Prison Routine

When my wife and I were in San Francisco recently, we toured Alcatraz, one of the world's best known prisons. 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. The idea behind the prison workout routine is to use bodyweight exercises for strength improvement, rather than utilizing gym equipment.

One of the best features of a prison workout regimen is that it can be followed in virtually any environment. If you think about it, prison comes with a lot of restrictions on what can be used and what can't, so with this routine there are no acceptable excuses. How can bodyweight exercises help you gain strength?

Using only your body weight, there are many different types of exercise combinations that can be accomplished. 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.

One great exercise that truly provides a full body workout is the burpee. From a standing position, do a squat and throw your legs back so you are in pushup position. Complete a push up and quickly draw both legs back under and spring up back to a stand. This will provide a terrific workout for arms and legs, and will also offer significant cardiovascular benefits.

Chin ups: pillars of all bodyweight regimens. You just need something to hang from in order to do it. Get yourself a wall mounted pull up bar if you can. Pull ups can be done in a number of ways, including underhanded, overhanded, with a wide grip or with a narrow grip.

Another great exercise is the "dip" which can be completed between two chairs or any other supportive type of object. If you’re not in prison, you can get a real dip station as well. Lower your body to the point where both arms are parallel or less to the floor, and burst back upwards quickly. These provide a great chest and triceps workout.

Another staple exercise is the push-up - in fact, it would be impossible to find a successful bodyweight routine that did not have push-ups as a key element. No equipment or accessories whatsoever are necessary for this exercise. 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. Simple squat down and back up over and over. If this is too easy for you there are other moves. Try squat jumps or one-legged squats.

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.

While it is possible to spend all day doing crunches, your abdominal muscles really will not benefit. 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. Talk to me once you have built up to 3 minutes on all three kinds of planks.

If you want to really use bodyweight exercises for strength, then read Convict Conditioning. It consists of guidelines for the novice that teach ways to move from basic bodyweight exercises into more complex ones.

Once again, you won't need any fancy equipment or a lot of space to accomplish these exercises. That is the essence of a prison workout routine.