500 Workout; What Is It & How To Do It...

Here’s a pretty cool article by Craig Ballantyne, author of Turbulence Training…

If you’ve seen the movie “300″, then you probably notice the incredible physiques that the actors had. There has been much hype over the film 300, or more specifically over the athletic physiques of the men that appeared in the film. Many people were soon asking, how do I get a body like that? What sort of training program do I need to follow? Is it possible for the average guy to look so athletic? In short, the answer is yes. But it requires a lot of hard work. The sculpted bodies in the movie "300" were chiseled by the legendary 300 workout found in Men's Health magazine. The actors trained hardcore, using kettle bells, weights, bodyweight, tires, and more.

But for most people, this workout was difficult to do because it includes a lot of equipment typically not found in home gyms or commercial gyms. So you couldn't do the kettle bell clean and press or box jumps.

That's why Men's Health expert Craig Ballantyne developed the Turbulence Training Bodyweight 500 workout. This is a 500 repetition workout performed using only bodyweight exercises. No weights are needed. It's still challenging, it will still burn fat, and it will still help you achieve the body of a Greek Warrior. The great thing is that you can do it in any gym, or with a few pieces of equipment, a home gym also.

Craig Ballantyne describes how the workout developed:

"Now earlier this year I tried the 300 movie workout. It is a challenging 300 repetition workout put together by a trainer for the lead actor in the 300 movie. This isn't how they did their workouts...it was just a test of his strength-endurance."

Here is the workout all exercises are done without rest:

No visual effects my friends, just hardcore training.

Read on for another version of a workout to test your boundaries.

The Men’s Health 300 workout did an incredible job of creating actors with ripped abs for the 300 movie.

But for most people, this workout was difficult to do because it includes a lot of equipment typically not found in home gyms or commercial gyms. So you couldn’t do the kettle bell clean and press or box jumps.

That’s why I came up with the Turbulence Training Bodyweight 500 workout. This is a 500 repetition workout performed using only bodyweight exercises. No weights are needed. It’s still challenging, it will still burn fat, and it will still help you achieve the body of a Greek Warrior. The great thing is that you can do it in any gym.

Now earlier this year I tried the 300 movie workout. It is a challenging 300 repetition workout put together by a trainer for the lead actor in the 300 movie. This isn’t how they did their workouts…it was just a test of his strength-endurance.

Here’s the workout…Do not rest between exercises. Just go, go, go.

Pullups - 25 reps

Deadlifts with 135lbs - 50 reps

Pushups - 50 reps

24-inch Box jumps - 50 reps

Floor wipers - 50 reps

1-arm 36lbs Kettlebell Clean n Press - 50 reps

Pullups - 25 reps

That was one tough workout. But like I said, I think I’ve put together something that is just as tough, and more available for people to do. Obviously both are advanced workouts…and you shouldn’t do either unless you are as fit as a college athlete.

So here is my TT Bodyweight 500 Workout:

50 Prisoner Squats

50 Pushups

25 Jumps

25 Stability Ball Leg Curls

50 Stability Ball Jackknifes

50 Step-ups (25 reps per side)

25 Pull-ups (NO substitutions)

50 Forward Lunges (25 reps per side)

50 Close-grip Pushups

50 Inverted Rows

50 Squats

25 Chin-ups (NO substitutions)

Whew! Where you are really going to slow down is with the pulling exercises. That is a lot of chin ups and pull ups and rows to do in one workout. But you will have such an arm and shoulder pump after the workout it will blow you away.

You can watch the workouts on the Internet. Just search You tube for Bodyweight 500 or Turbulence Training.

WARNING! WARNING. This is a very advanced workout. So don’t do it unless you are already fit.

If you aren’t super-fit, but want to work up in a challenge, I have an alternative for you. Start with the following workout, called the Bodyweight 100. Please note: This is still not a beginner workout.

Here is the bodyweight 100. Do the 100 workout on a Saturday. After 7 days, try it again, doing it two times. One week after that, try doing it 3 times. Then you could be ready for the Bodyweight 500 in the fourth week.

20 Prisoner Squats

20 Pushups

10 Jumps

10 Inverted Rows

20 Forward Lunges (10 reps per side)

15 Close-grip Pushups

5 Chin-ups or Inverted Rows

Those are the 300 and Bodyweight 500 workouts. These will put turbulence on your muscles and help you burn fat and boost your metabolism without slow boring cardio.


Men’s Health expert Craig Ballantyne has designed the trademarked Turbulence Training home fat burning workouts to help thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Craig’s workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig’s beginner bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

Check out the official website for the Bodyweight 500 Workout