How to Get That 300 Warrior’s Body

If you have seen the movie 300, you would have thought that the body of the warriors were products of good cinematography, lighting and body make up. But these are not all there is to it. The warriors of the movie did have great abs and worked out for it. The warriors and other casts of the film did go through intensive body workouts to get that solid body shape fit to portray being one of the most prestigious armies of all time.

Mark Twight, a fitness guru, is given credit for the 300 Warrior bodies. He was a world class mountain climber and trained a full band of actors under a brainchild workout program called “300”.

The warrior crew of 300 did their training at the Gym Jones. It is an old school gym without the comfort of air conditioning, mirror and music. The men were given eight to ten sessions a week for training and workout. There is no camera trick or magic when it comes to these men’s body. It is a result of a great training program and serious hard work.

“300”, the workout program is a significant number not only because it is the movie’s name, but it is the total number of repetitions. The repetitions are not to be done everyday but are actually a finale test after months of doing the training. The 300 test is some sort of an achievement test or a culminating activity after the month long training. The 300 test comprises of the following workouts:

• 25 pull ups
• 50 push ups
• 50 dead lifts (135 lbs.)
• 50 box jumps
• 50 “floor wipes” (core and should exercise)
• 50 “clean and press” (weight lifting drill)
• 25 more pull ups

Add up all the number of repetitions above and you would get the figure 300. But that’s not all, you have to do all 300 repetitions in no more than 20 minutes. Now, you might be thinking if you want to be an actor or not. That’s seriously hard work, no joke!

300 was a challenge sent to a selected group of men who think they are ready for the warrior test. The project ran for full four months. 17 people were chosen to go through the challenge and half of them were the cast of the movie and some are stuntmen. Out of the people who joined the 300 challenge, only one actor passed the final test. That’s Andrew Pleavin, who is Daxos in the actual movie (leader of the Arcahdians). Pleavin completed the 300 test with flying colors and finished the drill within 18 minutes and 11 seconds.

The 300 training required one and a half to two hours a day for workout. The workout ran for five days a week. On top of that, they also did some fight training for full six hours. If you think you can devote the same amount of time and effort to your training, you might just get that 300 warrior body yourself!