What's up people? I hope you're doing well.

Today i want to shortly discuss how to train like an ancient Greek.

Training in ancient Greece was a civic duty.

It was not a lifestyle choice.

A good citizen in ancient Greece was virtuous both in mind and in body.

In ancient Sparta for example, training began for men at a very young age.

At seven years old, Spartan males were sent to military and athletic training school where they were taught discipline and survival skills.

The Spartan life centered around military training and toughness. Spartan males were soldiers from the age of 13 to 60, and even the women were taught physical and gymnastics training.

Not only that but athletic training was considered equal in status to medicine.

Hippocrates and Galen for example who are best known for their contributions to medicine, observed athletes while they trained, in order to understand the human body, and developed anatomical and nutritional guides to improve performance.

Galen also suggested that doctors must train like athletes to achieve excellence in their practice.

Even Aristotle wrote detailed coaching manuals that were embedded in his philosophical works.

A structured training regime in ancient Greece included three stages:

Stage 1:warming up

Stage 2: Training

Stage 3: Cooling down.

The warm-up started with a massage, followed by gentle movements to boost blood flow and prepare the muscles for more intense exercise.

A modern version of this would be foam rolling followed by band work.

In the main workout, a range of options were available: total body workout, zone workouts or training geared toward competitive sport.

Four notes before we discuss a total body workout.

Note 1: The ancients always trained barefoot.

Training barefoot has many many benefits and is ideal for preventing many injuries.

Note 2: The ancients “lifted” 3 times a week TOPS.

Note 3: Farmer walks and rope climbing were also pretty common in their training routine.

Note 4: They “deadlifted” but since they did not deadlifted with barbells but with stones, unless you can find one i suggest not deadlifting at all.

There’s a reason why the do not allow D1 athletes to deadlift.

A total body workout inspired by the ancient Greeks would look like something like this (keep in mind though that the dumbbells which were available at the time, went up to only 20-25 pounds):

1.DB clean and presses 10-12-15-20-20-25

(this is not a mistake, that’s exactly how ancients trained shoulders)

2.Pull ups 4x6-12

3.DB Lunges 4x12-15

(Lunges and running/walking uphill were the primary leg movements of the time)

4. Bodyweight rows 3x12-15

5. DB side lateral raises (4x15-20) or side lateral isometric holds (2-3/1-2 minutes).

(The DB raises were always practices with extremely lightweight (5-10 pounds TOPS)

6. Hammer curls 3x12

7. Tricep kickbacks 3x15

As you can tell the ancient Greek didn’t give a f*ck about chest training for many reasons.

The cool-down was considered necessary for the body to return to its natural condition.

The cool down usually consisted of 3 parts.

Part 1: Breathing exercises (which looked a lot like wim hof breathing and were said to relieve the heart).

Part 2: Cleansing the body from the sand and sweat.

Part 3: A post-workout massage.

They also took various types of baths and dips in natural springs in order to soothe tired muscles.

When athletes were not training, they rested and sunbathed, as this was part of a total regime also calling for repose and sleep.

Punching bags were also used a lot of times to build endurance in athletes as well as running in the sand.

Last but not least, the ancient Greeks did not live sedentary lifestyles.

Activities such as: digging, horse riding, walking, hunting and fishing were part of their daily routines.

Fin.

0 comments

60 email test

Natural alternatives to toxic skin care and hygiene products.

This is killing your health gains.

Cellular hydration (what is it and why is it so important)

Xenoestrogens?

See all posts from Helios_Movement