USA Today came out to the gym to get some pictures of one of my clients actually doing the 300 workout. The article comes out today! Note you can’t see the picture on the web version of the article, but it looks awesome in the print version of the article.
Kendra deadlifting. Me yelling “arch your back!” USA Today is in the house taking pictures.
So far, Kendra is the only one of my clients to do 300 more than once. She’s always doing full body movements, lots of squats, lunges and deadlifts, kettlebell swings, pullups, pushups and dips, but also always in slightly different combinations. It’s also worth noting that we only train with this structure of workout every other month. We cycle through different and progressive phases of training.
This time through we switched the 25 pullups @ 50lb assist with 10 pullups with no assistance. Just a different way to scale the workout to her level.
By Josh Hillis, RKC Level 2 kettlebell Instructor
Joshua Hillis 2007
No offense, but the 300 workout craze has gone a little over the top. This is just one workout focusing on a very specific set of training variables. Frankly this is one of the easier “crossfit” style workouts I have done as prescribed. Lets not get carried away thinking this is all you need to do to get into “rock star” shape. The actors in 300 were already in great shape before hand.
I never said it was the only thing you need to get in rockstar shape. There are a ton of factors that got my clients in rock star shape, and this workout actually isn’t one of them. This workout was a one time thing. But there are certain principles that cause this workout to be really effective for chaning body composition.
This specific workout was just something we did for fun. It’s one workout of many.
What is really cool about the Gym Jones / 300 Movie phenomenon is that it’s introduced the world to working out like an athlete. It’s show people the effectiveness of full body movements, and high intensity.
The whole “the actors were in great shape already” argument is pretty resigned and cynical. Look at Gerard Butler in Tomb Raider, and look at him in 300. He clearly took it to the next level.
Many of my clients were in great shape when they came to me, and we dropped their bodyfat down to rockstar levels. Some of my clients had never worked out before. We still dropped them down to rockstar levels of body composition – it just took longer. They all look super hot, regardless of where they started or how long it took.