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. Aside from the typical trappings of prison life, it is possible to still get a great workout while you're there, however I don't recommend getting locked up just to improve your physique. The idea behind the prison workout routine is to use bodyweight exercises for strength improvement, rather than utilizing gym equipment.
You can use a prison workout routine anytime and anywhere - no special equipment is required. 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. So what does it take to build functional strength simply through the use of bodyweight exercise?
A Core Group of Bodyweight Exercises
Using only your body weight, there are many different types of exercise combinations that can be accomplished. Here are a few examples of the exercises that have given me great results. Most bodyweight exercises require you to make compound movements throughout your routine. You will achieve a lot more muscle growth when you do compound movements. Consider the muscles that are used to do isolated exercises such as bicep curls and bench presses, yet when you do bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups and push-ups, you use a wider range of muscle groups.
The burpee is an exercise that will give you a full body workout. You start off in a standing position, move to a squat and then throw your legs into a push-up position. One you complete a push-up, you need to quickly bring your legs back into the squatting position and jump up to stand again. This combination will give you a fantastic arm and leg workout, and will give you some excellent cardio work as well.
Upper Bodyweight Exercises
Perhaps the top staple of any bodyweight routine is the pull-up. You just need something to hang from in order to do it. 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 want to go all out since you really are not in prison, there is a machine called a dip station that you can use too. To complete a dip, just lower your body until your arms are parallel with the ground and then push back up. Dips will work your triceps and your chest muscles.
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 other objects are required to complete a proper push-up. 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.
Lower Bodyweight Exercises
One more element that you need to know about are squats. All you need to do is squat down, stand back up and repeat. If this is too easy for you there are other moves. You can try out one-legged squats or even squat jumps.
For extra lower bodyweight exercise you should try out a variety of plyometric exercises. These include lateral jumps, depth jumps, leap ups and step ups, all of which help to increase strength in the calf, hamstring and quad regions.
Ab Exercises
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. A lot of people think that planks are just a yoga type exercise. However, you will see amazing results if you can do left, right and straight planks for up to 3 minutes each position.
Once again, you won't need any fancy equipment or a lot of space to accomplish these exercises. This is the core foundation of what the prison workout routine is based on. Start using bodyweight exercises for strength now!
