I was inspired to try a new workout routine after a recent trip to San Francisco and a tour of the infamous Alcatraz prison. Our tour guide told us the saying: “You go to prison if you break the rules. 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. Even though you have limited space and no gym equipment, you can use bodyweight exercises for strength increases.
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. So what does it take to build functional strength simply through the use of bodyweight exercise?
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. Think of the range of muscles required to do a pushup or pull up vs. the limited muscles required to do an isolation exercise like bicep curls.
The burpee is a terrific movement that offers a complete body workout. Start from a stand, move into a squat and thrust your legs backward to end up in a push up stance. One you complete a push-up, you need to quickly bring your legs back into the squatting position and jump up to stand again. Not only will you get a great arm and leg workout, but you’ll also get a fantastic cardio benefit as well.
Pull ups: a staple of any bodyweight routine. All you need is something overhead to hang from. 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. If you’re not in prison, you can get a real dip station as well. To complete a dip, just lower your body until your arms are parallel with the ground and then push back up 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. You literally need no equipment or other objects for these. There are an endless variety you can perform: regular pushups, decline pushups (works upper chest), closed grip pushups (works triceps), wide grip pushups, dive bomb pushups, hindu pushups, and of course one armed pushups.
One more element that you need to know about are squats. Simple squat down and back up over and over. Too easy? Try squat jumps or one-legged squats.
For extra lower bodyweight exercise you should try out a variety of plyometric exercises. Leap ups, step ups, depth jumps, and lateral jumps all help increase quad, hamstring, and calf strength.
If you really want to help your abs get in shape you can forget about crunches. By utilizing a simple plank routine you can achieve much more. Think planks are just an easy yoga exercise? However, you will see amazing results if you can do left, right and straight planks for up to 3 minutes each position.
If you want to really use bodyweight exercises for strength, then read Convict Conditioning. This book will help you to learn the basics of simple bodyweight exercises all the way up to learning how to achieve advanced bodyweight techniques.
There is no need for expensive equipment or gym memberships, as these exercises pit you against your own bodyweight. That’s what a prison workout routine is really about.