Try This Hypothetical Prison Workout, If You Are Not Actually In Prison

For some reason I like to watch the TV show “Lockup” when they go to various prisons and show how each prison operates.  While watching these shows I often find myself wondering a couple of things.  First, a lot of the guys in there seem pretty fit.  Second, how could I get a good prison workout in if I was in solitary confinement?  That is probably why I purchased and really like Convict Conditioning.  I decided to try and put together a prison workout that would actually give me a good workout. The best part about a prison workout is,  is that you would be doing mainly bodyweight exercises with a lot of free time to spare so you could actually end up making a unique bodyweight workout for each day of the week if you wanted to.  I feel like I need to say that no, I am not glorifying prison, nor am I trying to paint it in a better picture.  Prison is a hard place with a lot of criminals.  So with that said, lets see what my prison workout came out to be and give it a try sometime when you are in a confined space.

Assumptions For The Prison Workout

I wanted to leave the “yard” and equipment out of it since a lot of the violence happens on the yard.  Plus since I am a huge advocate for bodyweight workouts, it just fits my style.  So the first assumption of the prison workout is you only have your bodyweight.  The second assumption of the prison workout is that you have limited space.  Maybe a 8×8 or 10×10 space at the most.  The third assumption of the prison workout is that you probably have some sort of entertainment, like a deck of cards, or dice.  The final assumption for the prison workout is that you have an abundance of time to come up with various bodyweight workout routines.  But for this post, I am only going to detail as if I had one day to come up with and complete a prison workout.

Here Is My Prison Workout Routine

Prison Workout Exercise #1

50 Burpees. Anytime you do over 15 burpees you are getting your blood pumping, increasing you heart rate, and getting one heck of a warm up.  After doing 50 full burpees, that means jumping at the top, I would be warm enough to move onto my next bodyweight exercise.  If you don’t know what a burpee is, download my free e-book at the bottom of this page. I give an in depth explanation and provide a three step photo on how to do them.

Prison Workout Exercise #2

Hindu Squats. Hindu squats will further amp up my heart rate and would get me into a nice flop sweat.  I would do hindu squats for 1 minute straight.  After the burpees and the hindu squats, I would need to switch to my upper body

Prison Workout Exercise #3

Playing cards push ups. I would grab a deck of cards, scatter them on the floor or bed and flip one over at a time.  Face cards would be worth 10 reps, aces worth 11 reps, all other cards would be the rep amount shown on the card.  I would also have with each suit, such as hearts, be a certain type of push up.  So hearts could be plyo push ups for example.

Prison Workout Exercise #4

Jump Squats. I would do jump squats for one minute straight.  By this time in the prison workout, I would be fully sweating and feeling the burn.

[These Guys Are Getting A Workout In Just By Using A Towel!]

Prison Workout Exercise #5

Planks. I would do front planks for 2 minutes.  If you have ever done planks for 2 minutes straight you know they are challenging.  They would be even more challenging after all of these other bodyweight exercises.

Prison Workout Exercise #6

Pike Presses. I would do as many pike presses as I could until I went to failure.  If you don’t know what pike presses are, they are also in my free e-book at the bottom of the page.

Prison Workout Exercise #7

One leg Wall Squats. I hate these, but they are highly effective.  I would try and do 1 minute total, 30 seconds on each leg.

Prison Workout Exercise #8

Back to the playing card push ups to finish off my chest.  I am willing to bet at this point I would be close to being fried.

Prison Workout Exercise #9

Planks. I would more than likely end the prison workout with 2 minute planks.

Final Thoughts On My Prison Workout

I actually created this Prison Workout as I was typing this post.  So, I have not tried it yet.  But just by typing it and creating it I am actually excited to give it a try in the next couple of days.  I think I will go for two rounds of the prison workout.  If you have a little creativity you can create a workout in nearly every scenario.  I think that a lot fo people get hung up on going to the gym and needing their “equipment” to get a workout in.  But, all you need is your bodyweight and a little room and you are good to go in my book.  Hope you give this prison workout a try!