Professional Documents
Culture Documents
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Besides a few brief stints of freedom, notorious British criminal and troublemaker
Charles Salvador (better known as Charles Bronson) has been serving time since
1974. During these decades behind bars, and often conned to isolation,
Bronson has become a tness fanatic, creating workout programs that require
only his bodyweight and a few odd objects. His extreme regimen has given him
near-superhuman strength he claims to be able to do 172 push-ups in 60
seconds, pick up a pool table by himself, and bend a steel prison cell door with
his bare hands. Hes set many prison tness records as well, including one for
most push-ups in an hour: 1,727.
Now, itd be easy to take Bronsons claims with a grain of salt. The man is not
only 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 impressive
strength without access to barbells, nutritious food, or supplements. Prisoners all
over the world have created highly eective strength-building routines they can
perform 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
aesthetics and personal development; the appearance of size and prowess acts
1 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
While most of us will thankfully never end up behind bars, I think we can all take
a lesson from convicts on Brett
how to
notKate
let your circumstances be an excuse for
and
your tness goals. Below we
highlight
bodyweight exercises used by prisoners
McKay
the world over to get strong
stay to
strong.
Be and
the rst
comment!
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 dierent
exercises from just these six basic movements. If youre locked up for life, Im
sure you could come up with another 50 variations.
Push-ups
According to the book he wrote in prison, Solitary Fitness, Bronson performs
2,000 push-ups a day. If you start doing 10 push-ups a day and add 5 more each
day, 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
modied to increase dicultly and work dierent muscle groups.
Narrow/Wide Hand Placement. By simply adjusting the placement of your
hands, you can emphasize dierent muscle groups. Narrow hand placement
works the triceps, while a wider hand placement emphasizes the pecs.
2 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Hindu Push-up. This is a dynamic full-body movement that will build strength
and exibility in your chest, shoulders, back, hips, and triceps.
Get in position by standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width
apart. Bend down and place your hands on the oor while keeping your arms and
legs straight. You should look like an upside down human v with your butt
being 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 motion
with 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 by
arching 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 and
repeat.
Handstand Push-up. Forget shoulder presses. If you want a killer shoulder
workout, look no further than the handstand push-up. To perform the handstand
push-up, assume a handstand position. Slowly bend your elbows and lower your
inverted 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 a
stand-alone handstand, use a wall to assist you.
3 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Pull-ups
Pull-ups are a highly eective 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 buy
a pull-up bar that ts 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? If
the doorframe is wide enough, you could do some pull-ups from there though,
theyll be more like nger pull-ups. Prison? Im sure you can nd a bar
somewhere to use. There are lots of bars in there, I hear, though I guess more of
the vertical than horizontal variety.
Pull-up Variations
Just like the push-up, pull-ups can be modied to work dierent muscles groups
or to make the exercise more dicult.
Chin-up. Shift your hand into a chin-up position, and youll work your biceps
4 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Mixed Grip Pull-up. One hand grips the bar overhand and the other underhand.
Brett and Kate
McKay
Be the rst to
comment!
Commando Pull-up. You may remember Rocky doing these babies during his
epic training montage. Take an underhand grip with one hand and an overhand
grip with the other. Pull your head to one side of the bar for one rep, and then to
the other side of the bar on the next rep.
Narrow/Wide Grip. You can adjust your grip width to focus on dierent muscle
groups. Try doing pull-ups with your hands right next to each other or as far apart
from each other as you can.
Towel Pull-ups. Hang two towels from your bar and grip one in each hand. Pull
yourself up. Great for grip strength.
5 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
your body toward one hand, taking some of the weight o the opposite hand.
Keep your sternum at the Brett
bar. Return
your body to the center and repeat on the
and Kate
opposite side. Return to the
center and lower your body under control. That is
McKay
one rep.
Be the rst to
comment!
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 than
one pull-up workout. Itll have you cranking out pull-ups for reps in no
time.
Squats
The squat is one of the most basic yet eective athletic movements. In just one
exercise, you work your quads, hamstrings, glutes, hips, and inner thighs.
Squat Variations
Prisoner Squat. The traditional prisoner bodyweight squat is performed by
placing your hands behind your head. Squat down until your thighs are below
parallel. Come up. Thats one rep.
Add Weight. While you might not have access to a barbell, you can nd odd
objects in your environment that you can hoist up on your shoulders or hold in
front of your chest. Once youve got your desired weight, simply squat.
Squat Jumps. A plyometric version of the squat to build explosiveness. Perform
a prisoner squat as you normally would, but when you reach the bottom of the
squat explode up and jump o the ground as high as you can. When your feet
are back on the ground, immediately sink into another squat and jump again.
Great for HIIT.
6 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Dips
7 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Dips work the triceps, pecs, shoulders, forearms, and core, and you dont need a
fancy dip rig to do them. Prisoners will put their hands on a chair with their feet
on the oor or propped up on the bed. You can make them more dicult by
placing weighted objects in your lap.
8 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Straight Leg Raises. Grab and hang from a bar with a slightly wider than
shoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your knees straight, raise legs by exing
hips until they are completely exed, or knees are well above hips. Return until
hips are extended downward.
Bent Knee Leg Raises. If you cant do a straight leg raise, you can modify it by
bending 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 until
your toes touch the bar.
Towel Straight Leg Raises. Place two towels over the bar and grip one in each
hand. Perform a straight leg raise while holding onto the towels.
9 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
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.
Just 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 oor 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 out
your 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 a
Hindu push-up.
Burpee+Pull-up. Stand underneath a pull-up bar or tree branch that is high
enough that you have to leap to reach it. Perform a burpee normally, but when
you leap up grab the bar and perform a pull-up. Repeat. Did you hear that? That
was the sound of your soul dying.
Click here for more on the benets of this exercise, more variations,
and sample burpee workouts.
Deck of Pain
10 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
1: 20 Reps
2: 1 Rep
3: 19 Reps
4: 2 Reps
5: 18 Reps
6: 3 Reps
7: 17 Reps
8: 4 Reps
9: 16 Reps
10: 5 Reps
11: 15 Reps
12: 6 Reps
13: 14 Reps
14: 7 Reps
15: 13 Reps
16: 8 Reps
17: 12 Reps
18: 9 Reps
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
Exercise to Failure
For hypertrophy and endurance, simply do one set of each exercise for as many
reps as you can.
12 of 13
06/08/15 18:57
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-...
When Ryan Ferguson was locked up in a Missouri jail from 2004 to 2013 after
being wrongly convicted of
murder,
he started a routine where he focused on just
Brett
and Kate
one exercise a day. The goal
is to work your way up so that you can complete
McKay
500 reps in an hour. It doesnt
matter
how many sets you break this up into, just
Be the
rst to
try to get to that 500 rep count
before 60 minutes is up.
comment!
_________________________________
Sources:
Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade
Jailhouse Strong by Josh Bryant
Solitary Fitness by Charles Bronson
Previous Post
13 of 13
06/08/15 18:57