The Odysseus Workout is the third in our series of Legendary Hero Workouts. Functional and Bodyweight Circuits inspired by ancient legends. Be brutal to yourself and get noticed by the Gods!
Click the link below to skip the introduction and go straight to the workout!
📖 The Long Road Home
Odysseus was no demigod, no unstoppable strongman — just a man with a sharp mind, iron will, and a refusal to quit. Known as the King of Ithaca, he was a strategist and warrior who helped bring down Troy with his most infamous creation — the Trojan Horse. But his greatest test came not on the battlefield, but on the long, punishing journey home.
After the war, the gods turned against him. For ten years he fought not just monsters and storms, but despair, isolation, and loss. Every step tested his endurance, his cunning, and his will to return to the life he’d left behind.
Odysseus faces numerous obstacles on his journey home from the Trojan War. These include encounters with man-eating cyclops (left), a sorceress that turns his men into pigs (right), sirens, and the wrath of vengeful gods like Poseidon. All of which prolong his voyage and test his resilience and cunning.
This workout channels that same relentless drive. You’ll need endurance, resilience, and mental grit — because strength alone won’t see you through. Each circuit represents a trial, a test of how far you can go when everything’s trying to drag you under.
Odysseus proved that survival isn’t just about power — it’s about persistence, adaptability, and refusing to bow to fate.
We hope you enjoy the workout. Here you will face your own monsters.
🏹 The Odyssey Circuit
The Odysseus Workout blends strength, cardio, and functional movement to build total-body power while testing mental resilience. Expect a demanding mix of explosive lifts, high-intensity conditioning, and dynamic mobility work designed to push your endurance and sharpen your coordination. The circuits combine animal-style movements, compound strength drills, and timed challenges that force you to balance speed with control. They drive your heart rate up, burn calories fast, and test both your grit and discipline. Each circuit hones agility, coordination, and adaptability — the same skills that saw Odysseus outwit monsters and men alike.
⚙️ 🔩 Breakdown:
- 8 x stations. Each exercise has a set number of reps and a time limit.
- 4 x rounds.
- You are aiming to finish the assigned reps of each station within the allotted time. If you succeed in this there are benefits, if you fail in this there are penalties.
- Odysseus’s Cunning: If you succeed in completing the assigned reps of a station within the allotted time span for three rounds, there is a reward. You get an opportunity to us ‘Odysseus’s Cunning’ (Highlighted as ‘OC’) on the fourth (final) round of that exercise. This allows you to make something a bit easier on the last round.
- If you manage to succeed and complete ALL reps and sets within the time limits you will undertake ‘The Battle of Ithaca’ (below) circuit for a finisher.
- Penalties: If you fail to complete the allotted reps for any station more than three times, you will face ‘Poseidon’s Wrath’ (below) as your finisher as opposed to the Battle of Ithaca.
🏋️♂️ Weight used:
- These are HIIT circuits aiming at the perfect balance of training for strength and endurance. For these exercises aim at 70-80% of your 1 rpm for each exercise.
Warmup
Main Circuit
The Stations: 4 x rounds
- Single KB swing or Single KB thruster – 20 swings or 15 thrusters in 45 seconds. (OC – 15 swings or 10 thrusters).
- Assault bike/cardio. 20 calories in 1 minute. (OC – 10 calories).
- Animal Walk: Choose an animal movement x 10 ms – 45 seconds. Bear crawl. Lizard walks. Crab walks. Duck Walks. Gorilla walks. (OC – Choose your own animal. No time challenge, 45 second walk.)
- Deadlift x 12 – x 45 seconds. (OC – No time limit).
- Push ups: 10 seconds with 5 seconds plank hold. 25 push ups in 1 minute. (OC – 15 push ups).
- Battle ropes or choice of six DB exercises (see below). Must complete 20 fast alternating waves and 20 slams in 45 seconds. DB exercises x 15 reps in 45 seconds. (OC – 15 of each battlerope exercise, no time limit. DB exercises – no time limit).
- Tire Push x 25 metres (27 yards). Tire Flip x 10 reps. Tire carry x 25 metres (27 yards). 90 seconds. (OC – No time limit).
- Undertake 1 minute x jump squats. Immediately undertake weighted wall-sits x 1 minute. (OC – Can stop the clock on the wall-sits for a quick break).
🏹 The Battle of Ithaca Circuit
Bodyweight circuit 10 mins AMRAP.
- Close grip inverted row: x 10 reps.
- Shoulder push up: x 10 reps.
- V-ups: x 10 reps.
- Deep squat: x 10 reps.
- Archer pull up: x 10 reps.
- Archer push up: x 10 reps.
- Shrimp squats: x 10 reps.
- Hanging knee ups: x 10 reps.
- Triceps push up: x 10 reps.
- Cossack squats: x 10 reps.
🔱🌊 Poseidon’s Wrath Circuit
12 mins EMOM x 2 rounds.
- Dumbbell Thrusters: 10-15 reps.
- Box jump step overs: 10-15 reps.
- Barbell Push Press: 10-15 reps.
- Butterfly sit ups: 10-15 reps.
- Weighted leg Raises: 10-15 reps.
- Sprints: 6x 25 metres (27 yards) dash.
Whichever workout you undertake. Remember to cool down, stretch and drink water!
Workout Complete!
After many years at sea, at the mercy of Poseidon, facing countless trials and tribulations, Odysseus finally makes it home to Ithaca.
📜 Appendices: Beginners Guide to the Odyssey
If you’ve ever wondered what became of the heroes after Troy, Odysseus gives the answer. His story — The Odyssey — is not about victory, but survival. Cursed by the gods and tested beyond reason, he fought monsters, storms, and temptation itself for ten long years, driven by a single goal: to make it home.
What follows is a quick guide through his journey — the gods, the trials, and the lessons that still resonate for anyone who refuses to give up.
Click on the links below for more on Odysseus encounters as he returns home.
🌸 The Lotus Eaters
Odysseus and his men land among the Lotus Eaters, a peaceful people who live on the intoxicating lotus plant. Those who eat it lose all memory and desire to return home. Odysseus must drag his men back to the ships by force, proving that the greatest danger can sometimes come from comfort itself.
👁️ Polyphemus the Cyclops
Trapped in the cave of Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant, Odysseus watches several of his men devoured alive. He blinds the Cyclops with a burning stake and escapes beneath the bellies of sheep. His cunning saves them — but his pride in taunting the wounded creature brings the wrath of Poseidon, Polyphemus’ father.
🌬️ Aeolus, Keeper of the Winds
The wind god Aeolus grants Odysseus a bag containing all the world’s winds to speed his voyage home. But curiosity and mistrust doom the crew: they open the bag, unleashing a storm that drives them hopelessly off course once more.
🪄 🐷 Circe the Sorceress
On the island of Aeaea, the enchantress Circe turns Odysseus’s men into pigs. With help from Hermes, he resists her magic and forces her to restore them. She later becomes his ally and lover, aiding him on his voyage after a year of rest and recovery.
💀 The Land of the Dead
Seeking guidance, Odysseus sails to the Underworld to consult the blind prophet Tiresias. There, he meets the shades of fallen comrades — and his own mother. The journey forces him to confront loss, mortality, and the cost of his obsession with returning home.
🎶 The Sirens
To sail past the deadly Sirens — whose song lures sailors to their deaths — Odysseus plugs his crew’s ears with beeswax and orders himself bound to the mast so he can hear their song without succumbing. It’s a triumph of discipline over desire.
👹🌊 Scylla and Charybdis
Sailing through the straits between two horrors — the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis — Odysseus chooses to risk Scylla, losing six men but saving the ship. Leadership means hard choices, and this one haunts him.
☀️🐄 The Cattle of the Sun God
Despite his warnings, Odysseus’s starving crew slaughter the sacred cattle of Helios. The gods destroy their ship in vengeance, leaving Odysseus the sole survivor — a reminder that even good men can be undone by the weakness of others.
🏝️ Calypso’s Island
Shipwrecked and alone, Odysseus is rescued by the nymph Calypso, who offers him immortality if he stays with her. For seven years he remains her unwilling guest, longing for home. When the gods finally intervene, he sets sail again — proof that no comfort can replace purpose.
👑 The Phaeacians and Return to Ithaca
Washed ashore on the island of the Phaeacians, Odysseus is treated with honour by King Alcinous, who helps him finally return home. Disguised as a beggar, he finds his palace overrun by suitors pursuing his wife, Penelope.
🏹 The Suitors and the Bow of Odysseus
In one final act of cunning and vengeance, Odysseus strings his great bow — a feat no other man can perform — and slaughters the suitors who defiled his home. Peace is restored to Ithaca, and Odysseus’s long journey ends where it began: with strength, patience, and resolve.
🔥 Legacy
Odysseus’s tale endures as one of humanity’s oldest testaments to endurance and willpower. He wasn’t the strongest or the fastest — but he was the one who refused to stop fighting. His story is a reminder that even when the gods themselves stand in your way, you endure.
The map of the Odyssey according to the story. Blown waaaay off course. Don’t piss off Poseidon, especially if you travelling by boat.
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I can’t wait to give this one a try. This is one of my favorite books I read and can’t wait to train like the legendary hero