300 Spartans Workout!?

given the craze of “aesthetics crew”, does it make sense to do the 300 spartan workout in place of PM lifting in addition to morning cardio?
for someone at say 205 lbs and 23% bodyfat, looking to find any semblance of a “beach body”…
500-800 calorie deficit ofcourse!!

BAD idea …

That workout was a final “test” given to the actors in 300 at the end of their Gym Jones / Mark Twight training program prior to filming the movie … It was not what they did everyday, or what was responsible for their leanness (in and of itself) … Sure fire recipe for burnout and injury doing it daily

As I stated in your other post, cardio isn’t the answer … It a tool to incorporate when diet alone isn’t getting the job done - and then, you want to do the minimum to keep fat loss moving without sacrificing muscle

Unless you like the thought of 2 cardio sessions per day right from the jump … I guess you could bump it to three when 2 stop working … Then four

Get your diet dialed in dude … Be patient … Add minimum cardio as needed, more as it gets harder to cut calories and maintain your protein intake

A shit ton of cardio is the road to skinny fat and crappy test levels, IMO

[quote]Velvet Elvis wrote:
A shit ton of cardio is the road to skinny fat and crappy test levels, IMO[/quote]

^This!

Cardio is just a tool, but if used incorrectly, it can ruin any chance of a quality physique.

S

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]Velvet Elvis wrote:
A shit ton of cardio is the road to skinny fat and crappy test levels, IMO[/quote]

^This!

Cardio is just a tool, but if used incorrectly, it can ruin any chance of a quality physique.

S[/quote]

THIS again.

You did not get to 23% by eating clean wholesome foods.

You should be able to get down to at least 10% by diet alone with minimal cardio.

Koing

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]Velvet Elvis wrote:
A shit ton of cardio is the road to skinny fat and crappy test levels, IMO[/quote]

^This!

Cardio is just a tool, but if used incorrectly, it can ruin any chance of a quality physique.

S[/quote]

That is so true. An IFBB pro I train was in a difficult situation: not competing this year, wanting to improve as much as possible.

Now, I’m training him in the gym but he has a prep guru for his pre-contest nutrition and cardio. But when he is not competing he isn’t using him.

We were trying to add mass. And he decided to add morning cardio, to stay a bit leaner. His strength went way down and he looked a lot flatter. Doesn’t take much to throw you off!

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]Velvet Elvis wrote:
A shit ton of cardio is the road to skinny fat and crappy test levels, IMO[/quote]

^This!

Cardio is just a tool, but if used incorrectly, it can ruin any chance of a quality physique.

S[/quote]

That is so true. An IFBB pro I train was in a difficult situation: not competing this year, wanting to improve as much as possible.

Now, I’m training him in the gym but he has a prep guru for his pre-contest nutrition and cardio. But when he is not competing he isn’t using him.

We were trying to add mass. And he decided to add morning cardio, to stay a bit leaner. His strength went way down and he looked a lot flatter. Doesn’t take much to throw you off![/quote]

Lol, I’ve got this one female client who competes in Bikini divisions. She looks asbsolutely amazing for a woman her age (well over 40), but wants to add more muscle. I do everything I can to keep her as lean as possible (relatively) while making quality improvements where her physique would most benefit on stage from it, but she always insists on adding in short cardio sessions every day on her own. When I think she’s following along on the program I’ve given her, a few days will go by and then I’ll receive a text admitting to engaging in ‘secret cardio session’. Needless to say, it’s seriously hindering progress she could be making. I don’t know whether to laugh or just smack my forehead at times.

There is so much more to a quality physique than simply balancing the caloric equation for gains or losses.

S

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]Velvet Elvis wrote:
A shit ton of cardio is the road to skinny fat and crappy test levels, IMO[/quote]

^This!

Cardio is just a tool, but if used incorrectly, it can ruin any chance of a quality physique.

S[/quote]

That is so true. An IFBB pro I train was in a difficult situation: not competing this year, wanting to improve as much as possible.

Now, I’m training him in the gym but he has a prep guru for his pre-contest nutrition and cardio. But when he is not competing he isn’t using him.

We were trying to add mass. And he decided to add morning cardio, to stay a bit leaner. His strength went way down and he looked a lot flatter. Doesn’t take much to throw you off![/quote]

Lol, I’ve got this one female client who competes in Bikini divisions. She looks asbsolutely amazing for a woman her age (well over 40), but wants to add more muscle. I do everything I can to keep her as lean as possible (relatively) while making quality improvements where her physique would most benefit on stage from it, but she always insists on adding in short cardio sessions every day on her own. When I think she’s following along on the program I’ve given her, a few days will go by and then I’ll receive a text admitting to engaging in ‘secret cardio session’. Needless to say, it’s seriously hindering progress she could be making. I don’t know whether to laugh or just smack my forehead at times.

There is so much more to a quality physique than simply balancing the caloric equation for gains or losses.

S
[/quote]
hahha well im glad im lazy and dont like cardio…to me staying lean in the off season should be mostly about controlling input (calories), however ive been considering keeping in some hit cardio this off season. We willl see hah

I see from another post that you’ve had a stroke, this is the last sort of routine you should be considering.

[photo]39191[/photo]
today

[photo]39190[/photo]
and today

[photo]39189[/photo]
also today
profile pic ( with hair) in march 2007;i’m not happy!!

Dude … You’ve had some heavy hitters weighing in on your question in Stu and CT … Discount their advice at your own peril

From your pics, no - you’re not in shape, but not morbidly obese either … And haven’t gotten so far gone you can’t rectify this in 6 months or so if you do it right.

Your pic from 2007 shows you knew how to get lean, and had some muscle. If you go crazy on cardio, combined with an extreme caloric deficit to shed weight fast, you will only end up a lighter version of what you see in the mirror now.

I’d recommend getting some muscle back before you start cutting … Muscle has memory, and it should come back fairly quickly with a couple months of diligent, smart training and diet. IMO, just keeping protein high and calories at maintenance levels for awhile would bring back some muscle and have you looking better w/o any obvious reduction in bodyfat

I know that’s not what you want to hear, given the desperation to “get in shape” fast that comes through your posts here … But remember, you didn’t go from 2007 to now overnight, and it’s going to take some time to come back - assuming you want to look good when you do

@ velvet : without a doubt, i do understand it would take time, and i’m basically on road to recovery so consider myself a beginner…i did things in 2007 which i might not be able to do right away, but if you and stu and CT could just give me a basic outline of what my program should be like, i could work out the minor details by myself; and yes i’m gonna try and build muscle and i’m not looking for a “quick fix” either!! 6 months works perfect, even 7,8 … you get the idea
i mean i almost died!!!

I know man … As I mentioned in your original post, my hats off to for coming back from some serious shit and trying to get healthy again.

Well, Stu and CT, while very generous with their expertise via the forums, get PAID to train people … I don’t, but that usually = that you get what you pay for, lol

You need to figure out what you want to train for, what kind of results do you want? Getting “back in” or in “better” shape is too vague, and dancing around with 300 workouts or crossfit type stuff is fine if that’s your goal. Is your goal to get back on a bodybuilding stage?

I’ve never competed, but there are plenty of guys on here who have, and post training logs ( and diet) that cover both off season and contest prep …

Not trying to blow you off, but it’s a big can of worms to try and figure out WHAT you want, what type of equipment you have access to, and what your physical limitations are due to injury and/or your medical condition

what would your advice be, if i said there’s a contest in march next and i would love to compete( would be a personal victory for me after all my shortcomings)
and how should i go about it, i have no limitations s such and i go to gold’s gym , so no lack of equipment either!!

That’s a very worthy goal … And most likely obtainable

But given that I’ve never competed (and you have btw - one up on me!) I wouldn’t want to steer you wrong … 7 months to a show doesn’t leave much room for error after not working out for an extended period of time

I would say you need at least a solid 3 months of steady eating and lifting to get some muscle back … It might be more, but 3 minimum to get back in the game b4 you even think about cutting

And that’s working around your stated goal of a show in march … More time before a cut would be better, IMO

would that mean i “gain” weight or just keep lifting and cut back on cardio and raise my calorie intake to maybe 2500!!!

I’m not sure if you have to or should be doing cardio per your medical condition … If you have been told by Drs to do cardio, then by all means continue.

If you are doing cardio on your own for fat loss only, I would stop doing ANY cardio and focus on weight training … Figure out what you need calorie wise to maintain your weight (not gaining and not losing) and fill those calories each day with 1 - protein, 2- quality carbs, and 3- healthy fats. Appropriate sources for each can be found in numerous articles right here on Tnation.

Once you get your calorie baseline (and sufficient protein intake) for maintenance I would add maybe 100-200 calories per day to that total in some form of protein (whey, casein shake for example).

*just for fat loss!!

Shitcan it then … Save your time and energy for the weights