Fantasy Workout: Ganymede Training

Here is one sample of our fantasy workout. This time the training takes us to the legend of Ganymede: who according to an ancient greek legend was the cup-bearer for Zeus, chosen for his beauty. But how would one train a good cup bearer, who must endure long waits at the table, heavy jars and trays and during all that, keep the company entertained. This is our take of the training of Ganymede. It is one of the hardest trainings that we have come up with and we are certainly glad to put our boys through the challenge.

In the workout, the trainee plays a role of Ganymede, as he is going through the different parts of the routine. The parts are divided according to the skills that the boy servant needed to polish to please his master. To stay true to the historic tradition, the trainee performs this workout in loincloth.

Part 1 – Warm-up. The training includes 5 minutes of classic posing, stretching and flexing to get the muscles nicely warmed up for the training that is to follow.

Part 2 – Standing. We assume that in his service ganymede has to do a lot of standing, carrying the jug of wine. In our exercise 5 later water canisters stand for wine jugs and in the first part the trainee must stand, carrying them in increasingly difficult positions: standing, canisters above his head; standing canisters above his head while on tiptoes; kneeling, canisters spread in both arms. The exercises are hard, but the trainee is not forgiven any mistake: any deviation will be punished by extra push-ups, to be performed immediately.

Part 3 – Strength. Carrying wine, serving the guests requires a lot of strength so we designed a series of exercises that prepare the boy to serve the wine to the guests. The trainee has to bend, pick-up, squat, kneel, press, thrust and extend the canisters every which way. His movements must be quick as nobody wants to wait, gracious and careful. The water canisters are filled to the top, but they are open. If the trainee during his exercises spills even one drop, he is to be punished with extra push-ups.

Part 4 – Serving. In this part the exercises are to polish the skills of serving the water. The boy must carry the canisters, hold them up and move in ways that we expect the imaginary guests would like to have their wine. Not to spill a drop is crucial in this part of the training or else the punishment will follow immediately!

Part 5 – Entertainment. The Ganymede is not only merely a servant, he is there to entertain. So we have designed a few exercises that are entertaining to watch: twists, Russian twists, bridge, lunge and many other exercises that are not particularly practical but offer great entertainment. Again, the boy is expected not to spill a drop, but the punishment is not push-ups, it is Shiko-Dachi pose – an entertainment in itself!

Part 6 – Punishment. Although the trainee is punished along the way as he goes through his exercise routine, we decided to reserve an extra part for final punishments – for any deviation in form, failure to obey the wishes and requests of the trainer Sounds unfair? Maybe, but it sure makes for a great exercise!

Here are some of the sample photos of our boys going through the “Ganymede Training”