The Spartan 300 is a timed challenge broken
down in a series of six sets, with a defined order. The original version of the
workout is the one I adhere to, and promote.
25 pullups
50 135 lbs deadlifts
50 pushups50 24-inch box jumps
50 Floor wipers pressing 135 lbs
50 36 lbs kettlebell single-Arm clean-and-press
25 pullups
Jaron introduced me to the challenge in 2012,
near the end of our epic Destination 195
run. He threw down a goal time of 25 minutes. If memory serves me well enough,
and the Russians have not tampered with the archives,
I clocked in at 33:24. Embarrassed and publicly shamed, I busted butt for two
months to avenge my honor. In late February 2013 I broke 25 minutes (24:22).
Today, on the cusp of my 43rd birthday I dropped my personal best time to
23:14.
Over the past six years I toyed with
attempting another run at the challenge, but Jaron was not greenlighting any workouts
because of my weight. After the Destination
195 wrapped up I ballooned rapidly back out of a healthy weight range to
properly train for the Spartan 300. Pullups at 250 pounds are ill advised… each
rep produces a sound in the shoulders similar to a lovelorn professional boxer
speed bagging Rice Krispies Treats. Not to mention the impact on the knees and
lower back while box jumping is no diggity.
Naturally, the Spartan 300 was the first
thought in my head when Jaron’s dietary mastery helped me shed 50 pounds by
Thanksgiving last year. We had a two-month window to train before my next swimming
program began… just as we did in 2013.
Outside of swimming four mornings a week,
the past two months have been all Spartan 300 prep. A highly recommended program
for combining at home and at gym workouts. Yet, it is vitally important to me
that I defended the purity of each exercise. While training I kept in mind exactness
to form and technique. Making a run at the challenge is all about slowing that
vile beast whipping through my circular system at blackout speeds, while the stopwatch
overlord waits for no one. Form and technique have to come second nature on the
day of. There is singular focus during the challenge -- managing the heart rate
spikes. Once the spikes arrive, there is nothing to do but push until the fairies
dancing on edges of the blackout box begins to close. Then pause comes. There
ain’t a human alive or ever lived who can do this without pauses. YouTube “Spartan
300 Challenge,” and witness each fine specimen walking around the gym with a dumbfounded
expression, involuntarily torso heaving for oxygen, and hands on their hips
like bewildered gunslingers pacing aimlessly in search of an ever-allusive firing
point. Nearing the end, each rep pushes the spikes into the pass out zone. It
took me over a minute to complete the last ten pullups.
In no particular order, these are the sets
I trained based off of my daily location. (Kettlebells and box jump were the
only ones I combined.)
Pushups
3 x 10 warm ups5 x 40 on 4:00
Pullups
10 x 5 on 1:00 restAlternating wide and underhand
(chin over the bar, and straight arm for the challenge)
Deadlifts & Floor Wipers
135 lbs or 155 lbs5 x 10 both exercises in a set
1:30 rest
10 deadlifts
10 left/right floor wipers
24-inch box jumps
10 x 10 on 1:30(Jump and step down one leg at a time, not jump down)
36 lbs kettlebell single-arm clean-and-press
5 x 10 alternating each arm
10 right
10 left
