(My advice:  train like an MMA fighter if you want a body like the actors from 300)

So, the 300 workout is probably the most popular and highly searched workouts in the world. Not since Brad Pitt’s physique in the movie Fight Club has the world been so obsessed with the workouts of Hollywood actors. Of course Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, and Taylor Lautner made amazing transformations for their movie roles, the 300 workout is amazing because the entire cast had amazing bodies, not just the main character. Right after the movie came out, every college kid in America wanted to look like Gerard Butler and his the rest of the actors from the movie. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll see why so many people were obsessed. The fact of the matter is that they had really lean, well-defined body types, not huge and bulky muscle that body builders are known for. The lean, muscular body type is what MMA fighters and boxers are known for, which is why the 300 workout is perfect for fighters.

The 300 workout was designed by Mark Twight and done at the popular GymJones gym. He wanted to make the cast look like agile, strong, and flexible warriors. More like Rambo vs. The Terminator. But for anyone looking to build a physique like Gerard Butler and his crew, check out these interesting facts:

It’s Not Really a Workout: The “300 workout” is actually a timed endurance challenge that you have to work into as opposed to a rigorous workout to be done everyday. It’s more of a goal to accomplish rather than a set of tasks to do. The trainers actually warn people not to do it everyday. It incorporates body weight exercises that pro fighters and military folks have done for hundreds of years, all combined with circuit training principles. Here is a quick outline of the workout:

a) Pullups – 25 reps

b) Deadlifts – 135lbs – 50 reps

c) Pushups – 50 reps

d) 24-inch Box jumps – 50 reps

e) Floor wipers – 50 reps

f) 1-arm Clean & Press with 36lbs Kettlebell – 50 reps

g) Pullups – 25 reps

It has to be done as fast as possible.

You Don’t Need Equipment: The cool thing for fighters that don’t want to gain lots of bulk, is that the 300 workout mostly employs body weight workouts, so it can be done anywhere. You do need to do deadlifts and kettlebells, but they’re not necessarily a show stopper if you don’t have them. That means anyone can do this, from a busy dad with young kids, to a broke @$$ college student, so you have no excuses.

There Are No Secrets: While everyone wants to know the secret to the 300 workout, you’ll be disappointed to know that it is nothing but hardwork and discipline. No special exercises, no fancy equipment, no secret techniques. Actually, Men’s Health magazine asked internet fitness celebrity Craig Ballantyne to shoot a video of the workout and write an article about the workout.

Dirty Secret #4 – Lots and Lots of Hardwork: Gerard Butler, who played King Leonidas, punished himself more than another other cast member. He knew he was going to play the king and wanted to look like it. In an attempt to get EXTRA big, Butler reportedly out did the cast (who worked out 2 hours per day exercising and another 2 learning fighting techniques) In addition to this, Butler hired a personal trainer to train an extra 2 hours per day. Unbelievable!

(Thanks to Mun for the great pics)

Dirty Secret #5 – Hardly Anyone Could Do It: The 300 workout was really a one time endurance challenge. By the end of training, 17 people had completed the workout, and incidentally only one actor passed the test, finishing in 18 minutes, 11 seconds. What a hard workout! So don’t be too bummed if you can’t complete it. Remember, these guys were training for 2 hours per day and they still couldn’t complete the challenge. Even still, they saw amazing transformations. Just imagine what you could look like after training like this for a few weeks.

Dirty Secret #6 – You Can’t Train Like a Celebrity: Whether you’re trying to look like the werewolf guy from ‘Twilight’, Brad Pitt in ‘Fight Club’, or any of the actors from 300, you have to keep in mind that celebrity workout routines are overrated because they either take growth hormones, or have to train for hours and hours every day.

That’s all there is to the 300 workout. One of the most popular workout routines for men in the world boils down to body weight exercises done in quick succession. On my blog, almost more than anything else, people want to know about the 300 actors workout routine. The 300 movie workout can be described as a Spartan circuit workout routine. The plan itself models workouts by professional fighters and elite military personnel than a bodybuilding workout. If you look at the 300 workout pictures in this post, you’ll see that it’s really a bodyweight, military style workout. And even though it can be done at home, it’s an extremely tough challenge; one that most of the cast couldn’t even complete.

My Recommendation

I work in IT and have two young kids, so I’m not a professional fighter by any means. That’s why it’s better (more achievable) to try to train like an MMA fighter. You’ll get all of the cardio and strength benefits, along with an amazing body your wife will really appreciate. If I had to recommend anyone, it would be Eric Wong. Eric is a world-famous MMA trainer who WILL get you in the best shape of your life. I’m just recommending him because the 300 workout is so popular, so you might as well train like these guys.

I wanted to put together a list of best boxing cardio workouts for people who don’t have a lot of time to mess around. I have 2 young kids and am always looking for effective workouts that don’t take a lot of time. These cardio workouts can be done by themselves at home, or at the gym after your regular workout. These don’t use treadmills or ellipticals or anything time consuming like that. If you’ve read my other blog posts, you’ll know that “low and slow” intensity cardio just doesn’t burn that many calories. These are the best cardio workouts in my opinion because they can all be done at home without traditional fitness equipment. They all use body weight movements, with the exception of just a towel. They’re brutally effective for burning fat and speeding up your metabolism which makes them the best cardio workouts for weight loss.

Best Cardio Workout #1 (Only Takes 9 Minutes)

This is video shows Mike Cheng from sixpackshortcuts.com doing a really good home cardio workout. It’s mostly body weight and almost anyone can do it.

1). Jumping Squats: Just start in squat positon and jump up and down for 15 seconds

2). Side to Side Pushups: After your jumping squats you want to drop down into pushup position and move to the side and do a pushup. Both your feet and hands should move at the same time. You want to do these for another 15 seconds. At this point your blood should be pumping and you’ll feel the cardio effects of this workout.
3). Towel Roll: Then you want to get your towel (or shirt, or jumprope, or whatever) and bend your knees into a semi-squat. With your arms fully extended, you want to pull the towel tight and then bring it to your stomach. You’ll do 15 seconds of this motion, almost like you’re doing a seated row.

4). Towel Raise: You’ll start feeling the effects in your shoulder at this point. While holding the towel in squatting position, you want to bring it down to your knees and then raise it above your head. It’s important to pull the towel tightly. Again, do this for 15 seconds.

5). Half Burpees: Here you’re doing a burpee, except that you don’t stand all the way up. Remember to be light on your feet when doing this exercise. This exercise will really engage your core. Like the past movements in this routine, you want to do it for 15 seconds.

After you do the full circuit, you’re going to rest for 60 seconds and then do it 3 more times. It’s exhausting, but really effective.

Best Cardio Workout #2 (Takes 2 Minutes)

Here’s another video from Mike Cheng and his friend Daniel Rose. These are called “M-100′s” which stands for “mandatory 100′s”. Again, it can be done at home without any equipment. The reason why it’s better than other equipment-based cardio routines is that it works more muscle groups and burns more calories in a few minutes than 45 minutes on the treadmill. It was created by Daniel’s Ju-Jitsu coach and the point is to do the entire 100 reps. It consists of 3 simple exercises:

1). Squat Thrusts
2). Mountain Climbers
3). Squat Jump

Do 10 of each of these 3 exercises until you’ve done 100 reps total. It takes about 2 minutes because it’s supposed to be done without any rest between the exercises. If you’re a beginner, it’s ok to go slow, but you have to do them continuously without rest.

Best Cardio Workout #3 (Takes About 9 Minutes)

Here’s another great fat-burning at home cardio workout that will really get your heart pumping and boost your metabolism. Give this circuit a try:

1). Burpee – 40 seconds
2). Run-in-Place – 40 seconds
3). Mountain Climber – 40 seconds
Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times.

Like the previous cardio workout routines, you can add this to the end of your next workout, or just do them by themselves. Either way, your body will burn fat. Of course, make sure you’re healthy enough to do them and pace yourself, especially if you haven’t worked out for a while. You’ve probably already noticed that the guys in these videos are young and obviously workout. If that’s not you, that’s ok. Just take it slow and build yourself up.

Boxing workouts and mma workouts are a great way to exercise because they develop strength, speed, endurance, and explosive power, making them ideal for fighters and common folks who want to get stronger and lose weight. They provide an awesome cardio workout and can be done anywhere. On top of that, they’re good for both women and men, making them very versatile and functional. This post features one of the best boxing workouts (doubles as an mma workout) from Jeff Cavaliere (who by the way has some of the best free workout videos on YouTube) This video will help you get in shape incredibly fast.

**By the way, Jeff Joslin and Eric Wong have killer MMA workouts you should check out**

Here we go… Like most boxing workouts, it’s characterized by fast paced, explosive, and quick movements. It’s very  intense and works out a diverse group of muscles, providing a full body workout. Since real fighters have to adapt quickly recover even faster, it’s important to do a workout that gets you strong without causing injury. They have to do a lot of unstable exercises where they workout on their feet because this helps develop their core muscles which are so critical to the speed and agility they need to last in a fight. For regular folks, that means a well-defined mid-section that most people strive for.

I’ve transcribed the video below. It’s about ten minutes long and you can simply read my description if you’re on the run and can’t watch the entire thing. The good news again is that it’s for both men and women and can be done with weights (or without).

Tapping Kettle Bell Swings: Grab the kettle bell, come up and take a swing, but you want fast, quick hands. Get into the routine, get into the swing, and at the top, you want to tap it, for that bit of plyometric resistance. You’ll see that Jeff briefly lets go of it for a second to build hand speed and coordination.

The Scramble: Attach a resistance band to an immovable object. Then, put yourself into the band and run around. You’ll see how the resistance builds a lot of core strength. It’s an ingenious workout because it forces you to be dynamic and unscripted. You have to fight to keep your distance and really challenge your legs.

Burpee Punches: This is a great upper body workout for speed and explosive strength. You get down into a burpee, come up, and then punch. Do a pushup, up in one move, come up and punch with 10 lb dumbbells. This is building a ton of core strength and of course the endurance and explosive punches you’ll need for a fight. You want to do a set of 6 uppercuts and 6 straight punch reps. You can do it without weights if you’d like also.

The Scramble w/ Kettle Bells: You want to make sure you have two 50 lb kettle bells set up becaues you’re going to be moving them across the room. Get back into the resistance band, lift the kettle bell up, and then drop it on the other side of the room. Repeat this process a few times across the room. It really works out your arms, legs, and obliques.

Crunch & Punch: Get on your knees, underneath two bands on a bar and then hunch over. Then you simply want to punch down into the ground. Alternate straight punches down into the ground to really workout your back, abs, and obliques.

Quick Feet: Get back into the resistance band, this time without weights. Make some turns, just run around and do some crossovers, go sideways, whatever. Do it for about 30 seconds. Having fun yet?

Bands: Take the same two bands from the crunch and punch. Grab them and do rapid fire knee attacks, using the bands for arm resistance. At this point in the workout you can see Jeff getting really winded. You’ll probably feel the same.

The Scramble w/ Kettle Bells: You basically do these again. You want to make sure you have two 50 lb kettle bells set up becaues you’re going to be moving them across the room. Get back into the resistance band, lift the kettle bell up, and then drop it on the other side of the room. Repeat this process a few times across the room.

Hopefully you can see (and feel!) how boxing workouts will help you get in incredible shape, even if you never plan on stepping in the ring. They’re perfect for regular folks like you and me who want to get fit and have fun while they’re at it. If you like this, you might want to try out Eric Wong’s MMA workout program too. He’s a recognized expert and will help you take your training to the next level. Home Boxing Workouts also has a pretty popular program. It incorporates the quick movements and high intensity of most performance athletes. It sure beats 45 minutes on the step-machine!

Full Body Boxing Workouts

Boxing workouts are great for strength and conditioning. This video shows you some quick and easy boxing techniques you can use to build strength and power. The interesting thing is that it’s not just upper body strength you’ll develop. Punches generate power from your entire body: knees, hips, and shoulders so while doing simple punches doesn’t seem like a lot, it can be a pretty intense workout.

So in the first punch, you’re doing a jab. You want to make sure to stagger your feet and rotate your hips. The resistance band helps you create a “snap”, which helps you develop a ton of power. He reminds you that all punching power comes from your hips (not really from your arms) Even with straight punches, you want to make sure you rotate and extend yourself. As you can see, this is a great cardio workout too, especially since you’re doing them consecutively, incorporating elements of high intensity interval training. You want to make sure that you bend at the knees to get the most out of this workout. If you’re really training for a fight, this helps you with recoil power so your first punch doesn’t throw you off balance.

Again, stance and mechanics are important in the ring as well as if you’re just doing boxing workouts for fun.

This is a cool boxing workout video. It’s a live shoot of some footwork, pushups, punches, mountain climbers, etc. It’s good example of a bodyweight boxing circuit. Unlike others, boxing workouts can be easily done by both men and women. You can see this woman beating up the punching bag really well. This is, without a doubt an incredible workout. Again, nothing too difficult or complex, just good fundamentals done at a fast pace. This is why boxing workouts are so effective at burning fat. You could almost do the exact same thing at your gym (or even your basement) without spending any money at all. Another reason boxing workouts are so popular.

Are you tired of not being in top shape?  Would you like to learn how to melt fat while having fun?  Are you getting to make New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight?  If you answered yes to any of the above questions you’ve come to the right place.  Getting in shape can be difficult and boring.  However, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Most people think of walking on a treadmill for hours on end to try and get in shape.  While there is nothing wrong with this, it doesn’t excite most people.  To get in shape and stay motivated you need to do something that you love doing.  This is where boxing workouts come in.  Now most people might think that doing boxing workouts would be fun, but also intimidating.  In reality, it’s a lot easier than you think to get started.  You may also have the concern that boxing won’t get you in shape.  After all, the late night infomercials you’ve been watching say that you need to buy their fancy gadget to lose weight.

You don’t need gadgets or gimmicks to lose weight.  You don’t expensive equipment.  You just need the right workout program or routine.  Today we’re going to talk about why boxing or mma style workouts are a great way to have fun and to lose fat. It doesn’t take a lot to get started, and you’ll be losing weight quicker than you ever thought possible.  Let’s go ahead and look at why doing these workouts can be such a great thing.

Tip #1- Why Boxing Workouts Are So Effective and Building Strength and Burning Fat

The best thing about a boxing workout is that you’re doing a full body workout.  You’re using your upper body and lower body which means that you’ll burn a lot more calories.  It also means that you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck because you’re working out your whole body simultaneously. The effect is high-intensity training that will cause you to burn calories at a rapid rate of speed.  When you’re running on a treadmill you’re probably going slower for a longer pace.  While there is nothing wrong with that, most people don’t have an hour each day to slowly walk on a treadmill.

Whereas, doing a boxing workout you might be 2-3 times the amount of calories in half the time.  This makes it a win-win situation for anyone trying to lose weight. According to the Harvard Medical School, a 125-lb. person who spars for 30 minutes burns 270 calories.  You would need to run on a treadmill for over an hour at 5 mph to burn that many calories.  Also, the more you weigh the more calories you’ll burn. As you can see, boxing is a great way to lose weight.  While it might not look to difficult in the beginning, you’ll quickly see how boxers can become so tired after just the first round of fighting.

Tip #2- Who Can Do Boxing Workouts?

The best thing about boxing workouts is that most people can do them.  While you may want a punching bag, a speed bag, gloves, or other equipment, you can get started for cheap before you invest in any of those items. You can pretend like you’re sparring without all of the equipment at hand.  However, to make the most of your workout you’ll eventually want to invest in some equipment to help you out.  Also, most people think of young males as the type of people to do these workouts.  In reality, these workouts are great for people of any age and any sex.  It really doesn’t matter who you are as long as you’re willing to put in 30 minutes of work per day.

In fact, by boxing you’ll also gain a lot of confidence that you didn’t have before.  While it’s great to lose weight and burn fat, it’s also nice knowing that you may have a few defense skills you’ve learned from your workouts just in case you need them.  This is another reason that women should try and do some sort of boxing routine.

Tip #3- Boxing Workout Routine Tips for Beginners

If you’re just starting out, you might be a little intimidated.  Never fear though, you have a few options to help you out.  If you live in a medium sized to big city, you’ll be able to find plenty of places where you can go to learn how to do a boxing workout.  This might be the best option if it’s available to you.  Once you get the hang of it, you can then go back to the confines of your own home.

If you don’t have access to a trainer at first, you can get a lot of help from watching videos on the internet that show the proper technique.  Of course, you’ll need to have your own equipment eventually to make it worth your while. The items you need to feel like you’re doing a real workout are the gloves, a speed bag, and a heavy bag.  It would also help to have a place where you can jump rope.  If you’ve ever seen “Rocky” you’ve noticed how important jumping rope is to boxing.

If you’re just starting out, warm up on the speed bag for about 20 minutes.  Again, this might seem like it’s not a whole lot but you’ll be surprised at just how tiring it is.  If you don’t know how to do this and don’t have access to a trainer, you can watch some videos to help you out.  Then you get perform different variations of punches and or kicks (kickboxing) on the heavy bag.  Also, there are plenty of places online where you can find various boxing workouts to satisfy your needs.  To start off, time yourself and see how long you can continuously hit the bag without getting tired.  You’ll be lucky if you could even go a minute before you quit.

Doing a boxing workout probably isn’t something you want to do every day.  Try and mix it up with a couple of days of weight training and even a day or two of cardio on a machine.  This will keep your body guessing and you’ll see better results from doing various forms of exercise. While there are plenty of different boxing workouts and mma workouts you can do, you’ll see great success if you start off slowly and work your way up.  The information provided has shown you the benefits of boxing no matter who you are, now it’s time to take action!