As well as being the show’s Assistant Referee, Lee Phillips is also so fit that he could pass as a Gladiator himself. In fact, he is the guy who designed the show’s fitness tests. When the Gladiators and contenders were auditioning, he was the man who put them through their paces.
This means that he is the best person to help you get into shape if you want to get as ripped as a Sabre, Fury or Diamond. If you’re planning on taking down a Gladiator any time soon, here are the drills he suggests.
Hang Tough
If you’ve ever seen the video of Sabre yanking her full weight down on a contender as they cling onto the rings, you’ll know that colossal grip strength will get you further than anything here. “Pull-ups will really help you here,” says Lee. “And one way to improve your grip strength is by doing a dead hang off a pull-up bar.
“Just jump up, grab the bar and see how long you can hang there. Start off by doing four sets of thirty-second hangs with a minute break in between, and then the following week go for forty-five seconds. The event is only a minute long, but don’t forget that for some of that time a Gladiator might be wrapped around you, trying to pull you down. Grip strength is everything here.”
The Wall
The only real way to train to launch yourself up a giant climbing wall at top speed is, well, to launch yourself up a giant climbing wall at top speed. However, if you don’t have a giant climbing wall to hand, Lee has some alternative ideas. “The Wall is all about pulling strength, so again I’d recommend pull-ups on an overhead bar,” he says. “Don’t worry if you can’t do a full bodyweight pull- up yet, because you can buy resistance bands that will help take some of the weight off at first until you build up your strength. You also need good mobility, so something like yoga will help a lot with that. And don’t forget, The Wall is tall. If you’re not good with heights now, get used to them.”
Duel
Don’t be fooled. Duel might look like an event that you need enormous arms for, but the real strength you need comes from somewhere else. “The thing they don’t tell you about Duel is that the platforms wobble a lot when you’re up there,” says Lee. “This means you need to strengthen your core, ideally on some sort of unstable platform. Maybe try balancing on a half exercise ball for as long as you can, or even do some weighted exercises on one. A strong core is a must for this one, because otherwise, well ... if Giant wallops you up there, he’s going to knock you straight off.”
Powerball
There is a certain breed of Gladiator – think Fury and Apollo – who are experts at contact sports like rugby. They love Powerball because it gives them an excuse to smash into you as hard as they can. If you’re a contender, the best way to train for this is to learn how to avoid getting tackled. “This one is all about agility, and there are plenty of running drills you can do,” says Lee. “Set up a series of cones and practise running around them. This will teach you to quickly change direction at speed, which is what you need if you don’t want to get clobbered.”
Gauntlet
The Gladiators might find Gauntlet challenging, but it’s a much harder event for contenders, requiring them to pick upspeed over and over again, from a standing start, to clatter past their opponents.
“In Gauntlet, you’re facing these huge Gladiators, so you’ll just need sheer power for this one,” Lee says. “So strength training is the only thing for it. Try to build up lots of strength in your legs, and gain as much explosive power as you can, because the event doesn’t give you much of a run-up. Explosive exercises like jumps while holding weights will be brilliant for this, and will really help you barge through the Glads.”
Collision
If you’re a Gladiator, this might be the easiest event of all. All they need to do is swing on a rope and try to knock the contenders off the bridge. But as a contender, it’s much more difficult to navigate the maze of high-speed Gladiator thighs coming at you. “You’re basically running on an unstable structure here, so balance and coordination are key,’ says Lee. ‘This means more core training. But also, don’t forget that you’re allowed to push the Gladiators away as they swing at you, and for that you’ll need really good upper body strength.”
The Edge
Everyone is intimidated by The Edge, both contenders and Gladiators, so much so that Fury has even set up a special piece of equipment at home to help her train for it. You don’t need to go to those extremes, however. “Like Powerball, this one is all about speed and the ability to change direction in the blink of an eye,” says Lee. “But the main thing you need here is confidence. Even though there’s a net underneath you, you’re still really high. It’s a shock to a lot of contenders the first time they do it for real, and having a good head for heights is the only way to counter that.”
The Ring
“Just like Powerball, this is another contact event, but with one crucial difference. The Ring is all about speed and agility to get around the Gladiators as quickly as possible to get to the central ring itself,” says Lee.
But because the button is low down, you have to be good at throwing yourself down on the ground and getting back up quickly. Lee says, “There’s no better training for this than a burpee. In fact, we use burpees quite a lot when we’re testing the fitness of our contenders. They’re really good, and they’re bodyweight exercises so you don’t need any equipment either.”
If you want to have any chance beating the Gladiators, you’re going to need every skill at your disposal
The Eliminator
Now it’s time for the big finale. “This is a properly tricky one, because there’s so much involved in it,” says Lee. “The first thing, maybe even the most important thing, is to learn how to climb a rope. If you can’t do that efficiently you’re going to tire yourself out really quickly and lose a lot of time getting up it. Then there’s the overhead ladder, which is all about grip strength and upper body, and then even more upper body when you get to the cargo net and zipwire.
“One big potential stumbling block is the balance beam. You might think it looks quite easy, but remember that when the contenders are doing that they are fatigued and if they fall off they lose crucial seconds. So set a balance beam up at home, or even just draw a line on the floor, then get your heart rate up on some cardio equipment and have a go. I guarantee that you’ll find balancing a lot harder when you’re tired.
“And then it’s the big one. The Travelator is all about pure leg speed, so you’ll need to do lots of sprints. Set a treadmill to a steep incline and then do interval sprints on it, so you get used to running flat out uphill from a standing start. There are lots of different elements.”
Extract taken from Gladiators: Ready! The Official Companion Guide, out now, £20 hardback (Bloomsbury). Gladiators returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Saturday at 5.50pm.
