Thursday, March 15, 2007

Review: The "300" Workout

Yesterday, I posted on the workout the actors did to prepare for 300. I was going to just try a couple of the lifts in my next workout, which was supposed to be on Friday. But I ended up with a couple of hours to kill today at the gym, so I figured, "What the hell."

I did the workout, slightly modified. Please bear in mind that this was my fourth consecutive full-body workout this week, so I was already sore and a little tired.

That said, here was the workout as planned:

25x Pull Ups
50x Deadlifts (135 lbs)
50x Push Ups
50x Box Jumps
50x Hanging Knees to Elbows
25x each side Dumbbell Snatch (35 lb DB)
25 Pull Ups

300 total reps: 23:04 minutes to complete the circuit. The best time for one of the actors was 18 minutes.

As it turned out, I could only do 25 of the hanging knees to elbows crunches, so I did 25 Ab Waves (on a high incline, crunch up to the right, then back down like a pendulum up to the left -- that's one). I could have gotten all 50 of the planned crunches, but it would have taken forever.

The deadlifts were far too light -- I could easily do 185-225 for 50, but my hamstrings were sore today so this was just fine. The push ups were also too easy -- I did them in a set of 35 and then 15 more. I also should have done the DB snatches in sets of 50 for each side. The last set of pull ups was brutal, and I ended up getting them in sets of 5 or 6 after the first 12 or so. The box jumps were also too easy -- might want to add weight (a couple of 15 lb DBs).

All in all, not a great workout for me. I spent another 45 minutes doing other stuff (cable crossovers for chest [100 lbs each side for 10 reps x 3], unilateral shrugs on the smith machine [110 lbs each side for 10 reps x 3], one arm row on the smith [110 each side for 10 reps x 3], and smith bench press [90 for 25 reps, and 145 for 15 reps]).

The best part of the 300 workout is the intensity -- definitely a lot more cardio-based than most lifting programs. I was breathing hard, but my muscles (aside from abs and lats) didn't feel too taxed.

Still, I will adapt this for some of my clients. They aren't in the same shape I am, and this will rock them pretty hard even if I make it easier.


4 comments:

John Cowan said...

Funny, I did the same thing today, after reading this!

25x pull ups (15, then 10)
50x Deadlifts (25 twice)
50 PushUps (35, then 15)
50 Box Jumps (three sets - hard first time!)
50 Hanging Knees to Elbows (umm..what is this? Did this on the floor, to each side, if I did it right...)
25x Dumbell snatch (less weight, as I have a shoulder injury)
25 PullUps (I did 10, 8, said eff it)

Time? don't know - seemed around 25, I wasn't counting

I agree, very cardio-based. I'm thinking of alternating it with my basic body4life stuff...

william harryman said...

Hey J,

The hanging knees to elbows crunches starts with hanging from a chin bar, hips flexed to 90 degrees, knees flexed to 90 degrees (so it looks like you are sitting in an invisible chair), then curl your knees up to your elbows. They're harder than what (online) passes for a floor wiper. I suspect they were doing something different in their workout, because they were using 135 pounds.

I kind of like this workout for days when I only have an hour between clients to get something done. It will help with the fat loss, for sure, but won't do much for my strength (aside from the pull ups and hanging crunches).

There is a benefit here to the high reps, too, in terms of active recovery from my usual high intensity training.

Peace,
Bill

Anonymous said...

Well before you say that the deadlifts, boxjumps and pushups are too easy maybe you should get your time down to under 20 minutes as the workout suggests.

Anonymous said...

If its easy how the hell did it take you so long?
I can do this workout well under seventeen minutes. Also try floor wipers instead of hanging knee raises.