Strength Training- Prisoner style!

One thing I was always been taught growing up is that we can learn something from individuals from all walks of life and as a personal trainer, this has certainly been the case.

I can honestly say I have likely seen and dealt with every physical and psychological condition known to man, but one of the most interesting lately came to me in the form of a client training for a particularly important purpose.

Facing a year of jail time after a felony for petty theft, this individual came to me with one goal: get as strong and fast as possible to avoid dropping the soap!

Because space (or free weights) is not exactly at a premium in a 8 by 10 cell, the routine I designed for him was based purely upon bodyweight to get him as strong and agile as possible to avoid becoming jail bait.

Based upon the push up, squat, split squat and chin up, this routine combined these traditional exercises with plyometric jumping and isometric holds to increase the force placed upon the muscles themselves.

In order to extend time under tension, we also involved complexing—which means performing several push up variations together—and came away with a program which looked something like this:


Day 1) Power emphasis: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
A-1 Plyo-push up 3 x 5 3 x 8 3 x 10
A-2 Push up 3 x 5 3 x 8 3 x 10
A-3 Push up hold 10 sec 20 sec 30 sec
B-1 Split jump 3 x 5 3 x 8 3 x 10
B-2 Split squat 3 x 5 3 x 8 3 x 10
B-3 Split squat hold 10 sec 20 sec 30 sec
- Perform upper body exercises back to back with no rest. Rest and repeat for lower. Perform total circuit three times in this fashion

Day 1 video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7kpSzC491s

Day 2) Repetition emphasis Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
A-1 RFE push up 3 x 5 3 x 8 3 x 10
A-2 Floor push up 3 x 8 3 x 10 3 x 12
A-3 Incline push up Failure Failure Failure
B-1 DB front squat 3 x 8 3 x 12 3 x 15
B-2 DB backward lunge 3 x 8 3 x 12 3 x 15
B-3 DB squat jump 3 x 8 3 x 12 3 x 15

Day 2 video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-gtOGd4mZQ

By cycling different strength qualities—isometric, eccentric, maximal effort—we prevent the body from adapting to the same movements while building as much useful strength as possible.

Stay tuned for my next blog where I post the metabolic/agility circuits we designed to keep Dustin out of harm’s way!