took to doing some of the
exercises suggested by several of the 300 workouts and started picking and choosing
those we could do without extra equipment. Also, these would have be appropriate for
practicing on an indoor basketball court at a college (which is what we were doing).
After some trial and error, as well as a few practice sessions with the actual class, I
came up with this general regimen. You can switch it up slightly, but the order is
designed to hit different parts of the body in succession, then go back and hit them
again. The goal was a good workout without overly taxing any one portion of the body at
a time, but getting to overall failure (or nearly so).
The Martial Artist's 300 Workout
Here I've indicated the sequence of exercises I used to drill my students into the ground
without them realizing it. I've indicated the exercises, the portion of the body they work,
and any special instructions for performing them you would need.
You'll notice as you go through that I don't include any time for rest. This is because
there isn't any! The workout is designed to be hard, and you shouldn't take any more
then 15-30 seconds to change positions between exercises. If you want to add in some
sort of rest during the workout, allow them to take 1 minute intervals for water before
Decline Push-ups again before lunges.
100 jumping jacks
This is a total body exercise, emphasizing the legs and arms as the gross movement.
Perform it as a 4 count move where "spread-in-spread-in" equals one repetition.
20 push-ups
This one emphasizes chest and arms. The instructor calls the exercise with "dow, up"
commands, where down is held with the chest about 1-2 inches off the floor, and up is
held with the arms straight.
30 bicycle crunches
Abs and obliques are the main target with these. Lay on the back with your hands
behind your head, elbows out. When you rep up, touch your elbow to the opposite knee,
and keep your legs off the floor. You should look like you're riding a bicycle (just a very
uncomfortable one) during the movements.
20 prisoner squats
Great one for legs, emphasizing the thighs. Stand with your legs shoulder width apart,
hands behind your head like you're being arrested. Squat down to at least 90 degrees
(sitting on a chair), but as far as 30 degrees. Stand up and repeat. Try not to fall down.
10 decline push-ups
This one really hits your chest and arms, placing more weight on you during the
movement. You'll need something to place your feet on that's at least eight inches off
the ground, but as much as two feet. Perform push-ups with your feet so inclined as
normal, with the instructor calling "down-up" commands.
5 suicides
I hate to run, but for total body, cardio, and legs, suicides are awesome. Pick a good
amount of area, about 100 feet long and able to house your students side by side on
the short side. Mark out a place 50 feet down the line, then 100 feet down (we used a
sword on the ground and the wall of the gym). Have them run to the mid-line, back to
start, to the end line, and back to start. That's one rep.
30 sec flutter kicks
Lower abs especially love flutter kicks, but it isn't bad for legs either. Lay on your back
with your hands just barely under your glutes. Raise your feet about six inches off the
floor and lift your head up to look at them. Now raise one foot another six inches,
keeping your other leg at the same height. Kick them like your swimming between the
six inch and twelve inch marks for 30 seconds. You should complete 30 reps or more
during that time.
5 pyramids
Back to the arms and chest. Pyramids start in push-up position. You'll call "down-up"
and perform one rep, then immediately turn over into a sitting positions with your hands
straight over your head. Call "down-up" and bend your arms down to the shoulder, then
back up again. Immediately flip over to push-up position after. That's one rep. For rep
two, you'll do two push-ups and two arm drops, then three each for the third rep, and so
on.
For added "fun you can make them go back down the scale from 5 to 1 after going up
from 1 to 5! They will probably hate you though.
20 lunges
Lunges are an excellent leg exercise, and they give you ample opportunity to practice
good posture and strengthen your back as well. With your hands on your hips, step one
leg forward, planting the other foot, and bend your knees so that you are almost
kneeling, but don't touch the floor. Stand back up in an identical, opposite motion, then
do the same with the other leg. One lunge is equal to going out and back with both legs.
15 leg throws
Abs, obliques, legs, and arms beware, the leg throws are going to be tough on you,
especially after all the other reps in this workout. Choose partners, with one partner on
the floor, back down, holding onto the standing partner's ankles. The standing partner
throws the other's legs to the center five times, the left five times, and the right five times.
Hard. And the laying partner stops their legs before hitting the floor, and raises them up
again. When one partner finishes, switch.
10 min Stretching
You can either stretch freely, use your own routine, or refer to my article on "Stretching
101" to finish up. Just make sure everyone hits all the muscles that they worked out in
this exercise. I didn't start with stretching because I assume you would have already
done that during your normal class time. I finish with it because it is essential to making
sure you keep the now-fatigued muscles cramp free and help them heal.
The 300 Workout for Non-Spartans
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NEWS: 10/28/07: Initial Testing and Set-up Complete 10/26/07: Site Launched |