Gerard Butler is a Hollywood actor who is well known for his role of King Leonidas in the hit blockbuster movie 300, which was based on an event occurring millennia ago in Ancient Greece. 300 is an action filled movie, thus calling for a certain level of fitness in all actors. As the ancient Greeks at the time were also known for living very active lifestyles, it is a given, therefore, that the actors in the movie would need some renovation to their own lifestyles before shooting the movie. This article will illuminate how Gerard Butler, the lead actor in the movie, trained to successfully portray King Leonidas of Sparta.

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Did He Have a Specific Routine To Follow?

Gerard Butler had a specific workout and diet routine that he had to follow in order to become physically fit and in top shape for filming the movie 300. It is now known as the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine. Besides the obvious details that were edited for the individual actor, the basics of this workout routine were used by everyone in the movie cast. It helped them all to get into shape and be fighting fit for the action scenes.

What Did His Routine Consist Of?

The Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine had several main parts. One was the obvious workout exercises, which were mainly those of the heavy and muscle building kind. As such, his diet was also affected, being altered and adjusted to fit the needs that the heavy duty workout required from him. All significant changes to the King Leonidas actor’s lifestyle occurred about four months prior to the filming of 300, wherein he started training, with the exercise regimen lasting five to six days every week.

What Types of Exercises Did He Do For the Role of King Leonidas in the Movie 300?

To help him with his Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine as well as using his own personal trainer, the 300 actor enlisted the aid of a mountaineering trainer, namely Mark Twight, who gave him invaluable advice with his training. Whereas most standard Hollywood exercise routines consist of workouts that train only a certain number of muscles at a time, Gerard Butler was advised to undergo a series of training regimens that almost literally beat his body senseless.

The basic types of exercises that the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine consists of are wide and varied, thanks to the complicated role of being King Leonidas in the movie. The actor had to perform the various types of training as follows:

Weight Training

For the role of the Spartan king in the movie 300, Gerard Butler had to get his body into fighting shape. This meant building some serious muscles on his frame. Such body building requires hard training, including the lifting of heavy weights.

Circuit Training

A harsher and faster form of aerobic workout, circuit training is one of the major parts of the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine. Not only did it help the 300 movie star cope with his already strenuous workout schedule, it also helped him in making sure that his muscles were well rested and trained in ways that were not solely limited to lifting weights.

Weapon Training

King Leonidas was a Spartan king who was well versed in the art of war and weaponry. To be able to play such a character, Gerard Butler needed to become knowledgeable in using weapons that the Spartan king would have used. Therefore, on top of his normal workouts and extra training, he had to spend several hours a day learning how to use swords, spears and shields properly.

Fight Choreography

The movie had major fight scenes in it, including the tragic yet awe-inspiring battle at the end. As such, each actor in the fighting scenes needed to know what they were doing before the filming. Choreography for each battle scene was given to the actors, Gerard Butler included, which was put on top of the already heavy workout routine schedules that were in the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine. Nevertheless, it helped give them the discipline and grace in moving that other trainings were unable to teach them.

A main factor in the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet exercise routine is that the actor of 300 trained in various ways and with different exercises, yet none of them involved using sophisticated machines or equipment. The people who had developed the routine, as well as Gerard Butler himself, felt that in order to look like the warrior king Leonidas, one had to train like one. This included doing exercises like flipping tires and other heavy objects, doing pull ups and lifting heavy weights.

He had to do all this in four months time, which makes the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine one of the hardest around. However, the actor’s steady perseverance and dedication to his role of King Leonidas really paid off, as is evident in his outstanding physique in 300. Even during the filming of the movie, Gerard Butler was doing some weight lifting in between shootings to buff up his muscles.

What Was the Diet That He Had To Follow With His Workout?

In the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet routine, the actor of King Leonidas had to put on a lot of heavy and powerful muscles to truly befit his role as an ancient monarch. His diet helped greatly with this.

One of the main factors in Gerard Butler’s diet was that he had to eat every two or three hours, keeping the body metabolism going at high speed and allowing effective addition of muscles on his body. Ingredients in the diet were also chosen carefully. Some of the complex carbohydrates that the King Leonidas actor had to take include multigrain pasta, brown rice and whole grain bread.

Every meal plan also had to contain good amounts of protein, which would help increase the rate of healthy muscle growth. Other nutrients were gotten by eating plenty of green vegetables and other healthy nutrient sources, such as fruits, nuts and even natural peanut butter.

While the Official Gerard Butler Workout and Diet has no mention of exactly how many calories the actor had to take during his workouts, it is natural that he had to take more than normal. The idea of the diet was to make sure that he put on lean, strong muscles while burning excess fat.

By Daniel

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