Manu Bennett's Spartacus Workout

You may not know the name, but if you've ever seen the Starz series Sparacus, you'd know the muscles of Manu Bennett.

He played the mighty Crixus, champion of Capua!

To stay alive in the arena long enough to be crowned champion you need one heck of a body!

Luckily, Men's Health has his total-body circuit:

Warm-up: punching work

“This will get your breathing going and your feet moving,” says Manu Bennett.” If you’re training with a partner, begin by punching focus pads. If you’re training on your own, work on a punchbag. Throw combinations of punches for two minutes, then rest for 30 seconds. That’s one round. Do three.

Sets: 1 (2-minute rounds)

Crab walk

Push down with your heels and hands and ‘walk’, feet-first, towards the opposite wall or a marker 10m away, then return to the start. That’s one lap. Do four. Then do it, so you’re ‘walking’ backwards (head first). Do another four laps. “You’ll feel the burn pretty much everywhere,” says Bennett.

Sets: 2
Reps: 4

Inverted crab walk

Now kneel on all fours and raise yourself into a crawling position with just your hands and feet touching the floor. As before, ‘walk’ head-first 10m and back. That’s one lap. Do four. Then reverse it, ‘walking’ feet-first. Do four laps. “This tests your hands and wrists, core and lower back,” says Bennett.

Sets: 2
Reps: 4

Step-throughs

Assume the inverted crab position that caused such pain in the last exercise. Lift your right hand off the floor, then put your left foot in its space. Now stand up. That’s one rep. Do ten. Then reverse the process. Feels like playing Twister? Your thighs, shoulders and obliques will soon be screaming.

Sets: 2
Reps: 10

Punching work

Get back on the boxing bag and do more punching combinations as in the warm-up. This time, though, add kicks to increase the effort required. Do three more two-minute rounds, resting for 30 seconds between each one. If you have no punchbag, shadow box. But be sure to give your shadow one hell of a hiding.

Sets: 4 (2-minute rounds)

Power-bag burpees

Get a 10kg power-bag with two handles on it. Grab one handle in each hand, in a squat-thrust position with your knees tucked in to your chest. Perform one squat-thrust, then stand up and push the power bag above your head, before returning to the start position. That’s one rep. Do three sets of 10.

Sets: 3
Reps: 10

If that workout didn't somehow beat the heck out of you and you want more… you're in luck!

You can check out his ab workout HERE to get the sculpted abs of a gladiator.

Want more movie star workouts?? Check out Paul Walker's Fast & Furious workout to get active and have some fun while working your way to fitness!!

[Image via Starz.]

Tags: body, boxing, champion, gladiator, health, manu bennett, men, muscles, series, spartacus, star, training, work, workout