The Prison Workout
Hi everyone, Greg here. Jane’s too busy to write this week, so she asked me to fill in. Ha, she thought she was asking a huge favor of me; little does she know that I’ve been thinking about writing this since my last post. In fact, I plan on weaseling my way into Weigh the FAQs at least every month from here on out! But onto the article: By prison workout, I don’t mean what can happen if you drop the soap. I refer, of course, to a complete, total body workout that can be performed in your prison cell or even the bedroom you share with a spouse (the same thing for some of you) using easily obtainable household items and your own bodyweight. There is no one definitive prison workout, but there are several extremely effective exercises that should be a part of anyone’s home workout arsenal, man or woman.
The official prison workout - as practiced by actual convicts - is the burpee. A strength-building, endurance-raising powerhouse combo exercise, the burpee targets the entire body and doesn’t let up until you vomit, weep, or lie motionless face down on the floor. The burpee is pretty much my desert island exercise; if I had to pick just one workout to do for the rest of my life, the burpee would be it. I linked to a video above that shows it in action, but the actual workout is quite simple.
1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands above your head.
2. Drop into a squat, placing your hands on the floor beside your feet, and kick your feet back into push-up position.
3. Do a push-up.
4. As you raise up, swing your knees into your chest and place your hands back on the floor, so that you’re in the same position as Number 2.
5. Explode upwards, jumping as high as you can.
6. Return to position 1, and repeat.
It may not sound like much, but I guarantee pain, suffering, and real results. For an extra kick, throw a pull-up in the mix: perform the exercise underneath a bar, and when you jump, grab the bar and do a pull-up. Stretch after and prepare for extreme soreness tomorrow.
Maybe you’re mainly interested in replacing the workouts you do at the gym? That can be done, too. Try the following:
Tricep Chair Dips
1. Put two chairs back to back, about three feet apart from each other.
2. Treat the backs like parallel bars, and commence dipping.
It might feel awkward at first, so take your time. And you obviously don’t want to use frail or antique chairs, but don’t worry - most chairs can handle the stress.
Pull-ups
Looking for something, anything, that can support your hanging weight. The pull-up is the single greatest back and bicep exercise, so you need to work this into your routine. I use the overhead water pipes in the laundry room in our apartment complex. Jane is a fan of a low hanging tree-limb on her running route. Or, you could do it like this guy. Try varying your grip for different effects.
Oh, and while you’re up there, try making your knees touch your elbows. Do that a few times after each set of pull-ups for a great ab workout.
Push-ups
Do I need to explain? Be sure to keep your back straight and stiff. There are some variations, though, to this military classic. A wide grip blasts the chest, whereas keeping your elbows closer to the body hits the triceps. One of my favorite push-up routines is the wheel. Using my feet as the axis, I do a circle of push-ups, doing five reps before rotating to a new position. Variety is always better, so try ‘em all out.
Squats and Lunges
The first body weight squat is a piece of cake; the fiftieth is like molten lava in your quads. Just make sure your ass touches the floor, and you’re good.
Same deal for lunges. Go low and long, scraping your knee on the carpet (or cell floor). Ramp up the difficult by carrying heavy stuff. I like to use a suitcase full of books, sandbags, or our 75-lb Labrador. Especially the dog, cause he squirms and tries to wriggle out of my grasp, doubling the workout intensity.
I realize that this has turned into the Living Room Workout, but my point still stands: you don’t need to join a fancy gym to give your body an awesome workout.
***Picture Thanks to Cronfeld***
on June 16th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
This is awesome. I read Jane’s stuff weekly, and love her/it. BUT… it’s nice to get Greg’s perspective sometimes too. Speaking of which, this is a great workout!
on June 16th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I am going to tell my husband about this post. He is all into CrossFit - so he pretty much already does all of this (esp the burpees - which he LOVES and swears by)… but I don’t know if he does the chair dips… and his deltoids could use the work. Er… I mean, just kidding honey!! hahaha
on June 18th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
i just need time, all i need is time.
on June 19th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
It won’t bulk you up, but yoga is also a good thing to do that doesn’t require tons of iron.
on June 20th, 2008 at 3:25 am
This is a good workout simple yet effective. Most people need some fancy things to get them going though.
on June 23rd, 2008 at 11:51 am
Prison workouts are great! There’s a ton of bodyweight exercises that you can do without equipment that will get you toned and strong.
Check out iron yoga too - that stuff is killer.
on June 30th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I’m going to do this!
Tomorrow….
on June 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
phew. I’m in pretty good shape, but those burpees took it right out of me! I’m going to keep doing them until I’m good at it.
on June 30th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
My father did workouts like this every morning for fifty years, and he was strong as an ox. Healthy, too.
on July 1st, 2008 at 11:19 pm
check out this website. prisonworkout.com
free info. forward to your friends.
I have lost over 20 pounds in 6 weeks and still going.
on July 2nd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
I always knew Burpees as squat thrusts. There is no push up in squat thrusts but the movement is identical and very fast. These are all great exercises.
on July 6th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
As a trainer, I would never have my clients do the deep squat you suggest, as it is awful on the knees. NO, your butt does not need to touch the floor to get the benefit. Squat to 90 degrees and no more; For lunges- lunge until your knee goes as close as 2 inches from the floor, no closer…The chair dips are not a functional exercise. When exactly do you put your shoulders in that position and do a tricep dip? It’s hard on the shoulders for one, and secondly, push ups work your triceps as well, so do something functional, I say! Push-ups are more functional than chair dips!
on July 7th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Thanks, all, for the comments.
CG, it’s funny that you mention the 90 degree squats. Those seem to put a lot more stress on my knees than deep squats. I think it’s the fact that my knees bear the brunt of the weight when I stop partway through, whereas in the deepest squat position your ass rests against your calves. I have a bad knee now, and doing a 90 degree squat is absolute hell on it.
I don’t see how a chair dip is any worse that doing parallel bar dips. It’s possible I didn’t describe the exercise effectively enough, but doing chair dips (as I attempted to describe) is exactly the same as doing bar dips. And yes, pushups are amazing.
on July 15th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Great info. Gotta be creative to stay healthy sometimes.
on July 21st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
This is the type of workout that anyone can do anywhere. It will get you in shape as well. Nice post. Burpees are where it is.
on August 12th, 2008 at 4:53 am
awesome workout for functional fitness
on August 12th, 2008 at 5:05 am
try this workout
burpies 20 reps 2 sets
wide pushups 10 reps
normal pushups 10 reps
clos pushups 10 reps
hindu pushups 10 reps
finger pushups 10 reps
arm raise pushups 10 reps
explosive pushups 10 reps
situps 25 reps 2 sets
jump lunges 50 reps 2 set
wide pullups 5 reps
normal pullups 5 reps
close pullups 5 reps
on August 12th, 2008 at 5:12 am
also what would ‘personal trainers’ know
on September 15th, 2008 at 10:00 am
[...] your muscles! Sites like FitSugar, ExRx.net, and ThePrisonWorkout give you great exercises that don’t require a lot of equipment. Plus, there are always the [...]
on September 16th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Well I am glad at the end you said living room workout LOL. Yes you can give yourself a good workout using your own body weight but you need weights to build true strength and power.
on November 13th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
CG you are not a very good trainer if you do not do squats past parallel. All of your weight is on the knee putting undue pressure on the joint if you are not below parallel. You need to find out about Crossfit and be a real trainer.