Ancient Greek
Weight Training
Weight training became popular
long before there were dumbbells, barbells and exercise machines. The
ancient Greeks weight trained with activities such as stone lifting,
stone throwing, wrestling and rope climbing. Training in ancient Greece,
particularly for the Spartans, was structured and extremely intense.
Spartan Training History
Spartan
training began for men at a very young age. At seven years old, Spartan
males were sent to military and athletic training school where they
were taught toughness, discipline, pain endurance and survival skills.
The Spartan life centered around military training and toughness.
Spartan males were soldiers from the age of 13 to 60, and even the women
were taught physical and gymnastics training.
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Spartan Training Methods
The
Ancient Greeks did not have exercise machines to improve their physical
fitness, so they had to use whatever was available. They used body
weight exercises such as pushups or pullups. The Ancient Greeks would
use resistance in their strength training methods by using stones, logs,
animals or each other to help increase their strength.
Modern Day Spartan Training
Fancy
equipment is not necessary to get in peak physical condition. Use
pushups and pullups in your routines to help build upper body strength.
Chopping or splitting logs and log throwing is also an effective way to
train the entire body. Tire flipping, deadlifting, car pushing or
carrying heavy objects to a predetermined destination are all examples
of modern day Ancient Greece weight training. Individuals who prefer to
train in a gym can still do intense weight training similar to the
Ancient Greeks by using mostly free weights and incorporating Olympic
and power lifts in your training such as power cleans, hang cleans,
snatch, squats, deadlifts and bench press.
The "300" Workout
The
"300" workout was designed to get the actors in shape in preparation
for filming the movie "300." The actors trained for four months using
similar training intensities that would have been used during the times
of the Spartans -- including plyometrics, sprinting and intense weight
training. They used such equipment as barbells, kettlebells and medicine
balls. At the end of the four months of training, the actors where
invited to complete the "300" graduation workout which involved
performing the following exercises in sequential order: 25 pullups, 50
deadlifts at 135 lbs., 50 pushups, 50 box jumps onto a 24 inch box, 50
floor wipers at 135 lbs., 50 kettlebell clean and presses at 36 lbs. and
25 pullups. The combination of all repetitions for all of the exercises
totals 300 repetitions.
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