Throughout history, men and women have competed in arenas across the globe so that they may be crowned victors among their peers. Marred in blood, sweat, and sacrifice, legends were born. Respected and even envied by all, these victors would tantalize us mere mortals with their strength, endurance, and power, while their physiques, closely resembling the gods they hoped to become. They were the ultimate warriors – balanced in all aspects of training without a glaring weakness.
Today, those competitions are few and far between. Complacency and comfortabilty have become the norms, as we are rarely challenged and even rarer, strive for something just beyond our grasp.
No more.
Enter the Spartan Training Camp. Violent, Intense. Exhausting. Prepare yourself to regain your throne!
Of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there;
Nine are real fighters….We are lucky to have them….They make the battle.
Ah; but one; one of them is a Warrior….And he will bring the others back.”
Heraclitus (Circa 500 B.C.)
Spartan Training Camp
What is it?
An intense, 45 minute training camp destined to create strong, chiseled warriors. Blood, sweat, and sacrifice will build physiques the gods would be proud of, repetition by repetition by repetition. And like all victors, there will be no weaknesses. Strength, power, and endurance will all be tested so that no warrior enters the arena on just one leg.
This camp is soaked in testosterone. No slow cardio. No static stretching, jumping jacks, or toe touches. And above all, no whining. We stretch and warm-up with cannon balls. We melt the fat away with treadmill sprints, rowing, and barbell complexes! We build powerful physiques with pushups, deadlifts, front squats, push presses, and rows. Loud music will barely be audible over the screams and grunts of shirtless warriors. And in the end, as legendary Packer coach Vince Lombardi said, “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
The Triad
Fat loss
Aerobic cardio is muscle-building suicide. It eats away at your muscle for energy. Plus, it takes too long to melt the fat away. At our training camp, we utilize high intensity fat-loss training. We tap into the big, strong type II muscle fibers that use ATP and glucose for energy. Think 100m sprinter bodies. Our weapons of fat destruction (WFD): treadmill sprints, rowers, and barbell complexes. You’ll alternate between a WFD to a big, compound lift so that your lungs can rest just long enough to give it hell one more time. For those of you that make it, you’ll be rewarded with a body that appears as if it’s carved from granite by Zeus himself.
Muscle Mass and Strength
What’s fat loss without muscle mass. No one wants to be skinny and weak. Muscle mass, or body armor, as we call it in the Spartan training camp, is what creates god-like physiques.
Strength coach extraordinaire Charles Staley, trainer to hundreds of professional and Olympic athletes, created a unique training system called Escalating Density Training, one of the best mass building programs in the world. With the right intensity, volume and time-under-tension, muscle mass is built. By focusing on the density of the workout, we ensure we’re constantly overloading the body with an appropriate muscle-building stimulus. You have 10 minutes. How many deadlifts and treadmill sprints can you do?
Our weapons of mass construction (WMC): deadlifts, standing push presses, pushups, front squats, and rows. If it’s a big, compound movement that uses a lot of muscle mass, it’s in the training camp.
Power
What’s worse than being skinny and weak? Being skinny, weak, and slow. What’s the use of building slow strength? Do you think athletes like James Harrison or Gronk spend their entire training sessions lifting heavy weights slowly?
Strength coach Joe Defranco has been creating athletic freaks, like Brian Cushing, at his gym in New Jersey for over 10 years. His secret? Focus on power exercises as much as you do the strength exercises. If you can’t display your strength in a few tenths of a second, then you can’t play in the NFL. Power lifters are athletes. Olympic lifters are freaks!
We’ve incorporated some of his power and strength exercises he’s been using for years to prepare his athletes for the NFL combine into our training camp. Our weapons of choice: hurdle jumps, kettlebell swings, medicine ball throws, jump squats, and band-resisted deadlifts. We focus on moving weight as fast as humanly possible. In the end, warriors will be able to dodge spears in a split second, crush the shields of enemies with one punch, and catch any prey they wish on foot.
The Ultimate Spartan
To become a member of the Spartan Legion, you must attain a:
1. Men: 2x body weight deadlift for 3 reps. Women: 1.25x bodyweight deadlift for 3 reps (Strength)
2. Men and Women: 8.6 MPH mile run, 7 minute mile (Endurance)
3. Men: 100 body weight pushups in 4 minutes. Women: 20 Strict pushups in 2 minutes (Muscular Endurance)
4. Men: 75 Kettlebell Snatches in 5 minutes: >150lbs body weight, 45lb kettlebell, <150lbs body weight, 35lbs kettlebell. Women: 26lb kettlebell
Don’t worry. The training camp will be designed to help you achieve these numbers. You will have the opportunity to test every 7th week, as that will be our off week.
When and Where
The Arena, also known as Ageless in Gillespie. Initially, we’ll have one training camp per week on Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm. We may add another one on either Monday evenings at 6:30pm or Saturday mornings at 10am.
We will be releasing the exact date next week. Initially the class will be limited to 18 participants. You will be required to register via Mindbody just like you do for spin and Flow.
Requirements
You must be comfortable performing deadlifts and push presses. This is an advanced class. The instructors will be doing this class along with the participants so there will be very little coaching.
If you have ongoing, nagging injuries, this class is probably not for you. Bad backs, bad knees, and jacked up shoulders won’t last.
It’s open to both men and women of all ages. As long as you can perform a deadlift, even if the barbell only has 10lbs on each side, you can join this class.
Shirts (guys) are optional, especially during the summer months. If you’re offended by loud music, shirtless guys, or grunting, this class isn’t for you.
Your Reward
If a body as strong as steel, as powerful as dynamite, and as cut as a diamond isn’t enough, for those that meet all of the goals listed above, you’ll receive a limited edition Spartan Training t-shirt. We’ll test after every 6 weeks.
FAQ
How is it different from Flow?
Flow is strictly about fat loss. The singular goal is to burn as many calories as possible. Although for most of us, that is our singular goal, some also have a goal of building muscle too. The Spartan Training camp is a blend of fat-loss and muscle-building activities. It’s for those looking for some strength work (lifting heavy stuff) along with some cardio.
As far as comparing the difficulty between the two, they both are difficult. It all depends on your weakness. Flow is a fantastic high-intensity workout that will challenge even the most fit member. However, as mentioned above, it’s geared toward fat loss and high intensity cardio. The Spartan Training Camp is also difficult. Although it doesn’t have as much HIIT cardio as Flow, if you lack strength or muscular endurance, you’ll be surprised at how hard it is.
So in short, if all you care about is losing fat and have no interest in lifting heaving things, stick with Flow.
How is it different from the previous Spartacus workout?
The old Spartacus workout was a lot like Flow. It’s primary purpose was burning as many calories as possibly without using monotonous cardio activities. The Spartan Training Camp will be more structured since we have records we’re trying to achieve, along with our aesthetic goals.
Unlike the previous circuit-style workout we used for Spartacus, we’ll be using 8-15 minute pods in the Spartan Training Camp that allow you to complete as many combinations as possible.
Will it interfere with my current lifting program?
Only slightly. You may have to reduce your leg training or remove it completely, depending on how well you recover, your nutrition, and your sleeping habits. However, it will NOT interfere with your “beach muscles” workout. You’ll still be able to perform your routine for chest, biceps, triceps, delts, and abs.
In fact, we encourage anyone that comes to the camp to perform 2-3 resistance training workouts during the off days. A hypertrophy-specific program for arms, chest, back, and delts would nicely compliment the Spartan Training Camp. Traditional cardio or even spin classes can also be done on the off days.
Can women come?
Of course. Although the class will be primarily guys, women can come as long as they meet the requirements above. If you can deadlift 10lbs on each side of the barbell, that’s enough to get started.
How many people can be in the class?
3 groups of 6 so 18.
It seems that the class is for guys. Why?
It is. When we took away Spartacus, we didn’t have a class that was created primarily for males and their goals. Although spin and Flow are also great options for guys looking to lose weight, we still had quite a few requests for a class created for guys, something like Crossfit or the old Spartacus. They wanted cardio, but they also wanted to lift heavy things. However, women can still join the class.
If lifting with a bunch of guys doesn’t sound appealing to you, we do have good news for you. We will be adding a circuit bootcamp (and possibly a Glutecamp) before or after our spin classes so that you still have an opportunity to lift weights if you’d like. We’re still working out the logistics, but should have a plan ready within a few weeks.
I don’t know how to deadlift but really want to do the class. How can I?
Unfortunately because this is an advanced class, it will not be coached like a normal bootcamp. Thus, we require all participants to be familiar with deadlifting and performing push presses, pushups, and rows, as you’ll be on your own once the bell sounds.
If you’re serious about joining the class but can’t deadlift, we recommend either hiring a trainer for a few sessions to focus on perfecting your deadlifting form or finding a gym member with experience in those lifts to help you.
