Get a Gold Medal Body… c. 700BC: How to Train Like an Ancient Olympian

1 Develop an immunity to the cold

Ancient Olympians competed naked to demonstrate the power of the human body, and because ancient Greeks were generally a bit weird like that. They would also cover themselves in olive oil, for ‘sexy’, glisteny reasons.

2 Man Up

Ancient events included Pankration, a full-contact fight which basically involved beating seven bells out of your opponent in whatever way you chose. Even boxing, for a time, involved wearing hard leather straps, weighted with metal, and only finished when one man conceded or died. On the plus side, dying during a match meant an automatic win.

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3 Cool down with a walk

Greek philosopher Hippocrates believed athletes who took a post-exercise stroll would have more rested, stronger bodies.

4 Abstain from sex

Champion pentathlete Ikkos of Tarentum was said to not so much as touch any women – or boys – while in his training period.

5 Get a trainer

Your ancient equivalent of Usain Bolt would hire a sadistic coach to put him through his paces. Just qualifying for the Olympics required a 10-month period of almost round-the-clock training.

6 Get a flute CD

Greeks believed that rhythm and harmonious movement were vital for great athletes, so they’d sometimes exercise while a flautist played a little tune.

7 Stuff your face

Historical evidence suggests that contestants became massive carnivores during the games. One wrestler, Milon of Croton, apparently got through 20lb of meat per day, plus another 20lb of bread, then three pitchers of wine. The ancient Olympics were loads more fun.

8 Ignore weights

There were no weight lifting events in the ancient Olympics so building massive muscles would not necessarily serve you well in training. Agility was far more important, so do a lot of shadow boxing and use a punch bag. Even dancing was incorporated. So if you fail to win first prize you can always take your dancing, oily, naked self to a hen party and make a few quid.

From the September 2010 issue of FHM India.