I am Spartacus!

There’s been an “intense” workout circulating among friends, coworkers, and bloggers known as the…Spartacus workout. Apparently, the workout plan was created for a TV show called…you guessed it…Spartacus. The basic idea is 10 exercises each done for 60 seconds…3 times. Between each exercise, you can take about a 15 second break, but this is supposed to be not only weight lifting but also cardio so you definitely want to keep a quick pace. Here are the 10 stations and the weight amount I chose for each one.

1. Goblet Squat-60 sec., 20lb.  Here’s a pretty simple video on the goblet squat.
2. Mountain Climbers- 60 sec. Oh, the mountain climber. These may take you back to exhausting high school sports practices…but it turns out..they were onto something. These are pretty challenging especially after a minute! If you do them, you’ll understand how this circuit incorporates cardio!
3. Single-arm Dumbbell Swing- 60 sec., 12 lb. (I did 30 sec. on the right arm then 30 on the left) These aren’t so bad…or maybe I was using a weight that was too light. This was like, the “break” in between torturous exercises.  Here’s a little piece of man meat to show you how it’s done.
4. T-Pushup-60 sec., 5lb. These are pretty tough. I did most of the 3 minutes using 5 pound weights. Towards the end I developed some pain in my wrists so I dropped the weights and continued with hands on the floor. To be fair, here’s a lovely lady showing off the t-pushup.
5. Split Jump- 60 sec, 5lb.  My arch enemy the split jump. These are incredibly difficult. When I’ve done them in the past I haven’t used weights. Of course, the first time I ever tried them I totally underestimated how hard they were and tried them with like, 10 pound weights. That did not last very long. These are exhausting and definitely get your heart pounding which is great. I dread doing them but I know (at least I think) my body will thank me later.
6. Dumbbell Row- 60 sec, 15lb. These kind of sneak up on you. They didn’t seem so bad at first so I did them relatively fast. Then I realized I still had 45 more seconds. Lesson here: pace yourself!
7. Dumbbell Side Lunge-60 sec., 15lb. Side lunges are another exercise I despise doing. I am sore every time I do them..which is good, I like being sore. But during the exercise I feel so weak, like my little girly man legs are going to give out. They haven’t yet, so until they do I will keep torturing myself!
8. Pushup Position Row-60 sec., 10lb. These are yet another row exercise that can sneak up on you. At first, they aren’t so bad. It isn’t until about half way through that you realize your entire body is being worked. You’re shaking because your abs, legs, back, and arms are doing quite a bit of work holding you up and lifting a weight. FYI-this link shows the woman actually doing a pushup, then a row. I did not do a pushup since I did them in the t-pushup exercise. So, I was only in the pushup position doing rows.
9. Dumbbell Lunge and Rotation-60 sec., 10lb.  Things definitely get a little wobbly at this point. But I like the feeling in your abs when you rotate your upper body while in the lunge position.
10. Dumbbell Push Press-60 sec., 10lb. Originally, I was thinking I would use 15 pounds for this exercise. But after the other 9 stations my arms were already tired! So I dropped down to 10 in order to complete all three minutes. It was rough, but I made it through!

This is definitely a tough workout. I’m not sure it’s tough enough to prepare you for an uprising against the Roman Republic…but definitely will get you in shape to become an actor. I’m sure Spartacus himself would have been devoted to this workout plan if he had the resources. Who knows, maybe he did.