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A Spartan Workout

Jen and I are really looking forward to seeing 300 — the story is one both of us are familiar with and the Battle of Thermopylae was a key turning point in the still-ongoing war between the forces of dark and the forces of light; the false prophet and the true prophet.

It seems that Gerard Butler (who played King Leonidas) went through quite the regimen to get himself into shape for the movie.

Here is a sample of his baseline daily exercises:

Without resting between exercises, Butler performs 25 pullups, 50 deadlifts with 135 pounds, 50 pushups, 50 jumps on a 24-inch box, 50 floor wipers, 50 single-arm clean-and-presses using a 36-pound kettle bell, and 25 more pullups. All this, in addition to utilizing other unconventional yet equally taxing training methods, such as tire flipping and gymnastics-style ring training. Sound like hell? It is. In fact, upon receiving his marching orders for a Spartan workout, one of Butler's costars told Twight, “It feels like you just killed my dog.”

The magazine Men's Health has a wonderful long interview with Butler and goes into a lot more detail.

Did this work? Here is Gerard from the article:

“You know that every bead of sweat falling off your head, every weight you've pumped — the history of that is all in your eyes,” says Butler of his dedication. “That was a great thing, to put on that cape and put on that helmet, and not have to think, Shit, I should have trained more. Instead, I was standing there feeling like a lion.”

Very cool — don't know if we will be seeing this movie tomorrow or not but definitely in the next few days. Looking forward to it.

Posted by DaveH at March 12, 2007 09:16 PM | TrackBack