The Jailhouse Method is a descending order of repetitions. I would also do dips on a half-wallkind of like youre climbing over a fence. Hindu Push-up. I had no excuses. Return to the center and lower your body under control. Thats one rep. One-Arm Straight Leg Raise. The perfect pushup works multiple muscle groups including the chest, anterior deltoid, and triceps. Squat down again to place the first card on top of the second card. The short answer is creativity and repetition. I wouldnt Q this workout live, but it works as a virtual Q. PAX can modify and take extra time between sets as needed. If you've ever wondered how prisoners get big and ripped without weights, keep reading to learn about the prison workout. Does Cardio Burn Muscle? I've just recently released a book about surviving prison and how to create your best body. You can plan out your reps or just do them as you feel. Hang two towels from your bar and grip one in each hand. Basketball helped me develop a lot of relationships. Along with T-shirt-popping biceps and shoulders that could take out doorjambs, Tyson's thighs filled out his trademark black trunks like never before. The rep scheme looks like this: * Set 1: 20 Reps * Set 2: 1 Rep * Set 3: 19 Reps * Set 4: 2 Reps * Set 5: 18 Reps * Set 6: 3 Reps * Set 7: 17 Reps * Set 8: 4 Reps * Set 9: 16 Reps * Set 10: 5 Reps * Set 11: 15 Reps * Set 12: 6 Reps * Set 13: 14 Reps * Set 14: 7 Reps * Set 15: 13 Reps * Set 16: 8 Reps * Set 17: 12 Reps * Set 18: 9 Reps * Set 19: 11 Reps * Set 20: 10 Reps So on the odd sets, youre starting from 20 reps, going down a rep every odd set, and on the even sets, youre starting from 1 rep and going up a rep every even set. One Exercise a Day. Perform a burpee normally, but when you leap up grab the bar and perform a pull-up. Burpee With Hindu Push-up. There are entire routines to help you accomplish this Herculean feat (and perhaps well hit on it in the future), but one of the best exercises to help you segue into a pistol squat is to perform the assisted variety. The leg that youre not squatting with sticks out right in front of you when youre in the squat position. The Juarez Valley Push-up Merkin Challenge 2. The strength benefits of bodyweight squats were evident when a bigger and broader Mike Tyson came back to boxing after his three-year stint in a correctional facility. Make sure to get a good stretch in your back. Typewriter Pull-up. Instead, he talks about the workout and why he chose to include certain exercises and rep schemes. Ryan Ferguson, once wrongfully convicted of murder and freed after spending 10 years in prison, spoke with "48 Hours'" Erin Moriarty, who has covered his story from the beginning. For face cardsjack, queen, and kingdo 10 push-ups. I didnt know I was going to get let out at the time. Ferguson began to dedicate his attention to exercise and health after he was imprisoned. Then I did six sets of bent-over rows with an alternating grip, which is going to work your upper lats and lower lats. Ryan Ferguson Abs, The Jaurez Valley Merkin (technically called Push-up) Challenge. Its free. It was good but I think Ryans training style is more conducive to a body part split. Each suit represents one exercise and each card represents a number of reps with jack being 11, thequeen being 12, the king 13, and the joker 14. They're also similar to a boxer lowering his body to evade punches or to generate power in his punches. Now repeat, squatting once per card before advancing on. Get in position by standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Each of these prison workouts should take 30 minutes or less. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. You can make them more difficult by placing weighted objects in your lap. Ryan has a unique training style that embraces things like isolating muscles, high volume, time under tension, and using mechanical disadvantages to make muscles work harder. Within the first few days I remember speaking to my father and he told me, "Son, I cant protect you. By training one muscle group, I really mean youll isolate and destroy it. The Jaurez Valley Merkin (technically called Push . Slowly bend your elbows and lower your inverted body towards the ground. In just one exercise, you work your quads, hamstrings, glutes, hips, and inner thighs. They see that. At this point, youll have no cards in your hand, and 2 cards will be one on top of the other on the ground below you. Prisoner Squat. Rinse and repeat until you have all 10 cards in your hand and you have completed 100 squats total. Perform a burpee normally, but when you leap up grab the bar and perform a pull-up. Yesterday, for example, after a brief warm-up I did pull-ups and bent over rows. After a decade behind bars for a murder he did not commit, Ryan Ferguson learned that physical strength and confidence are keys to survival - he now shares his strength secrets in Stronger, Faster, Smarter--the smartest, realest, and most doable fitness guide you'll ever read. There are century sets where youre doing sets of 100 reps. And there are rest-pause sets and drop sets. I used to wonder why guys wouldnt use the time in there more. Prison? Another day I would do pull-ups. When your feet are back on the ground, immediately sink into another squat and jump again. Locked up for 5-10 years? Burpees The burpee is the ultimate full-body exercise. In between sets I would do ten pushups, just to get contrastpush/pull. Like Ryans other programs, each workout has a video demonstration and a text page with the set and rep schemes listed. The prison workout is a mostly bodyweight exercise routine anyone can do anywhere, even in a jail cell. Youll have achieved top-dog, alpha-male-prisoner, beast-mode status when you can perform multiple one-handed pull-ups. I always start with a compound move two. Throw in one set in the morning before work andone set before going to sleep and youll bang out 100 burpees in a single day without breaking much sweat. ! It's a rep scheme you can apply to any exercise. Below we highlight bodyweight exercises used by prisoners the world over to get strong and stay strong. Travel a lot? After finishing the full gym program (twice), I bought Ryans 30-Day Garage Gym Program. But how do they do it? If you have nothing but time your hands, do these workouts twice a day. It was a lot more when I was in there, because I was like, "Just do this, do these moves, forget that other stuff.. One of his best friends turned on him, and gave damning (false) testimony that . Ferguson was convicted despite no physical evidence against him and sentenced to forty years in maximum-security prison. Your posture should remain upright, and your front knee should stay above the front foot. After each set is performed, walk 16 feet: 8 feet across your cellor motel room, in this caseand 8 feet back. For hypertrophy and endurance, simply do one set of each exercise for as many reps as you can. 54.7k Followers, 745 Following, 542 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Ryan Ferguson (@lifeafterten) lifeafterten. The set breakdown didnt matter, what mattered was hitting the number before the one hour mark. * Squat once and pick up the second card. You might set up a system where every half hour, you perform ten push-ups. For men who are locked up, being strong and looking strong isnt just about aesthetics and personal development; the appearance of size and prowess acts as a deterrent to attack and can be necessary for survival. . That's it. Youre only going to be doing one during this circuit. Thats one rep. One-Arm Straight Leg Raise. One-Armed Push-up. According to the book he wrote in prison, Solitary Fitness, Bronson performs 2,000 push-ups a day. It all comes down to how hard you push yourself. Strength+cardio in a single workout. To track your progress, keep these benchmarks in mind: Below 24 minutes = good, below 20 minutes = excellent, below 15 minutes = you own the yard and the warden will call you "sir.". When Ryan Ferguson was locked up in a Missouri jail from 2004 to 2013 after being wrongly convicted of murder, he started a routine where he focused on just one exercise a day. Apply Bed Bath and Beyond Coupon and save 25% Off your entire purchase, Target Circle: up to 50% Off with Target promo code, Shop the new Polo Ralph Lauren x ASOS Exclusive Collection from $99, Michael Kors Promo Code: sign up for KORSVIP + Get 10% Off on first order, 2023 Cond Nast. They would bring in coffee at five oclock in the morning in this round jug. They have about twenty fid machines that people used. If the doorframe is wide enough, you could do some pull-ups from there though, theyll be more like finger pull-ups. RyanFergusonFitness.com A plyometric version of the squat to build explosiveness. It also has a text layout with the exercise order, reps and sets, and picture demonstrations. * Squat once and pick up the first card. So you became the de facto trainer at the prison gym. Once youve got your desired weight, simply squat. On an eight-hour work day, doing 10 reps per hour equals 80 burpees. Lets say squats, for example. I do greasing the groove with pull-ups. Just like you would be doing it in a gym with fancy equipment, you can do it at home or at a park with common objects. Come up. Each set descends by one repetition. Once youve got your desired weight, simply squat. They had two treadmills; in the wintertime that wasnt even close to enough. Perform a straight leg raise while holding onto the towels. Pick an exercise. Ryan Ferguson Fitness. Kids Workout Video at home 30mins Family fun with Ryan's World!! If there is a workout that can be done solitary in a jail cell, it can easily be done in a living room, garage or backyard. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. By increasing the tempo and decreasing the rest between sets and exercises, you can turn a bodyweight workout into both a high-intensity cardio session and a strength workout. Did all those reps and lack of proper nutrition kill his gains and just make him good at doing push-ups? The lower-body workout is designed to take 30 minutessee how much time you have left after doing the Tyson Squats and plan accordingly. For men who are locked up, being strong and looking strong isnt just about aesthetics and personal development; the appearance of size and prowess acts as a deterrent to attack and can be necessary for survival. Shift your hand into a chin-up position, and youll work your biceps more and train your lats in a different way. How many of us really understand that every moment counts, and that physical strength and confidence enable our . We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. For instance, once you can do 100 push-ups in a single go, start doing them with a clap, then add a behind-the-back clap, then start doing them on your fingertips, etc. While you might not have access to a barbell, you can find odd objects in your environment that you can hoist up on your shoulders or hold in front of your chest. Hi, I'm Ryan Ferguson! Think of it as a modern day video game. I was just surviving and doing what I do. Even for a bodyweight pro, a Tyson pistol squat workout is no walk in the park. There was no gym in the county jail where you were held during trial. The basketball game there is like street ball. When cons don't have access to the iron (as is the case in the California penal system), they train legs by putting a fellow inmate on their shoulders while doing squats. Dont have time to make it to the gym? In 30 minutes, youll be done with your exercise for the day. Then squat down a second time to pick up the second card. Basic Burpee. You can add cards as your strength and endurance increase. Hang two towels from your bar and grip one in each hand. To perform a basic burpee, just follow these instructions: Burpee With Push-up. Variation is what sparks growth and helps you break through longstanding performance plateaus. The overall design and layout remain the same but Ryan introduces some new exercises and variations in this program. They know that you have the exact same tools as they haveI dont have any more weights than you have. Finish it off with ten burpees for good measure. Grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. A Guide for Everyone. At this point, youll have no cards in your hand, and 2 cards will be one on top of the other on the ground below you. Proceed with this pattern until you've moved through all ten cards in the line. To develop his tree trunks, it is said that Tyson's leg workout during his time behind bars was the following: Start with 10 cards. The Garage Gym Program is tailored to the equipment you might have available to you at home. After a decade behind bars for a murder he did not commit, Ryan Ferguson learned that physical strength and confidence are keys to survival - he now shares his strength secrets in Stronger, Faster, Smarter--the smartest, realest, and most doable fitness guide you'll ever read. Ryan Ferguson is an American man who spent nearly a decade in prison for the 2001 murder of Kent Heitholt. Unlike the Jailhouse Method, the Juarez Valley Method is, well, like a valley. Kick your feet back to a push-up position. If you cant do a straight leg raise, you can modify it by bending your knees and raising them into your chest. Thats not an excuse for not exercising. The most daunting thing about Ryan's workouts is the volume. When researching potential workouts, I came across several articles on prison workouts which piqued my interest. If youre bored at home or at work, then this is the thing for you. You had to take toilet paper and roll it up and put it over the grate so it wouldnt hurt your hands. 3 exercises. If they're too easy, try more advanced variations of each exercise. Do one bodyweight squat. A plyometric version of the squat to build explosiveness. An additional benefit of pull-ups is that they can be completed in a number of ways, each of which targets different muscles while offering a means to stave off mental fatigue. Each workout has a video of Ryan demonstrating the exercises and making a few jokes. Theres a ton of volume in this one. Thats the number one thing about working out, health and fitness, life in general. Commando Pull-up. Mike Tyson Squats 3. Break it out into however many sets that you want. To perform a basic burpee, just follow these instructions: * Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you. Dont have time to make it to the gym? Youll hit each body part once a week but you will be destroying it in that one workout with volume. When its all said and done, youll have completed 210 reps. Perform a straight leg raise as you normally would, but instead of stopping when your feet rise above your hips, keep going until your toes touch the bar. Ryan finds ways to sufficiently stress a muscle with whatever is available. Slow down your pull-up speed to the point that it takes you a minute to crank up a single pull-up. Straight Leg Raises. Burpees are performed in a number of variations, with some offering increased upper-body training and others offering explosive lower-body strength benefits. If you dont have access to that, monkey bars or even a tree limb at a park will work. Take 10 cards out of your deck and place them on the floor about three to four inches apart. It's ideal for the "one exercise per day" training plan, where you do a single exercise per day, rotating between an upper-body push, upper-body pull, and lower body exercise, i.e. This is a core blaster. The Jailhouse 20 is a total of 210 repetitions, where set 1 is performed with 20 repetitions, set 2 is 19 repetitions, set 3 is 18 repetitions, set 4 is 17, and so on. 745 following. Ryan Ferguson writes a new fitness book, Stronger, Faster, Smarter, after serving 10 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Its free. And not only did I read everything, I tried everything. Squat down until your thighs are below parallel. When did you first realize that? Wayfair Huge Deal-A-Thon - Up to 60% off everything! I just got out of prison after 10 years for a crime I had nothing to do with. Now, move your body toward one hand, taking some of the weight off the opposite hand. Earlier this year, the 30-year-old published Stronger, Faster, Smarter, a book that details the lessons he learned about body and mind during his ten years behind bars. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on. 200 total reps, your choice of ab exercises: WWII, Ski Abs, Flutter kicks or LBC. 12,172 likes. Pull-up Variations Just like the push-up, pull-ups can be modified to work different muscles groups or to make the exercise more difficult. Facebook gives people the power to. If you need time between the reps, take the time. To perform the Hindu push-up, youre going to make sort of a swooping motion with your body. Prisoners all over the world have created highly effective strength-building routines they can perform in the tiny space of their cell or with limited equipment in the jail yard. In prison, getting ripped helped save Fergusons life and sanity. Perform a straight leg raise, but when your feet come to the top positions, brace your abs and rotate your legs to one side as far as you can. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. I dont know many ex-cons, but prisoners seem to be jacked, or maybe I just watch too many movies. This is How Not to Ruin Your Gains, A Week of CrossFit Workouts for Beginners. Got a deck of cards? One hand grips the bar overhand and the other underhand. Instead of just doing a full push-up, make it a Hindu push-up. Once you purchase it, youll be able to log in and see the workouts. Eventually, you can take off these training wheels and do a freestanding one. This program was used by former Spetsnaz (Soviet Special Forces) trainer Pavel Tsatsouline to quickly increase pull-up repetition capabilities. I told my dad, I told my girlfriend. By simply adjusting the placement of your hands, you can emphasize different muscle groups. Updated by the minute, our Dallas Cowboys NFL Tracker: News and views and moves inside The Star and around the league . When you turn up an ace, do 11 push-ups. Bring your head down and forward by bending your elbows. Family fun dancing and doing exercise for kids with Ryan's World! This program is also $19.99 and I highly recommend this one as well, especially for anyone training in a home gym or even in hotel gyms. Perhaps the most readily accessible routine for pull-ups is the pyramid program. Perform a straight leg raise while holding onto the towels. Stay on top of your fitness goals with online personal trainer Ryan Ferguson. There are times when you're on business trips and away from the comforts of home. The workouts change every week. Ryan ferguson. 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In the garage program, its all dumbbell, barbell, and bodyweight exercises. I graduated in May 2015 from Virginia Tech with a double major in Accounting (CPA Candidate) and Finance (CFA). * Immediately return your feet to the squat position. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise program or dietary supplements. Kent's murder remained unsolved for two years after he was found beaten and strangled in the parking lot of the Columbia Daily Tribune, where he worked as an editor.. A break in the case happened when Ferguson's friend, Charles Erikson, told police that he believed he and Ryan were . A deck of cards has four suits; hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades. . The rest assume you have access to a full gym. The goal is to work your way up so that you can complete 500 reps in an hour. If youre looking for a little guidance, though, here are a few suggestions: Deck of Pain This is supposedly a favorite workout routine amongst prisoners because they usually have a deck of cards handy. Dont have the money for a gym membership or purchasing your own equipment? A Jailhouse 30 is a total of 465 repetitions.