Part 1 Preparation Stage
1 Introduction Intro - The process of building strength. 17
2 Calisthenics: The Legendary Bodyweight Exercise, Calisthenics—A Lost Strength Technique. 31
3 The Convict Manifesto - Bodyweight Training vs. Modern Exercise.46
4 Convict Conditioning Exercises - How to Use This Book.63

Part 2: The Big 6 Prisoner Workouts
5 The Pushup - A chest as firm as armor and arms as strong as steel. 79
6 The Squat - Strong Thighs.118
7 The Pullup - A wide back and powerful arms. 165
8 The Leg Raise - The Six Pack from Hell. 210
9 The Bridge - The spine with maximum combat power. 250
10 Handstand Pushups - Strong, Powerful Shoulders. 295

Part 3 Self-Coaching
11 Body Wisdom: The Secrets Learned Through the Body - Unchanging Principles. 339
12 Routines - Prisoner Workout Program.364

Coach Paul Wade, born in extreme space
Bodyweight exercises to build maximum strength

The first humans used only their own body weight to exercise to build strength and tone their bodies.
It's easy to see this when you look at ancient Greek statues, where there were no dumbbells, barbells, or exercise machines.
The author of this book, Coach Paul Wade, spent 19 years in some of the toughest prisons in America.
His sole purpose in coming here to build strength and achieve peak physical condition was survival.
If you appear weak in prison, you can literally die.
His reference to his prison experience in this book is to illustrate that much of the traditional bodyweight training methods that have been passed down from ancient times still remain in the isolated confines of prison.
While serving his sentence, he taught bodyweight training to hundreds of inmates, gaining a wealth of experience that would not have been possible by training alone.
I learned how to adapt my workout regimen to different body types and metabolic rates, the importance of mental training, and how different people need different approaches and motivations.
This allowed us to refine the 'Prisoner Exercise Method' and break it down into smaller pieces so that anyone, regardless of their athletic ability, could easily adopt it.
He became famous for always maintaining the best physical condition in the extreme environment of a prison where there was no exercise equipment, while at the same time being a person who knew everything about training.
Thanks to this, he gained immense popularity and benefits, and also gained confidence that his exercise method was effective.
And with the publication of 『Prisoner Exercise』, I began to live a life not ashamed of my past, but as a mentor and teacher with the power to help the next generation.

You don't have to go to prison to practice the exercises presented in this book.
Just as his workout routine worked in prison, one of the harshest and most brutal environments known to man, it's certain it will work for those outside of it.
If you want to know the most effective exercise method that starts with just your body, without a gym or trainer, pay attention to this book.
A small space to lie down and a little time is enough.


With just six basic movements
Complete the power of men!

The Prisoner Workout consists of six basic movements that move your entire body from head to toe.
In fact, there are thousands of exercise movements that can help you build strength and muscle.
However, a truly effective exercise program can be achieved with just a few basic exercises.
Although the human body has well over 500 muscles, these muscles have evolved to function in harmony with other muscles and the body as a whole.
Attempting to train individual muscles with different exercise movements goes against the body's natural instinct to create a balanced, unified body.
The best way to use your muscles properly is to select a minimal number of exercises that fully utilize your entire body and focus on those movements.
The six basic movements introduced in this book—push-ups, pull-ups, squats, leg raises, bridges, and handstand push-ups—are selected based on basic knowledge of anatomy and exercise physiology, as well as traditional bodyweight exercise methods that have been around for hundreds of years.
This exercise is not just about building muscle that looks good, but about building real, practical strength.
The Prisoner Workout program focuses on developing maximum strength, and this principle is the foundation of the Prisoner Workout system.


Forget the gym! Forget dumbbells! Just do it with bodyweight.

Most people who enjoy weight training value a sleek appearance over functional fitness.
In fact, the muscles in the limbs may have been artificially enlarged, but only the muscle tissue has grown, while the joints and tendons have weakened, causing pain.
If you asked these people to do a single-leg squat with their buttocks low enough to the floor, they would probably tear their knee ligaments.
Also, if you ask them to walk in a handstand position, they will end up falling forward.
Most people are unable to use the strength they possess to maintain balance in their bodies.
This is because you trained to move external objects to build muscle or increase strength.
Training may help you lift weights, but it will diminish important motor skills that allow you to move your body.
The bodyweight exercises introduced in this book do not cause these joint, ligament, or muscle problems.
As strength and stamina improve, agility and flexibility also improve.
Basically, it trains your muscles to move your own body rather than external objects.
When stimulating the body through movement changes, the entire body is used as an integrated unit rather than individual muscles or parts of muscles.
Thanks to this, not only muscles but also tendons, joints, and the nervous system are developed evenly.

The simplest and most effective step-by-step program

The Big 6 movements not only work your upper body, lower body, and abdominal muscles, but also have a stimulating effect on your entire body.
Additionally, the Big 6 movements are divided into 60 movements divided into 10 levels of difficulty.
This is a method of gradually increasing the difficulty of movements according to level, from beginner to expert.
For example, when looking at the squat exercise, you will perform 10 different squat movements step by step.
All are squat variations and are graded by difficulty from level 1 (the easiest) to level 10 (the most difficult).
The 1-step shoulder stand squat is the easiest variation, and the 10-step single-leg full squat is the most difficult variation.
Almost anyone, no matter how weak or frail, can do shoulder stand squats.
However, no matter how healthy or strong you are, few people can do a one-leg squat from the beginning.
The purpose of structuring it into these stages is for the average person exercising alone without any special equipment to gradually increase the level and succeed in doing a one-leg squat.
Therefore, anyone can easily perform exercises that are adjusted to their physical level and exercise ability.
So let's get started right away.