Prison Workout Regimens: Ways to Build Strength Through Bodyweight Exercises
I was inspired to try a new workout routine after a recent trip to San Francisco and a tour of the infamous Alcatraz prison. As they always say, “disobey the rules and you end up in prison. You go to Alcatraz if you break the rules in prison.” It doesn’t matter if you are in a low-level security prison or a maximum security institution, you will have to deal with living in a tight, small space. Even though that is the case, it is still possible to do effective workouts while incarcerated…not that I would suggest turning into a criminal simply to exercise more. Despite the fact that you are in a small space and have no workout equipment, it is possible to perform bodyweight exercises for strength gains.
The great thing about a prison workout routine is that it can literally be applied anywhere. There aren’t many situations more restrictive than prison, so there are no more excuses for not being able to exercise. How can bodyweight exercises help you gain strength?
There are limitless combinations of exercises you can do using only your body weight. Below is just a sample of some that work well for me. A big benefit of bodyweight exercises is that the majority of them involve movements of a compound nature. Muscle growth is greatly enhanced by compound movements. Consider the different muscles necessary to complete a chin up or a push up as opposed to the narrow range of muscles necessary for bicep curls and other isolation exercises.
The burpee is an exercise that will give you a full body workout. You start off in a standing position, move to a squat and then throw your legs into a push-up position. Do a pushup and immediately bring your legs back underneath you and jump up. This will provide a terrific workout for arms and legs, and will also offer significant cardiovascular benefits.
Chin ups: pillars of all bodyweight regimens. The only equipment required is something above your head from which to hang. A wall-mounted pull-up bar will fit the bill for this exercise. You can do several different types of pull-ups such as the wide grip, narrow grip, overhand grip and the underhand grip, among others.
Another great exercise is the “dip” which can be completed between two chairs or any other supportive type of object. Those not incarcerated may use a professional dip station. Lower yourself until your arms are parallel or less to the ground and explode back up. Dips will work your triceps and your chest muscles.
Pushups: no upper body weight routine is complete without pushups. You literally need no equipment or other objects for these. As with the pull-ups, there are many different types of push-ups that you can do to mix things up such as decline push-ups, which work the upper chest; closed grip push-ups that work the triceps; as well as wide grip, dive bomb, one-armed, Hindu and even regular push-ups.
Squats: this is as basic as can be. All you need to do is squat down and pop up, then repeat. Does that seem to simple? You can try out one-legged squats or even squat jumps.
Plyometrics: another kind of effective bodyweight exercise involves plyometrics. The strength of calves, hamstrings and quads can be increased through step ups, leap ups, depth jumps and lateral jumps.
If you really want to help your abs get in shape you can forget about crunches. Do a simple plank routine that involves a straight body plank and both left and right side planks. A lot of people think that planks are just a yoga type exercise. Let me know when you get up to 3 minutes each on straight, left, and right planks.
Anyone who is truly interested in using bodyweight exercises for strength ought to read Convict Conditioning. This provides a beginner’s template for how to go from doing simple bodyweight exercises to doing advanced bodyweight strength exercises.
No fancy equipment, no fancy space, just you against your body. That is the essence of a prison workout routine.