https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210804-how-to-train-like-an-ancient-greek-olympian * Homepage Accessibility links * Skip to content * Accessibility Help BBC Account Notifications * Home * News * Sport * Weather * iPlayer * Sounds * CBBC * CBeebies * Food * Bitesize * Arts * Taster * Local * Three * Menu Search Search the BBC[ ]Search the BBC Menu Loading History How to train like an Ancient Greek Olympian Share using Email Share on Twitter Share on FacebookShare on Linkedin (Image credit: Getty Images) The Ancient Greeks may not have matched modern athletic pace, but they trained hard (Credit: Getty Images) By Richard Fisher6th August 2021 Whether it was reading philosophy, carrying heavy animals or abstaining from sex, the Ancient Greek athlete put in just as much effort as a present-day Olympian. Here's the 10-step guide to Hellenic fitness training. L Legend has it that the Ancient Greek athlete Milo of Croton was so strong he could break a cord tied around his head with only the force of his brow. In the 6th Century BC, he gained fame as a formidable wrestler, winning six times at the Olympic Games. He supposedly had complete control of his muscles, tensing or relaxing them according to his opponent's moves. How did he get so strong? The stories say he deployed an unusual method. With no protein shakes or dumbbells available, he trained by lifting a male calf. As the animal grew, he repeated the lift until it was the size of a bull. He supposedly then carried it on his shoulders around Olympia, before slaughtering and eating it. Given that a fully-grown adult bull can weigh between 500 to 1,000kg (1,100 to 2,200lb), there is surely some exaggeration in this tale. Croton's feat would have exceeded the heaviest deadlift on record. But what's interesting about the story is that his technique echoes a modern principle of training called "progressive overload", where weight is gradually added over time to build muscle. So, how did other ancient athletes train? The first fighters and runners of the Olympic Games had only rudimentary technology and scant physiological knowledge, but their methods were more sophisticated than many might assume. You may also like: * What if Olympic athletes went back to competing naked? * The surprising source of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals * The strange 19th-Century sport that was cooler than football The first Panhellic contest, the Olympics, dates to 776BC. It began with foot-races, but later the Ancient Greeks added jumping, boxing, wrestling, and the now-forgotten brutal fighting technique pankration , whose modern equivalent might be Ultimate Fighting. It often ended with mutilation or even death. A pot from the tomb of a great athlete depicts a fighting scene. Could the distended bellies represent the breathing technique used? (Credit: Getty Images) A pot from the tomb of a great athlete depicts a fighting scene. Could the distended bellies represent the breathing technique used? (Credit: Getty Images) Historians have had to piece together how competitors prepared for these events from very few sources, says Clayton Lehmann of the University of South Dakota, who has studied the athletic training of the period. "We have to use very scattered literary texts," he explains, as well as more indirect approaches. "Pot paintings are really useful, because they give rather vivid images of how training and competition took place." One of the only specific sources about athletic training is called Gymnasticus, written by the philosopher Philostratus the Athenian around the 2nd Century AD. Philostratus didn't go into that much detail about everyday methods - mainly writing about sport as a noble endeavour - but occasionally he remarks on how some athletes would do curious things like chase animals, bend bars of iron or swim fully armoured in the ocean. Based on this and other sources, here's what else we know about how to train like an Ancient Greek athlete: BUILD STRENGTH WITH ROCKS, PANTRY INGREDIENTS AND ANIMALS Milo the wrestler's bull-lifting wasn't the only way to bulk up. Other tricks included holding four horses at the same time, resisting the effort of someone's push, or gripping their fists closed. Fighters also pulled, punched and chest-bumped filled bags: the weaker athletes used flour and fig seeds, while the stronger ones used sand. Wrestlers threw the discus, which were much heavier back then, and lifted weighted rocks with handles. On Thera, a black volcanic stone taller than most men and weighing 480kg (1,060lb) was discovered with an inscription naming the strongman wrestler who lifted it off the ground. A smaller stone called a haltere used to propel athletes in jumping and for weight training (Credit: Egisto Sani/Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA 2.0) A smaller stone called a haltere used to propel athletes in jumping and for weight training (Credit: Egisto Sani/Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA 2.0) EXPAND THE MIND Athletes trained in gymnasia and outdoor palaestra, but unlike the present day, these settings also featured libraries and lecture halls. The Ancient Greeks believed it was the duty of citizens to perfect mind and body together. Athletic activity was seen as another form of wisdom (sophia), comparable to the creative arts, philosophy, mathematics or astronomy, so it made sense that exercising the brain and muscles was performed in the same place. A number of the dialogues by great philosophers were set in a gymnasium, says Lehmann, and these forums helped to foster the more open form of democracy that would later emerge in places like Athens (albeit only among male elites). "The Romans would do their chatting in the bath," he says. "The Greek equivalents were the gymnasia and palaestra." USE OIL LIBERALLY Trainers were called paidotribes - which stems from the roots "boy" and "to rub", which suggest that their main focus was sports massage with oil. Wrestlers also coated themselves in oil in their training and competition. They would then throw sand over their skin, to enhance grip. Afterwards, they'd scrape it all off with a strigil, a semi-circle shaped tool made of wood, bronze or iron. "The scrapings from famous athletes were a prized possession," says Lehmann. "They would sell it to the public: a bottle of sweat and sand." A strigil, which was used for cleaning off sand, sweat and mud (Credit: Getty Images) A strigil, which was used for cleaning off sand, sweat and mud (Credit: Getty Images) BUILD MENTAL STRENGTH In an echo of modern concerns about overpaid, lazy athletes, Philostratus lamented what he saw as the decline of athletic tradition in the Greek world, labelling sportsmen of his time "sluggish and soft" compared with centuries prior. He blamed the decoupling of athletics from warfare, a rise in monetary greed and the availability of luxurious foods. As such, Philostratus prescribed what he saw as the ideal mental temperament for the aspiring athlete, and how to foster it. He advised that choleric, irritable sportsmen needed restraint, says Lehmann, whereas phlegmatic, calm athletes need urging on. As for melancholics? The philosopher deemed them totally unsuitable. ABSTAIN FROM SEX Abstinence was actively encouraged. Philostratus saw sex as a "disgraceful pleasure" and a "corrupting form of luxury inappropriate for and harmful to athletes. He even lumps it with greed as a source of cheating and corruption among athletes," writes Heather Reid of Morningside University, who has studied the relationship between ancient sport and philosophy. To avoid distraction, one pankration champion turned his head when he saw dogs copulating on the street There's some evidence that athletes deliberately avoided sexual temptation. Apparently, one pankration champion "turned his head when he saw dogs copulating on the street, and left banquets when men started to speak of sex, so as to maintain his inner strength and concentration", writes Lucas Christopoulous of Hiroshima University in a paper about Greek combat sports. Women were prohibited from male training or competition arenas, although there is the story of Callipateira, a mother who snuck in to watch her son compete in a boxing match. She was so excited at his victory that she revealed who she was. Fortunately for her, she was pardoned, but only because her father, brother and son were Olympic victors. That said, there is some evidence of women playing sport. As the historian Betty Spears of the University of Massachusetts once pointed out, a vase painting from the 6th Century BC shows a woman called Atalanta wrestling with men, a statuette from around 500BC shows a young girl running, and some elite women competed in chariot races, such as the Spartans Euryleonis and Cynisca, the first woman to win at the Olympics in 392BC. There are also rare accounts of girls' physical training in foot-races, discus, javelin and wrestling, which one philosopher explained was important "so that the fruit of their wombs might have vigorous root in vigorous bodies". BREATHE DEEP, FIGHT DIRTY The Ancient Greeks knew what it took to grow stronger, but their ideas about the body's physiology were a little mystical. They believed in harnessing an ethereal substance called pneuma, a bit like the Chinese chi. This involved suspending and holding the breath, tensing all the muscles of the breast and relaxing the stomach and diaphragm, therefore "pushing the excrements" down, according to Christopoulous. Using this pneuma technique, one boxer supposedly used his outstretched fingers to hit his opponent's abdomen so hard that it pierced the flesh, and tore out his entrails. Another was known as "Fingertips" because he would break his opponent's fingers at the start of a match. But no breathing technique could save one pankration athlete who died at the Olympics of 564BC. His trainer supposedly shouted "Never defeated at Olympia!" as his opponent tightened a grip around his neck. He won the contest, but then dropped dead from asphyxiation. Fighting techniques were brutal and could leave competitors disfigured (Credit: Getty Images) Fighting techniques were brutal and could leave competitors disfigured (Credit: Getty Images) FOLLOW THE TETRAD The tetrad was a popular system that shared commonalities with modern techniques that alternate hard workouts with rest. It roughly involved a day of short-intense movements, a day of all-out effort, a day of relaxation and a day of moderate exercise, says Lehmann. However, it wasn't universally embraced. Some criticised it for its inflexibility and one athlete died after his trainer forced him to resume following a two-day break. What's interesting is that it suggests the Greeks had an idea of the "supercompensation principle", the modern idea that the body is best prepared for optimum performance within a window a few days after exertion and rest. CLIMB A TREE, FIGHT A WAR Outside the gymnasium, some athletes used their physical surroundings to train. Philostratus wrote about the techniques of climbing trees and ropes, or pulling carts. Some ran on soft or firm sand to prepare their legs. One boxer from Thanos apparently swam around his island birthplace, a distance of 50km (31 miles), while another was famous for carrying a bronze statue from the temple back to his house when he was only nine years old, according to Christopoulous. However, Milo took it far, and supposedly died pulling a tree trunk apart with his bare hands. He got stuck in a crevice, and was later devoured by either wolves or a lion, depending on which apocryphal tale you encounter. Joseph-Benoit Suvee's painting of the death of Milo of Croton, with his hand stuck in a tree trunk (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) Joseph-Benoit Suvee's painting of the death of Milo of Croton, with his hand stuck in a tree trunk (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) Athletics was also seen as preparation for the physical tests of the battlefield, and vice versa. As one renowned philosopher put it: "No citizen has any right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training: it is part of his profession as a citizen to keep himself in good condition, ready to serve his state at a moment's notice. The instinct of self-preservation demands it likewise: for how helpless is the state of the ill-trained youth in war or danger!" FOLLOW FADDY DIETS Before he himself was eaten, Milo of Croton supposedly consumed 8kg (17.6lb) of meat a day. But otherwise there was no consistent advice for what athletes should eat across the centuries. At first, the sportsman's diet was vegetarian and consisted of figs, fresh cheese, pasta and barley, according to Christopoulous, but by the 5th Century BC, beef and pork was more widely eaten. The Ancient Greeks focused on balancing the four humours: blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm Trainers experimented with various fads, including cheese-heavy and meat-heavy diets. "Sometimes it would be heavy on protein and sometimes it would be heavy on carbohydrates," says Lehmann. Eat fish, or don't eat fish. White bread or coarse bread. "It's all over the place. I'm sure they had theories for all these things but the science of diet wasn't anything like what it is today." Instead, the Ancient Greeks focused on balancing the four humours: blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. But one piece of advice was (and still is) reliable. Lehmann quotes the philosopher who gave the timeless wisdom: "If you want to win at the Olympics, follow the rules and do not eat dessert." EVOKE VIRTUE Known for their strength or prowess, many Ancient Greek athletes were widely admired stars. But as well their victories, their fame also came from the ideals they espoused, according to Reid. "The ethos of modern athletics, aided by the easy electronic measurement of heart rate, oxygen uptake, watt production, and other performance metrics promotes the pernicious idea that the goal of sport is just the perpetual improvement of those numbers," Reid writes. But she argues that the Greeks knew that a star athlete could represent more, becoming an embodiment of virtue. This was called kalokagathia: an attribute that combined beauty and goodness. "Although sport has changed since ancient times, what is good and beautiful about athletes remains the same. It is not the money, or esteem, or even victory that is good - it is the ideal." Sport was therefore not just about entertainment or fitness, it was about aspiration and what it meant to be Greek. As one philosopher put it: "What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body his capable! To develop his beauty and his strength to the utmost is the duty of a citizen." So, the next time you go to the gym or do some exercise, always remember to be virtuous, try to read some geometry or astronomy, and lift the closest large animal you have to hand. * Richard Fisher is a senior journalist for BBC Future. Twitter: @rifish. -- Join one million Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter or Instagram. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "The Essential List". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. Share using Email Share on Twitter Share on FacebookShare on Linkedin Share Around the BBC Explore the BBC * Home * News * Sport * Weather * iPlayer * Sounds * CBBC * CBeebies * Food * Bitesize * Arts * Taster * Local * Three * Terms of Use * About the BBC * Privacy Policy * Cookies * Accessibility Help * Parental Guidance * Contact the BBC * Get Personalised Newsletters Copyright (c) 2021 BBC. 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