were Spartans built?

[phillyboi08]

We were debating today wether spartans were really as built as the movie or even built at all, does anyone know?

[d34dlift]

They were strong no doubt but imo not nearly as ripped as the movie.

[Hp-20]

consider how long it takes for an average male today to become ripped with decent size and thats with the help of gyms with perfect equipment for the job, modern day supplements and food on demand, nutritonalists etc etc + plenty of time for rest in a comfy warm bed = the ideal body builder enviroment, they would have had none of this, that said they may have had stronger genetics and still have to do alot of training and manual work but more than likely they were just ripped and musclular without much size.

[M12]

Its very possible that they were...

The nutritional value of foods in general was alot higher back in those days, than it is now...

Watched a program once which said that 1 tomato back then was the equivalent to eating 10 tomatos today...

They did 100 times more manual work than people do today and alot more cardio based stuff.. which built muscle and kept bf% low..

Also look at the sculptures made by greeks all those years ago.. They had to base that art on something.. and to be able to do that there had to be people that were built like that... otherwise they have no idea that things like "abs" actualy exist.

[ctsvette]

Also look at the sculptures made by greeks all those years ago.. They had to base that art on something.. and to be able to do that there had to be people that were built like that... otherwise they have no idea that things like "abs" actualy exist.

True.

They needed to have strength back then, and if they didnt have it they probably got it. All the buildings were hand built, with some help of very creative methods of 'construction equipment'.

[singyay4ed]

The life of a Spartan soldier was that of a warrior; if he wasn't fighting he was training (cue heroic film music, preferably something by Danny Elfman cos his scores kick ass). So to summarise my long-winded explanation, they probably weren't as defined and **** cos they wouldn't have really trained for that look. But rest assured, if they came back today they would easily lift more than anyone in the teen section (no spartan and/or any ancient civilisation homo)

[TheGymLife]

Most of us teens are stuck in class all day the only excercise we get is in the gym or sports and we are still ripped.

Now imagine these guys would be forced to work hard and heavy all day with a limited (cutting) diet, they were probably ripped yes

[Sex_Pistol]

NO, spartans trained to be soldiers, not bodybuilders. They would be very strong and maybe ripped, but not big. Take into account that they would sometimes walk 50 miles+ a day, with a maximum of 2 or 3 big meals. They needed to be fast with functional strength, not huge and bulky.

[user456419778777721321]

It's a movie, so of course they are going to look as good as possible. Were they that ripped? I doubt it, but they were strong.

[d34dlift]

Also look at the sculptures made by greeks all those years ago.. They had to base that art on something.. and to be able to do that there had to be people that were built like that... otherwise they have no idea that things like "abs" actualy exist.

maybe, but still if you're a warrior, for what reason would you need to be sub 6 bf? I mean yeah, for speed,but you need a little fat ( especially if you are fighting for sometimes days on end) Yes, the sculptures were ripped but when people hired artists to make them, they would make sure they looked better than in rl usually. Sure, some were ripped in rl but I haven't seen too many sculptures of a ripped spartan who looked much like from 300 ( in terms of size)

[M12]

maybe, but still if you're a warrior, for what reason would you need to be sub 6 bf? I mean yeah, for speed,but you need a little fat ( especially if you are fighting for sometimes days on end) Yes, the sculptures were ripped but when people hired artists to make them, they would make sure they looked better than in rl usually. Sure, some were ripped in rl but I haven't seen too many sculptures of a ripped spartan who looked much like from 300 ( in terms of size)

lol they didnt have bf% estimates or anything like that.. they never aimed for a particular look... they just had it...

Food wasnt so full of fat like it is now.. and alot healthier, well mostly anyway...

Im not saying they looked exactly like the guys in 300.. they could have been bigger with higher bf% or a bit smaller... Im 100% sure they were muscular tho. and definitely strong

[youngbuilder06]

I'll venture to guess that they looked like Ambercrombie models except with WAY more strength

[Sex_Pistol]

I'll venture to guess that they looked like Ambercrombie models except with WAY more strength

no, i believe theyre chest would be weak in comparison to everywhere else, i mean, why would they work chest. legs and back and shoulders would probs be insane

[d34dlift]

lol they didnt have bf% estimates or anything like that.. they never aimed for a particular look... they just had it...
Food wasnt so full of fat like it is now.. and alot healthier, well mostly anyway...
Im not saying they looked exactly like the guys in 300.. they could have been bigger with higher bf% or a bit smaller... Im 100% sure they were muscular tho. and definitely strong

X2 on the definetly muscular part, and on the food being healthier, but I'm just saying would you want to BE sub-6 bf (I know they didn't have bf estimates but I just mean very ripped) when you know you might be days on end without food resorting to catabolism of muscle?( might not have known about catabolism but they did atleast know you can use fat to be longer periods of time w/o food (eg.eskimos).They very well could be ripped by genes but I mean like RIPPED ripped would be pretty stupid to be fighting for a long time.

[Khoraji]

I just got back from a vacation in Greece not too long ago. I went all over Athens, Mycenae, Corinth, Delos, etc. Most of the sculptures and painted vases you see depicting warriors from that period show that they were fairly slender and carrying a little bit of fat, probably in the 8-10% BF range. As has been mentioned several times, Spartans were warriors first. They lived to fight. As such, their strength was functional strength, built around the ability to run and fight. Their diets were relatively meager as they were in the field a great deal, and so wouldn't have had the nutritional make-up for building large, bulky physiques, nor would they have been effective for the sort of armed combat they lived and died for.

If you're actually interested in the history of the Spartans and the events surrounding the battle at Thermopylae, I'd recommend this book -

http://www.amazon.com/Thermopylae-Ba.../dp/1585675660

It covers a great deal of the lives of Spartans (including revealing a lot about the homosexuality rampant in their culture) as well as descriptions of the events leading up to and surrounding the battle. It's heavy in history, but if it's the sort of thing you're interested in, go for it.

[M12]

X2 on the definetly muscular part, and on the food being healthier, but I'm just saying would you want to BE sub-6 bf (I know they didn't have bf estimates but I just mean very ripped) when you know you might be days on end without food resorting to catabolism of muscle?( might not have known about catabolism but they did atleast know you can use fat to be longer periods of time w/o food (eg.eskimos).They very well could be ripped by genes but I mean like RIPPED ripped would be pretty stupid to be fighting for a long time.

Well i guess they just ate like beasts.. consuming a **** load of calories.. but yeh i know what you mean about the fat thing..

I just got back from a vacation in Greece not too long ago. I went all over Athens, Mycenae, Corinth, Delos, etc. Most of the sculptures and painted vases you see depicting warriors from that period show that they were fairly slender and carrying a little bit of fat, probably in the 8-10% BF range. As has been mentioned several times, Spartans were warriors first. They lived to fight. As such, their strength was functional strength, built around the ability to run and fight. Their diets were relatively meager as they were in the field a great deal, and so wouldn't have had the nutritional make-up for building large, bulky physiques, nor would they have been effective for the sort of armed combat they lived and died for.

If you're actually interested in the history of the Spartans and the events surrounding the battle at Thermopylae, I'd recommend this book -

http://www.amazon.com/Thermopylae-Ba.../dp/1585675660

It covers a great deal of the lives of Spartans (including revealing a lot about the homosexuality rampant in their culture) as well as descriptions of the events leading up to and surrounding the battle. It's heavy in history, but if it's the sort of thing you're interested in, go for it.

Ill look into it... but 1 thing i must point out is that theres alot evidence to show that Spartans didnt engage in homosexuality.. Although it was quite popular amongst Greece itself.. Spartans were very different to the rest of Greece.

I think Plato? or Aristotle wrote that Sparta was the only place in Greece where homosexuality was comdemned or something like that...

Even if its true.. id like to think a large majority of them wasnt homo lol

[Pyro05]

I should think they would be more like powerlifters than bodybuilders in that they wouldn't really care about their visual physique but more about their general strength and fighting ability...

[Khoraji]

Well i guess they just ate like beasts.. consuming a **** load of calories.. but yeh i know what you mean about the fat thing..





Ill look into it... but 1 thing i must point out is that theres alot evidence to show that Spartans didnt engage in homosexuality.. Although it was quite popular amongst Greece itself.. Spartans were very different to the rest of Greece.

I think Plato? or Aristotle wrote that Sparta was the only place in Greece where homosexuality was comdemned or something like that...

Even if its true.. id like to think a large majority of them wasnt homo lol

Socrates was Plato's teacher, and was a reputed ****phile that went stir-crazy for young boys. Plato wrote about that and defended his mentor.

As far as the Spartans go, generally an older man (the erastes) would find a younger recruit (the eromenos) and 'take him under his wing'. Plutarch writes at length on the pederasty of the Spartans, which was a part of their whole warrior training system from the age of 12. The older soldier would protect and defend the younger, and the two would engage in sexual contact as a result. It's reputed that the age at which the younger soldier was able to take an eromenos of his own was dependent on his beard - once his beard grew in, it was time for him to find a young man of his own.

Most dudes don't really like to give credence to this, since the Spartans were undeniably bad-ass, and in some people's eyes, it tarnishes their Alpha Male reputation.

[usamarshal]

Its very possible that they were...

The nutritional value of foods in general was alot higher back in those days, than it is now...

Watched a program once which said that 1 tomato back then was the equivalent to eating 10 tomatos today...

They did 100 times more manual work than people do today and alot more cardio based stuff.. which built muscle and kept bf% low..

Also look at the sculptures made by greeks all those years ago.. They had to base that art on something.. and to be able to do that there had to be people that were built like that... otherwise they have no idea that things like "abs" actualy exist.

Excellent point, if you have an opportunity buy organic foods!!! Also, if you can, plant a small garden...tomatoes taste 100 times better from the garden than from any grocery store, organic or not...its the bomb!!!

[Jyeatbvg]

if u look at the spartan mascot, thats actually the exact same one as my school, except ours is red LOL.

[Puresweat]

The training program the actors followed was supposed to be similiar to the calories and daily exercise the spartans would have been taking in.

[Khoraji]

The training program the actors followed was supposed to be similiar to the calories and daily exercise the spartans would have been taking in.

For more information about the workouts the actors and stuntmen used, go here -

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=35

And here -

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=36

[exothermic]

go read a history book....spartans were raised to be strong and powerful, basically like dogs and make the strongest of the strongest, basically taking strongest females and males and breeding them... hence one amazing baby genetically hhahha.. then all the physicaly work they did and training and im sure they ate like men too... they might even be bigger than those dudes in the movie cause alot of them guys in the movie werent that built... yes i said it!!

[M12]

For more information about the workouts the actors and stuntmen used, go here -

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=35

And here -

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=36

repped!

thanks

[Turbomunkey]

built like the guys in the movie? probably not. A person can get big not lifting. But to be that proportional and over-all developed no

[SK1989]

I reckon they were built and ripped as the movie. Think about it, they would live on high nutritional foods but on a strict diet, but at the same time the amount of training they went through was constant day in and day out.

[WalterC15]

Its very possible that they were...

The nutritional value of foods in general was alot higher back in those days, than it is now...

Watched a program once which said that 1 tomato back then was the equivalent to eating 10 tomatos today...

They did 100 times more manual work than people do today and alot more cardio based stuff.. which built muscle and kept bf% low..

Also look at the sculptures made by greeks all those years ago.. They had to base that art on something.. and to be able to do that there had to be people that were built like that... otherwise they have no idea that things like "abs" actualy exist.

BUT it is also a well known fact that greek sculptors created there art with "the perfect" body in mind, they werent meant to be realistic looking, im taking a photography/sculpting class right now and we spent like the first half of last semester on greek sculptors, i think its possible they were close to what the movie showed, maybe not as much size, but deffinitly ripped up..there were no modern convieniences back then

[M12]

Reading the articles above.. im glad ive finally become alot more informed about the training regime the guys in 300 went through..

The dude who plays the captain in the movie lost 40lbs of fat.. however he looked more muscular in the movie.. Im sure he added some muscle after the fat burn.. but his transformation was amazing..

It kind of seems that these guys managed to gain some muscle whilst consuming calories bellow their maintanance level... I might have missed something when reading but thats the impression i got.

Also whats with doing the exercises blind folded? is it supposed to be somewhat harder??

[RUGBYplaya4LIFE]

consider how long it takes for an average male today to become ripped with decent size and thats with the help of gyms with perfect equipment for the job, modern day supplements and food on demand, nutritonalists etc etc + plenty of time for rest in a comfy warm bed = the ideal body builder enviroment, they would have had none of this, that said they may have had stronger genetics and still have to do alot of training and manual work but more than likely they were just ripped and musclular without much size.

That is the most stupidest thing I've ever read. Who needs to nutritionalists when they have perfected their diet over decades seeing which benefits more. you think they were stupid? they knew what they were doing. On top of that the nutritional value of food back then was WAY higher than today. And how do you exactly know they slept uncomfortably in a cold bed? supplements? they are just that their to supplement because of our modern ****ty diets with unnutritonal foods. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them were that size, those actors weren't huge bodybuilder size anyways. It's not like they walked around with 21" guns and legs like trey brewer in the movie.

[Replica]

Also look at the sculptures made by greeks all those years ago.. They had to base that art on something.. and to be able to do that there had to be people that were built like that... otherwise they have no idea that things like "abs" actualy exist.

Wrong. Sculptures were created to depict them as being "strong" or "fearless." They were ripped to display them as almost "Godly" and being flawless.