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From my playlist to yours, I have another offering / recommendation for some good weight training music. This one is a regular on my iPod for a few reasons. First (and the lesser reason) it was the featured music in the teaser trailer for the film 300. Since this was a pretty badass trailer, it lends the song some adrenalizing imagery (to use a word coined by Def Leppard).

Second, and most important, it is a very good song for pacing your rests in between sets. If you use a two-minute rest between sets – and hopefully are not foolish enough to guesstimate two minutes in your head – then this song is of particular use. Send it to the beginning at the end of your set, and then just as the two-minute mark is approaching, the song just happens to be building up to a particularly jacked-up crescendo. You’ll know when to start lifting your next set.

Also, for the visuals, here is the original theatrical teaser for 300. You’ll probably see what I’m talking about…

TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
THE CAST OF 300

Well, it’s the first time I’ve really used a group as the training inspiration (I did use the father-son tandem of Team Hoyt once). And the film 300 is remembered primarily as a Gerard Butler vehicle, more than an ensemble cast. But the fact of the matter is that, down to the 300th Spartan extra, the entire group was put through a grueling training program that is typically reserved only for a leading character of the Van Damme or Vin Diesel mold, as filming day approaches.

The physiques and conditioning achieved across the board throughout the cast have become iconic to the point of caricature and parody (Meet the Spartans).

Anyway, I found the movie good but not great, and while I certainly noticed that everybody was in shape for the film, it wasn’t until I came across the following clips of the training involved for the cast members of 300 (as well as the following blog entry at Intelligent Workout) that I decided to give Mr. Butler and his comrades their due.

The fact of the matter is that acting as a profession is not synonymous in any meaningful way with fitness or physical training. The training to display emotions and learn lines is an endeavor as unrelated as accounting or French history.

So when actors who have trained in their art take it upon themselves (for professional or other reasons) to take it to an elite level physically, then we’re looking at some inspiring dedication.

The following clip outlines much of the training that was involved in the actors’ preparation for their roles as the 300 Spartans.

And the following clip is the 300 Challenge, posed by the trainers toward any members of the general public who either want to be extras in 300 Part II or said to their girlfriends that all the physiques in the movie were computer-generated.

So there you have it, a glimpse of the training program used by the cast of pretty much the most ripped movie since… I dunno… Rocky IV? Predator? The Full Monty?

REBUILDING THE MACHINE…

Just a good old-fashioned chest workout. Focusing on slow painful reps with long negatives… Adding biceps as well in a second workout later.

TODAY: CHEST and BICEPS and FOREARMS

FLAT BENCH PRESS (6 sets)
135 x 10
245 x 3
225 x 4
225 x 4
225 x 2
185 x 6 / 135 x 4

FLAT DUMBBELL FLYES (5 sets)
40 x 8
40 x 8
50 x 6
50 x 5
50 x 5

LYING DUMBBELL OVERHEAD RAISE (5 sets)
40 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10
50 x 8
50 x 8

FLAT DUMBBELL PRESS (3 sets)
50 x 6
50 x 6
50 x 6

INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS (3 sets)
40 x 8
40 x 7
40 x 6

BARBELL CURL (5 sets)
95 x 10
95 x 10
105 x 8
105 x 7
115 x 4 / 95 x 3 (drop set)

STANDING PREACHER DUMBBELL CURLS (5 sets)
35 x 8
35 x 7
35 x 9
40 x 6
50 x 3 / 40 x 2 (drop set)

INCLINE SUSPENDED-LEGS TWISTING BICEP CURLS (5 sets)
30 x 8
30 x 8
30 x 9
40 x 5
40 x 4 / 30 x 3 (drop set)

UNDERHAND GRIP FOREARM CURLS (5 sets)
55 x 10
55 x 10
55 x 8
45 x 12
45 x 8

OVERHAND GRIP FOREARM CURLS (5 sets)
55 x 5
55 x 4
55 x 3
45 x 6
45 x 5

TRAINING NOTES

Supersetted Flat Flyes and Overhead Chest Raise, as always.
Same with Overhand and Underhand Forearm Curls.

The negatives today were long, almost to the point of tempo training. As a result, the reps and weights weren’t incredibly high, but it was a full workout.

Total Sets (Chest): 22
Total Sets (Biceps): 15

INSPIRATIONAL CLIP

And for a little extra pump up before your workout, here is the trailer for 300. It is basically the best shots of the movie, with better music, and a guaranteed shot of adrenaline if you need one.