Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 56

May 05, 2013  /  Richard Gibney

Day 56: I am Spartacus!!! Well not quiteToday I was feeling pretty good. My light workout from the other night did a good job of getting the kinks out. My legs felt fresh enough for a hard one, so that's what I did. Today's workout was the Spartacus Workout.The Spartacus Workout was designed by Rachel Cosgrove and Adam Campbell for the cast of the TV show Spartacus:Blood and Sand. Cosgrove and Campbell were given the task of getting a large group of people in gladiator like shape in a short period of time. The producers wanted their actors as ripped and muscular as possible. To make this happen they used what is referred to as metabolic conditioning.

Without getting too scientific, metabolic conditioning is essentially high intensity interval training. The idea is to maximize the amount of work the body can do by structuring the work periods and rest periods in such a way that allows the body to work as hard possible. This could be done on a bike by varying the resistance or cadence. In the case of the Spartacus workout they use exercise variety to create that structure. By moving from cardio to strength to core and back they tax the body's entire system. In the process you jack up the metabolism, strengthen the body and develop cardiovascular fitness.

The Spartacus Workout: You do all 10 exercises in a row with just enough time to transition from exercise to exercise. You use weight that will allow you to perform between 15 - 20 reps, but more importantly you do each exercise for 60 seconds. After completing the circuit you rest 2 minutes then repeat twice for a total of 3 sets.

1. Goblet Squat 2. Mountain Climber 3. Single Arm Kettlebell or Db Swing (30 sec per side) 4. Db T Push-ups 5. Split Jumps 6. Db Row 7. Lateral Lunge 8. Db Plank Row 9. Db Lunge and Twist 10. Push Press

The youtube link is actually a timer that takes you through the whole workout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJb9dyY8tKY

This was really hard. It was especially difficult to maintain my form in the second and third set. When you are breathing really heavy its hard to keep your core tight. The cast of the TV show did this workout 3 times a week. Quite impressive, but if you've seen the show you can see how effective it was.

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