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Bodybuilding and Weight Lifting in Prison

By Zach Bashore

We all make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes lead us into jail. While you're sitting in your cell complaining about how stupid you were to be there, why not do something positive for yourself like bodybuild? Why not turn your life around and actually be in control for once? "So now what?" you say. Well now is when knowledge will become your best friend. Training, nutrition, and rest are three important factors when it comes to building a great body in prison.

Creating a good workout routine will depend on what type of equipment you use. Books, drawers, shoes are all good alternatives to dumbells if you don't have access to any. You can also do plenty of exercises with your own bodyweight such as push ups, crunches, leg raises, supermans, bridges, bench dips, air bike, freehand jump squat, and glute kickbacks. Choose from some the exercises above and create your own routine. My jail cell had an exercise bike which is a good form of cardio other good methods are jumping jacks, burpies, and if you're desperate just walk or jog around in your cell. If you can, try to find a good training partner as well to help you stay motivated. It also will look better when you're not the only person exercising.

Since your only fed three meals a day, getting good nutrients is going to be tough. Most meals consist of high GI carbs, foods high in saturated fat, and not much protein so you've got to be smart when choosing what you eat. A good trick is to eat all the healthy foods on your tray and afterwards go around looking for leftovers to help fill you up. Since most trays consist of at least one sort of junk food, you should trade that junk to somebody for something healthy. Just don't let the security guard catch you. You're also going to have to time your meals so you can perform your exercises and do your best to get your post workout nutrition afterwards. You also have to remember to drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated. A good rule is to look at your piss and if it's yellow then you need to drink more water.

In my jail, getting enough sleep is very difficult. People are always complaining and yelling stupid stuff in the dorm so it's very difficult to get enough. One way I found is asking for earplugs if they allow them which will help out alot. You're not going to be very active and you will be sitting around alot so you shouldn't have any reason to worry about overtraining. On your last meal of the day, try to eat fibrous or complex carbs because they will help you sleep better.

Those are some basic bodybuilding principles to use while you're in jail. You should be able to keep your goals even while in prison if you want it enough. I wrote this article sitting in a jail cell with the hopes that other bodybuilders survive while being locked up. Until next time keep your head up and stay hungry. Peace.

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