Gerard Butler’s Workout Routine & Diet Plan

If there has to be one Hollywood actor who went on to take the embodiment of a Greek God physique to a whole new level, that man would be Gerard Butler.

The kind of body that he sported in the 2006 action-flick 300 inspired many to take up their local gym membership.

Gerard Butler is one of those guys who loves to stay in shape. Through this post, we will be throwing light on Gerard Butler’s workout routine and diet plan.

You can learn a lot from it and can even start working towards building your warrior-like physique. Let’s get started.

Gerard Butler’s Workout Principles

The physique that Butler sported in 300 was built by following a well-structured workout program. It primarily comprised functional training, Olympic lifts as well as metabolic body movements.

All these collectively contributed towards promoting muscle building, cardiovascular conditioning, and enhancing his overall athleticism.

To portray King Leonidas on-screen, Butler had to acquire the body of a warrior. It needed to be lean, muscular, and athletic. For that purpose, he followed a 4 months long training program.

But his workout program was not just focused on enhancing his physical capabilities. It also required a decent amount of mental fortitude to go through the intense training sessions of his workout routine.

Gerard Butler’s Workout Routine

Butler trained under the supervision of Mark Twight. He is the same guy who made Henry Cavill attain his Superman physique. He made Butler go through intense training regimes in order to bring out his very best. And that was evident from Gerard’s ripped physique in 300.

Gerard Butler’s workout routine for 300 consisted of many boot camp sessions. In those sessions, he relied on numerous unconventional exercises. Some of them included performing sprints tied to a bungee cord, flipping tires, and many more. These exercises subjected his muscles to the shock that was needed to promote strength and size gains.

Bodyweight exercises were a crucial part of Gerard Butler’s training routine when he was building his Spartan physique. He still includes some of them in his exercise routine and swears by their effectiveness.

Performing bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, bodyweight squat jumps, bodyweight rows, etc. not only train your major muscle groups like back, chest, shoulders, and legs but also target your core muscles to a great extent. This in turn enhances the overall athleticism of your physique.

In the movie 300, Butler was not only required to look muscular but he was also required to have decent strength levels that made him appear like a dominating force in the battle of Thermopylae.

Olympic weightlifting movements like the clean and press, one-arm snatches, and the double unders were incorporated into his exercise routine for that purpose.

Gerard Butler’s workout routine also had a fair share of functional training. It enabled him to enhance the agility and flexibility of his physique which further assisted him significantly in executing the fight sequences with ease.

To avoid the implications of overtraining, Gerard Butler’s training routine also had days that were reserved for rest and recovery.

Monday- Arms

• Pull-Ups- 25 reps
• Deadlifts- 50 reps
• Box Jumps- 50 reps
• Push-Ups- 50 reps
• Clean and Press- 50 reps
• Floor Wipers- 50 reps
• Pull-Ups- 25 reps

Tuesday- Cardio, Legs, and Squats

• One-Arm Snatches- 25 reps
• Back Squats- 50 reps
• Double Unders- 50 reps
• Push-Ups- 50 reps
• Sit-Ups- 50 reps
• Clean and Press- 50 reps
• One-Arm Snatches- 25 reps

Wednesday- Cardio

• Pullups- 25 reps
• Push-Ups- 50 reps
• Dumbbell Deadlift- 50 reps
• V-Ups- 50 reps
• Dumbbell Push Press- 50 reps
• Bodyweight Squat Jumps- 50 reps
• Pull-Ups- 25 reps

Thursday- Circuits

• Bodyweight Squats- 25 reps
• Bodyweight Rows- 15 reps
• Push-Ups- 15 reps
• Mountain Climbers- 20 reps
• Jumping Jacks- 50 reps
• Close Grip Push-Ups- 10 reps
• Bodyweight Rows- 15 reps

Friday, Saturday & Sunday- Rest

While prepping up for 300, the workout plan of Gerard and other cast members didn’t include a lot of cardio. This was because the element of functional training in their workout routine kept their heart rates up and fetched them with benefits that come with cardio training.

However, at times Butler with his other Spartans used to perform the following “Triathlon” routine:-

• 500m SkiErg
• 500 cal AirDyne
• 500m Rowing

Apart from their regular weight training sessions, Gerard and the other cast of 300 also had to go through fight preparations and weapons training. To serve that purpose, their training program comprised compound movements, lifting, and throwing which were performed with the use of medicine balls, rings, and kettlebells instead of machines.

To carve out his perfect physique to play King Leonidas of Sparta, Butler even incorporated the visualization technique. He often used to visualize the kind of body he wanted to acquire. This approach kept him inspired and he even went on to attain the physique that he aspired to have.

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Gerard Butler’s Diet Plan

To look like a Spartan king, Gerard had to eat like one. Gerard along with his other Spartans was given a diet plan which fetched their body barely enough nutrients to promote recovery. This allowed them to look muscular and ripped. They all followed a Mediterranean diet plan which resembled the way Spartans ate.

Gerard Butler’s diet plan had a high protein content which enabled him to pack on lean muscle tissue on his frame. Along with that his diet plan also had low-medium carbs and fat content.

Gerard used to have 1.2 grams of protein per pound of his body weight per day. His meal plan consisted of eating smaller meals at regular intervals. This approach enabled his body to facilitate muscle recovery along with fetching it with basic nutrients. He consumed carbs in the morning and chicken and vegetables as dinner.

Clean eating was the bottom line of Gerard Butler’s diet plan. This is pretty evident from his ripped washboard abs that he showed in almost every scene of 300. To make sure he eats clean and healthy, he relied on food items like cottage cheese, lean chicken breast, eggs, oatmeal, brown rice, veggies, nuts, avocados, fruits, and protein shakes.

To maintain his muscular physique, Gerard consumes 4-5 meals a day. This number varies as per his fitness goals.

Meal 1- Breakfast

• Avocado
• Cottage Cheese
• Protein Shake

Meal 2- Lunch

• Wild rice
• Chicken
• olives

Meal 3- Snack

• Apple
• Protein Shake

Meal 4- Dinner

• Brown Rice
• Fish
• Vegetables
• Figs

To keep his body adequately hydrated, Gerard Butler drinks plenty of water throughout the day. During the entire filming of 300, Gerard kept himself away from consuming junk and fried foods, processed foods, alcohol, additives, artificial ingredients, and refined sugar.

Gerard Butler’s Supplements

Gerard Butler’s physique in 300 exuded perfection in every sense. It was lean, muscular, and ripped. Along with that it also exhibited a great deal of athleticism. For that purpose, Gerard’s nutrition plan was to be on point. And being a dedicated actor, he made sure to stick to it.

Even though Gerard Butler’s diet plan was already filled with many nutrients, he also incorporated the use of a few supplements. Gerard Butler’s supplements stack included the following:-

• Whey Protein
• BCAA
• Vitamins

Supplements like whey protein and BCAA, being rich in their amino acids profile aid in promoting muscle gains. On the other hand, multivitamins fetch the body nutrients like vitamin A, B12, C, D, E, phosphorus, and manganese. They also help in maintaining bone strength.

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Final Thoughts

So that was all about Gerard Butler’s workout routine and diet plan. We are sure that you must be inspired by it to start working towards attaining your warrior physique.

Well, you can certainly do so, but do consider your training experience beforehand. Building a muscular and ripped physique is not a one-day job. It requires both time and effort. If you are an absolute beginner, start slow and gradually work your way up.

So give it a shot and start earning your Spartan physique.