Yes, I know it’s my first post and I’m starting with something that may make me very unpopular amongst many fitness enthusiasts whom are in love with the idea of training like a Spartan Warrior. This style of training spread like wild fire after the movie 300 debuted back in March 2007 and was also made widely popular by the website gymjones.com. Gym Jones also happens to be the gym in which the actors and stuntmen for the movie trained at to obtain that strong athletic physique seen in the movie. If you’re not familiar with the workouts they used, they were very intense and didn’t consist of your traditional strength training exercises and rep schemes. Lots of sled pulls, tire flips, jumping, bounding, and high intensity “functional” movements were used. So basically they were trained for war in much the same way an actual Spartan Warrior might have been trained.

Sounds great! If I want to look like a Spartan Warrior I should train like one right?

What the average trainer or fitness enthusiast fails to consider is that these men, Spartan Warriors, actors, and stuntmen did this as their job. The only thing they were concerned with during the months of their training was being in top physical shape. Prepared for battle. Do you think that back in the day, the men in the Spartan army did office work from 9 to 5 and then did their training after business hours and on the weekends?

So what is my problem with training like this? Well do you think this kind of “fitness program” respects the central nervous system of your every day gym goer? Now don’t get me wrong, some gym goers and fitness enthusiasts may be able to handle this type of work, I’m sure it’s even optimal for some. But I’m talking about the larger population.

Your normal business man/women have their work day which includes many ups and downs. Your body has a very primitive system when it comes to dealing with stress. When your nervous system starts to respond to a stress, the fact of the matter is, it doesn’t know exactly what kind of stress its dealing with. For all your body knows it could be running from a lion, training for war, or just sweating over a project that’s due later that evening.

So what is happening on the inside when we are in a stressed state? Your heart rate is elevated. Blood flow is shunted from your digestive organs so that it can more readily supply skeletal muscle. Your adrenal glands produce cortisol. Your body is primed and ready to move regardless of whether or not you need it to be. With all of the stressors that go on in the work place regardless of whether or not you notice, your nervous system has basically been pushed to its limits. Is it really a good idea to push it even further that day by going to the gym and training in a manner that leaves you floored?

I have nothing against Gym Jones, I think they are great and inspirational. All I’m saying is that your nervous system has a lot on its plate during the day whether its preparing for war or trying to manage work at the office. When it comes to creating a workout program for yourself or others don’t disrespect the nervous system.