The Prison Workout
The Prison Workout. New idea? Nah. It’s been around as long as there has been anyone locked up that is looking to stay in shape. Still compelling? Absolutely. Here is MDA’s take on why we think it is worth another look, along with our own variations on this classic routine.
Why We Can Appreciate the Prison Workout:
1. Unlimited time
You have no excuses. You can’t fall back on the most often used excuse to not get in shape.
2. Limited space
You don’t get to decide whether you should go to the basketball court, to the gym, to the tennis court, to the park, ride your bike, play ultimate Frisbee with friends etc. etc. because you don’t have a choice. Your options are limited. But this is a good thing. You don’t get bogged down with endless decision-making. You’ll be working out while Joe Schmo is still deciding what to do.
No specialized equipment, no gimmicks, no late-night infomercial tchotchkes, no gym membership. You don’t even have dumbbells. It’s just you. In a room. With endless potential. The only thing stopping you from getting fit is your resolve to do so.
4. Lone soldier mentality
There is something about being on your own. There are no support groups or personal trainers. No buddy system, and no lazy spouse to drag you down. The results you achieve are all a result of your hard work. It is you against everyone else in prison, so you better get in shape.
How is this Primal, you ask?
It’s intense, it builds muscle, it requires that you use your local environment and resources to get fit, and there is a survival-of-the-fittest aspect here. Prison isn’t a fun place to be (so we’ve heard…). You have to constantly be on guard, watching your back and ready to protect yourself at any moment. If you aren’t prepared you’re going to pay the price. With this in mind you need to build functional strength. The kind that allows you to sprint and move quickly, and fight when it is called for. On the outside it isn’t everyday that we are put into survival-of-the-fittest or literal fight-or-flight situations, but it is always better to be prepared than to be a victim.
Prison Workout? Really? This isn’t for me…
We hear you, but you don’t have to get yourself locked up to take part in the Prison Workout. There are plenty of real-world applications. Do it in your apartment when winter snow or spring rain keeps you indoors. Do it when you are away on business and you only have a few minutes to spare in your dinky hotel room. Do it at home so you don’t have to pay for a gym membership.
Enough talking. Let’s get to the Prison Workout:
At the core of any self-respecting prisoner’s workout regimen is THE BURPEE. If you have never done one you are in for a world of hurt – especially if you are to attempt the holy grail of 20 descending sets. Here’s how:
The Burpee
From a standing position squat down, drop your hands to the ground and jump your feet back to assume a push-up position. Do a push-up. Jump your legs forward to between your hands then jump up into the air bringing your knees to your chest and your hands into the air over your head. Repeat 20 times. Doing this at any speed 20 times is enough to get anyone’s heart rate up. Now comes the really tough part. Catch your breath before going into another set. This time completing 19 burpees. Catch your breath. Now do 18 burpees. Repeat until you have done all descending sets.
Variations include not starting with 20. Do a descending set starting from 10 or some other number. Or don’t do descending sets at all. Instead do as many burpees as you can before you get to the pass-out/throw-up stage. Also, you don’t have to bring your knees to your chest. This lowers the intensity considerably. (Check out this video for a visualization of the possibilities, and this video that ups the ante by combining burpees with pull-ups.)
This is a full body workout and covers your bases for most muscle groups. In fact, you could almost whip your body into shape by mastering this workout alone. But if you want to take it to the next level here are some additional options when all you have is a 10×10 cell and an iron will.
Upper Body
Play Cards
We don’t mean solitaire. Get a deck of cards and some sort of receptacle – trash bin, cup, shoe, doesn’t matter. Sitting some distance from the target toss a card attempting to land it in the hole. If the card doesn’t make it and lands face up this is how many push-ups you will be doing. (Face cards equal 10.) Do the whole deck. Repeat if you’re a tough guy or gal (or if you are aces at tossing cards).
Everyone knows what a push-up is so I won’t explain the basics. The important thing is to remember to keep your body level (no sticking your butt up in the air… especially if you are actually in prison) and to do the many variations on this old favorite – incline, decline, military, staggered hands etc. Mix it up and watch your chest and triceps get shredded. Watch this 19 Push-Up Variations video plus Jack Lalanne’s crazy fingertip push-ups for ideas.
Tricep Dips
Put your hands on your prison chair or bed and dip your body toward the ground. Variations (from easiest to hardest) include: feet on the ground with bent knees, feet on the ground with straight legs, feet up off of the ground on another piece of furniture (toilet? sink?), and one foot on another piece of furniture while the other leg is raised in the air, alternating legs.
Pull-Ups
All you need is something overhead to grab onto. Variations include overhand grip, underhand grip, wide grip, and narrow all with varying speeds. Watch this CrossFit video for inspiration.
Lower Body
Squat Jump
This is basically the burpee without the push-up part. Squat from a standing position until your fingertips touch the floor and then explode upwards, leaving the floor and raising your arms into the air. Repeat. Your quads will start burning quicker than you probably expect.
Jump Lunge
From a lunge position jump upward bringing both feet off the ground at the same time and switch your stance ending in a lunge position with your other foot now in the front. The speed and number of reps are up to you. We recommend fast and max. (Video example.)
Core
Planks
Try holding a plank for 3 minutes straight. Sounds easy, right? Think again. But, if you were a hardcore caged animal you could do it. Do standard and side planks holding the position as long as you can. Read this for more on planks.
Isometrics
Mark told us all about isometrics for abs in his post Washboard Abs on a High-Fat Diet, No Ab Workouts and No Cardio? So check it out for more info.
Hardcore Additions
Handstand Push-Ups
Do a handstand with your back facing and feet against a wall. Once in the position lower your head towards the ground and then explode upward. (Handstand Push-Up video example) If you don’t have the strength to do a Handstand Push-Up work your way up by doing the Pike Press (video – FYI: You don’t need a fancy swiss ball) to build shoulder and tricep strength. If you are really hardcore don’t use the wall (video).
Wall Squats
All you need is a wall for this simple move. Put your back up against the wall and lower it until there is a 90 degree angle between your upper and lower legs. Hold this position as long as you can. Doesn’t sound hardcore, you say? Try holding the position for 1, 2, 3 or even 5 minutes and then tell us it isn’t hardcore. Just like with planks after a minute or two you’ll be begging for mercy. Check out this CrossFit tutorial for video instruction.
That’s two Hardcore Additions added to our Prison Workout routine. We’ll leave the rest up to you, fellow Apples.
CrossFitters, too! We know you’re out there and have something to add. So hit us up with a comment and tell us what your favorite tight-quarters exercise regimen includes and how ours could be even more extreme.
Note: This routine may not be for everyone, but there is plenty to be learned here by anyone that wants to stay in shape and has limited space and resources.
Abdallah Flickr Photo (CC)
Further Reading:
Primal Plyos for the Upper Body
Primal Plyos for the Lower Body
Video Proof You Can Exercise Outdoors
Mike Rowe From “Dirty Jobs” Does Burpees
Subscribe to Mark’s Daily Apple feeds
Posted By: Aaron
Dis werk out iz tight naw mean? Fo gud rezon protekt dat bum hole in prizin
The Prison Workout is tough , I first seen Tony Horton doing it on the P90x.
I had to buy health insurance cause this type of fitness is extreme but I am loving it.
Great exercise tips my friend went to jail three months ago and still hasn’t had his trail qonder if he is doing his burpes
these truly are good work outs wen u got the time to do. i did these traning regiments wen i was in. now im still doin them and i was just released. gettin BIGGER and STRONGER.
Great article and this concept comes from across cultures. As a crossfitter, martial artist, etc. I would say that these exercises – Burpee Pull Ups are incredible – are all great. I would also add a couple ideas not as much from CF as from Pavel of RKC fame. Pistols, is there a better or more challenging leg exercise that can be done in a small space? One arm pushups – again this might fall under your pushup variations. In Kung Fu they teach that you can do your conditioning in the space that a tiger lies down in. The variations are endless – no excuses!
Laddering burpees up to 10 then back to 0 gives one a great warm-up, workout, and cool-down all in one go.
FWIW, thats 100 reps.
question, is this all one workout or are these seperate workouts?
obviously like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very bothersome to inform the truth nevertheless I’ll definitely come again again.
Wow, did you really write that, RGB!? Check your own comment for grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. It’s far easier to read past spelling errors than those three things you ignored.
Seriously. There’s nothing worse than someone who points out another’s writing mistakes in a manner worthy of a stoned high school sophomore.
Pretty element of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to say that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I?ll be subscribing to your augment and even I fulfillment you access persistently rapidly.
Excellent post. I used to be checking constantly this weblog and I’m impressed! Very helpful info particularly the final part
I handle such information much. I used to be looking for this certain info for a very lengthy time. Thank you and best of luck.
Man I just love the thought of my own body as a gym. Like to keep it natural. Also I don’t like getting to stuck with sets and reps. Usually I’ll just “play it by ear”.
Just found an envelope at the bottom of my mailbox with way overdue tax charges. I think this post is going to come in handy…:-0
Just started the prison burpee workout, I am a 56 year old women, I also have added side squat jumps and leg lift over chair. I can not do a pull-up what else can I add to the workout to work up to being able to do a pull-up?
I got into a brawl in prison. It was quite the scene. Due to some things that my mom told the police (that I’m unstable, suicidal, etc. – not true) the judge told me I was going to have to spend three days in a psyche ward getting assessed. Later in the day on the way to prison in the transport van someone said that someone in a segregated compartment was probably going to the “nuthouse.”
I said, “That’s where I have to go,” which elicited questions, so I explained the situation.
A man told me that there would be someone visiting me in the psyche ward and bringing a package that I would have to “hoof/hoop” (conceal anally) and bring back into jail. I refused and was told I’d be beat up if I didn’t do it.
When we got the jail I was held in a fairly large “multi-purpose” room while waiting for the guards to decide what unit I’d be in. Expecting trouble, I jogged around the room multiple times in my socks to get my blood flowing. A working prisoner who was amused by my jogging came up to the glass and asked if I could do a flip. I can’t so instead I stepped up on a chair and did a diving roll off it to his entertainment and then continued jogging shortly until the guards escorted me to a unit.
Once there, I was asked to do a diving roll again – news travels fast – so I did one off a built-in bench against a wall. There was a small uproar and things seemed to be going well. After some introductions and questions I picked out a book and sat down at a built-in table read it. Maybe 15 minutes had passed since I got to the unit. A few guys crowded around the other side of the table and one sat down beside me. He threatened violence if I refused to bring in the package. I said, “I don’t do anything out of threats” and turned my face away.
Well we were still sitting, he punched at my face as I was turning it back to him and at the impact I turned it the other way to flow with the momentum. I turned back again, smiling slightly, and stood up slowly and confidently, giving him the chance to make a move. He stood up and quickly punched me with a flurry in the face and then forced me onto my back on the table, where he kept punching me. I reached my left arm around the back of his neck and pulled his head down, then wrapped my legs around him and held him there. He was no longer a threat. Initially I considered holding him there until the guards came in but I changed my mind and decided to use my right fist to hit him quickly [I think] 15 times in the side of the head. He went fairly slack so I loosened my hold on him and looked over at the glass wall where the guards would come from.. At that point I’m not sure what happened. Either his friend pulled me off the table or he moved me off it. All of a sudden I landed on my back and there was someone standing by head trying to stomp it and the first guy was by my feet. I feigned some kicks to scare him back and then turned over onto my hands and knees. One of them slammed my head into the side of a built-in metal stool. I was momentarily dazed and then went forward into a spinning counterclockwise roll, kicked out my feet at both of them, and was on my head or the back of my neck. I saw them both backing off so I kicked up my feet straight to maintain my balance and then continued spinning counterclockwise and fluidly moving back to my feet while using my hand to steady myself with the table, slow enough to conserve energy and give them a chance to attack my back so I could counterattack. I turned around and backed up a step so the table was between me and the first guy so I was in a defensible position. The first guy was taking his shirt off and the second guy said “not now” and we stood for a couple seconds and then the guards ran in.
This is brilliant. I love the “playing cards” tip. I just made a game of working out and it was so much fun! It’s unpredictable and a good way to push yourself toward getting that number of push-ups. So great! Loving your website.
i just tried the burpee after reading it. and you are right. if your new it will burn fast. thanks. been looking to mix it up.
first step:
Go to prison
I am getting ready to go to prison very soon, not sure how long I am looking at yet but the plea deal is 2 years currently. I am 26 years old, OUT OF SHAPE.. and was wanting someone to give me a very simple way of getting in shape while in prison. I would be lucky if I could do 5 burpees, let alone 20 assending.