ThePrisonerWorkout AoM

7/26/2019 ThePrisonerWorkout AoM

1/13

August 5, 2015

Fitness, Health & Sports

The Prisoner Workout: Killer BodyweightExercises for Small Spaces

Besides a few brief stints of freedom, notorious British criminal and troublemaker

Charles Salvador (better known as Charles Bronson) has been serving time since1974. During these decades behind bars, and often confined to isolation,Bronson has become a fitness fanatic, creating workout programs that requireonly his bodyweight and a few odd objects. His extreme regimen has given himnear-superhuman strength he claims to be able to do 172 push-ups in 60seconds, pick up a pool table by himself, and bend a steel prison cell door withhis bare hands. Hes set many prison fitness records as well, including one formost push-ups in an hour: 1,727.

Now, itd be easy to take Bronsons claims with a grain of salt. The man is notonly a convicted criminal, but his violent, loose-cannon behavior has earned him

the label of Britains most notorious prisoner.

But Bronson is hardly the only inmate whos managed to gain impressivestrength without access to barbells, nutritious food, or supplements. Prisoners allover the world have created highly effective strength-building routines they canperform in the tiny space of their cell or with limited equipment in the jail yard.For men who are locked up, being strong and looking strong isnt just about

Brett and KateMcKayBe the first to

comment!

The Prisoner Workout: Killer Bodyweight Exercises for S... http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-

1 of 13 06/08/15 18:


2/13

,a lesson from convicts on how to not let your circumstances be an excuse foryour fitness goals. Below we highlight bodyweight exercises used by prisonersthe world over to get strong and stay strong.

The Benefits of Bodyweight Workouts

You can do them anywhere.Dont have time to make it to the gym? Travel alot? Locked up for 5-10 years? Great! You can do the prisoner workoutanywherebedroom, office, hotel room, or solitary confinement.

Its free.Dont have the money for a gym membership or purchasing your ownequipment? Thats not an excuse for not exercising. With a few simplebodyweight exercises, you can create a full-body workout thats completely free.

Strength+cardio in a single workout.By increasing the tempo anddecreasing the rest between sets and exercises, you can turn a bodyweightworkout into both a high-intensity cardio session and a strength workout. In 30minutes, youll be done with your exercise for the day.

The Exercises

Below Ive highlighted six main bodyweight exercises that work the entire body.However, with a little tweaking of each exercise, you can create over 50 differentexercises from just these six basic movements. If youre locked up for life, Imsure you could come up with another 50 variations.

Push-ups

According to the book he wrote in prison, Solitary Fitness, Bronson performs2,000 push-ups a day. If you start doing 10 push-ups a day and add 5 more eachday, in a little over a year, you can get up to that level.

Push-up Variations

The push-up works multiple muscle groups including the chest, anterior deltoid,and triceps. And the great thing about it is that the exercise can be easily

modified to increase difficultly and work different muscle groups.

Narrow/Wide Hand Placement. By simply adjusting the placement of yourhands, you can emphasize different muscle groups. Narrow hand placementworks the triceps, while a wider hand placement emphasizes the pecs.


comment!


2 of 13 06/08/15 18:


3/13

Hindu Push-up.This is a dynamic full-body movement that will build strengthand flexibility in your chest, shoulders, back, hips, and triceps.

Get in position by standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-widthapart. Bend down and place your hands on the floor while keeping your arms andlegs straight. You should look like an upside down human v with your buttbeing the point of the v and your head pointing down to the ground.

To perform the Hindu push-up, youre going to make sort of a swooping motionwith your body. Bring your head down and forward by bending your elbows.When your head gets close to the ground, continue moving your torso forward byarching your back and lowering your hips. Your hips will now be near your hands.Make sure to get a good stretch in your back. Return to the starting position andrepeat.

Handstand Push-up. Forget shoulder presses. If you want a killer shoulderworkout, look no further than the handstand push-up. To perform the handstandpush-up, assume a handstand position. Slowly bend your elbows and lower yourinverted body towards the ground. In order to maintain balance, youre going to

have to call on your core and other smaller stabilizing muscles. If you cant do astand-alone handstand, use a wall to assist you.


comment!


3 of 13 06/08/15 18:


4/13

One-Armed Push-up.Youll have achieved top-dog, alpha-male-prisoner,beast-mode status when you can perform multiple one-handed push-ups.

For 30+ more push-up variations, check out this post.

Pull-ups

Pull-ups are a highly effective exercise that works a whole host of muscle groups,including the latissimus dorsi (the wing muscles on your back), biceps, traps,pecs, and forearms.

Better still, they can be done anywhere theres a place to hang from. You can buya pull-up bar that fits in your doorframe for $30. If you dont have access to that,monkey bars or even a tree limb at a park will work. What if youre in a hotel? Ifthe doorframe is wide enough, you could do some pull-ups from there though,theyll be more like finger pull-ups. Prison? Im sure you can find a barsomewhere to use. There are lots of bars in there, I hear, though I guess more ofthe vertical than horizontal variety.

Pull-up Variations

ust like the push-up, pull-ups can be modified to work different muscles groupsor to make the exercise more difficult.

Chin-up.Shift your hand into a chin-up position, and youll work your biceps


comment!


4 of 13 06/08/15 18:


5/13

.

Commando Pull-up.You may remember Rocky doing these babies during hisepic training montage. Take an underhand grip with one hand and an overhandgrip with the other. Pull your head to one side of the bar for one rep, and then tothe other side of the bar on the next rep.

Narrow/Wide Grip.You can adjust your grip width to focus on different musclegroups. Try doing pull-ups with your hands right next to each other or as far apartfrom each other as you can.

Towel Pull-ups.Hang two towels from your bar and grip one in each hand. Pullyourself up. Great for grip strength.


comment!


5 of 13 06/08/15 18:


6/13

, .Keep your sternum at the bar. Return your body to the center and repeat on theopposite side. Return to the center and lower your body under control. That isone rep.

One-handed Pull-up.Youll have achieved top-dog, alpha-male-prisoner,beast-mode status when you can perform multiple one-handed pull-ups.

If you cant do more than one stinking pull-up, see our do more thanone pull-up workout. Itll have you cranking out pull-ups for reps in notime.

Squats

The squat is one of the most basic yet effective athletic movements. In just oneexercise, you work your quads, hamstrings, glutes, hips, and inner thighs.

Squat Variations

Prisoner Squat.The traditional prisoner bodyweight squat is performed byplacing your hands behind your head. Squat down until your thighs are belowparallel. Come up. Thats one rep.

Add Weight.While you might not have access to a barbell, you can find oddobjects in your environment that you can hoist up on your shoulders or hold infront of your chest. Once youve got your desired weight, simply squat.

Squat Jumps.A plyometric version of the squat to build explosiveness. Performa prisoner squat as you normally would, but when you reach the bottom of thesquat explode up and jump off the ground as high as you can. When your feetare back on the ground, immediately sink into another squat and jump again.Great for HIIT.


comment!


6 of 13 06/08/15 18:


7/13

Pistol Squat.Youll have achieved top-dog, alpha-male-prisoner, beast-modestatus when you can perform multiple pistol squats. A pistol squat is aone-legged full squat. The leg that youre not squatting with sticks out right infront of you when youre in the squat position. When youre at the bottom of thesquat, you sort of look like a pistol, hence the name. Its a beast to do and willtake months to work up to.

There are entire routines to help you accomplish this Herculean feat (andperhaps well hit on it in the future), but one of the best exercises to help yousegue into a pistol squat is to perform the assisted variety. Simply grab a pole orsome other sturdy object in front of you and lower yourself into a one-leggedsquat position and use the pole to help pull yourself up. Eventually, you can takeoff these training wheels and do a free-standing one.

Dips


comment!


7 of 13 06/08/15 18:


8/13

Dips work the triceps, pecs, shoulders, forearms, and core, and you dont need afancy dip rig to do them. Prisoners will put their hands on a chair with their feeton the floor or propped up on the bed. You can make them more difficult byplacing weighted objects in your lap.

Hanging Leg Raises

This is a core blaster. Not only does it hit the abs, obliques, and rib muscles, butit also works your quads, hips, forearms, and shoulder muscles.

Hanging Leg Raise Variations


comment!


8 of 13 06/08/15 18:


9/13

Straight Leg Raises.Grab and hang from a bar with a slightly wider thanshoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your knees straight, raise legs by flexinghips until they are completely flexed, or knees are well above hips. Return untilhips are extended downward.

Bent Knee Leg Raises.If you cant do a straight leg raise, you can modify it bybending your knees and raising them into your chest.

Full Straight Leg Raise.Perform a straight leg raise as you normally would,but instead of stopping when your feet rise above your hips, keep going untilyour toes touch the bar.

Towel Straight Leg Raises.Place two towels over the bar and grip one in eachhand. Perform a straight leg raise while holding onto the towels.


comment!


9 of 13 06/08/15 18:


10/13

. . .

One-Arm Straight Leg Raise.Youll have achieved top-dog, alpha-male-prisoner, beast-mode status when you can perform multiple one-armedstraight leg raises and hold yourself in the top position for several seconds.

Burpees

The burpee is the ultimate full-body exercise. Theres a reason football teams,CrossFit practitioners, and elite military forces use the burpee in their workouts.ust one simple movement tests both your strength and aerobic capacities.

Burpee Variations

Basic Burpee.To perform a basic burpee, just follow these instructions:

Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you.Kick your feet back to a push-up position.Immediately return your feet to the squat position.Leap up as high as possible from the squat position.

Burpee With Push-up.Perform the burpee normally, but after you kick outyour feet to a push-up position, go ahead and do a full push-up.

Burpee With Hindu Push-up.Instead of just doing a full push-up, make it aHindu push-up.

Burpee+Pull-up.Stand underneath a pull-up bar or tree branch that is highenough that you have to leap to reach it. Perform a burpee normally, but whenyou leap up grab the bar and perform a pull-up. Repeat. Did you hear that? Thatwas the sound of your soul dying.

Click here for more on the benefits of this exercise, more variations,and sample burpee workouts.

Putting It Together: Possible Prisoner Workouts

As you can see above, youve got a lot of choices when it comes to exercises to

create a bodyweight workout. Mix and match the exercises to your liking alongwith a set and rep scheme to create your bodyweight workout.

If youre looking for a little guidance, though, here are a few suggestions:

Deck of Pain


comment!


10 of 13 06/08/15 18:


11/13

Take a standard deck of 52 cards. Assign one of the above exercises (or one oftheir variations) to each of the four suits. So you could have something like:

Clubs: Push-ups

Spades: Pull-upsDiamonds: SquatsHearts: Hanging Leg Raises

Start drawing cards from the top. The suit tells you what exercise youre doing;the number tells you the reps. Face cards count as ten rep; aces 11. So if youdrew the 5 of diamonds you would do five squats; if you drew the king of clubs,you do ten push-ups. Draw the cards and perform the corresponding exerciseand reps until all the cards have been drawn.

Finish it off with ten burpees for good measure

uarez Valley Method

According to the bookJailhouse Strong, the convicts inside Mexicos Juarez ValleyPrison one of the worlds most dangerous prisons use the following repscheme for their bodyweight workout.

Pick an exercise. Youre only going to be doing one during this circuit. Lets sayfor this example, youre going to do push-ups.

This circuit consists of 20 sets. The rep scheme looks like this:

Set 1: 20 RepsSet 2: 1 RepSet 3: 19 RepsSet 4: 2 RepsSet 5: 18 RepsSet 6: 3 RepsSet 7: 17 RepsSet 8: 4 RepsSet 9: 16 RepsSet 10: 5 Reps

Set 11: 15 RepsSet 12: 6 RepsSet 13: 14 RepsSet 14: 7 RepsSet 15: 13 RepsSet 16: 8 RepsSet 17: 12 RepsSet 18: 9 Reps


comment!


11 of 13 06/08/15 18:


12/13

So on the odd sets, youre starting from 20 reps, going down a rep every odd set,and on the even sets, youre starting from 1 rep and going up a rep every evenset. When its all said and done, youll have completed 210 reps.

Between each set, walk 5-10 steps for a rest and then get back into it. The goalis to complete this circuit as fast as you can.

Mike Tyson Squat Workout

Tyson did this body squat routine while in prison; it doesnt sound too hard butits a real killer:

Line up ten cards facedown in a straight line on the ground with 4in-between each card.Begin by standing over the first card, squat down and pick up the first card.Holding the first card, take a step forward to the second card. Squat downand place the card you just picked up on top of the second card. At thispoint, youll have no cards in your hand, and 2 cards will be one on top ofthe other on the ground below you.Squat once and pick up the first card.Squat once and pick up the second card.Take a step forward to the third card, squat down, and place one of the twocards in your hand on top of the card on the ground. Now squat down andplace the other card on top of the cards on the ground.Squat one time each to pick up the three cards one by one.Take a step forward to the fourth card, and repeat this process until youvemade it through all ten cards.

Greasing the Groove

Instead of having a set time period where you try to crank out as many reps asyou can, with greasing the groove, youre performing reps throughout the day.You might set up a system where every half hour, you perform ten push-ups.Assuming youre up for 12 hours a day, thats 240 push-ups every day.

I do greasing the groove with pull-ups. Ive got a pull-up bar hung up in my

closets doorframe. Anytime I walk by it, I crank out five pull-ups. The number ofpull-up reps Im able to accumulate during the day always surprises me.

Exercise to Failure

For hypertrophy and endurance, simply do one set of each exercise for as manyreps as you can.


comment!


12 of 13 06/08/15 18:


13/13

being wrongly convicted of murder, he started a routine where he focused on justone exercise a day. The goal is to work your way up so that you can complete500 reps in an hour. It doesnt matter how many sets you break this up into, just

try to get to that 500 rep count before 60 minutes is up.

_________________________________

Sources:

Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade

ailhouse Strong by Josh Bryant

Solitary Fitness by Charles Bronson

Previous Post


comment!


13 of 13 06/08/15 18:

Documents

ThePrisonerWorkout AoM