Over the pandemic, lots of people were shut indoors and thrown off their usual rhythms. Daily
walks, jogs, or trips to the gym were put on hold for way too long. It’s been harsh on the physiques
of many who fell into some bad habits when no one was around to motivate them or in the absence
of workout equipment. Yet, for a few, it seems like the lockdowns helped out their bodies. If
anything, they found out the best way to get in shape, for themselves. Why?
While we were all locked up in our homes, prisons continued to function more or less the same,
keeping inmates locked up in their cells and calling it “quarantine” when it was really just business as
usual. And those guys stayed fit the whole time, too. That’s proof enough that being trapped in your
own home like it was a personal, well furnished prison cell isn’t an excuse to lose your fitness. It’s an
opportunity to gain a good fitness level.
The Home Dwellers Challenge
At home, you’re stuck in the identity you have when you’re at home. And what is that? It’s not your
work identity, which you associate with being at work. It’s not the identity which you associate when
you’re somewhere new or with someone you like, at their house or at a cafe’ or whatnot. Your private
life carries its own psychological profile where you feel safe, and therefore, unmotivated. Why should
you struggle or try hard when you’re at home? Home is used to relax and pass time. Many times
home is used as a place to not even feel the time passed using a variation of methods.
The last two years shook things up for a lot of people. Suddenly, that at-home persona wasn’t getting
work done. They were pushing off responsibilities and losing track of their routines. Because they
were at home all the time, they were subconsciously staying relaxed all the time. There was no space
they could go to, depending on how severe their lock downs were, to break out of that rhythm.
Prisoner’s Dilemma
The difference is in the use of space. This psychological trick works anywhere.
- break down associations of space not just by room.
- break down associations by segments of a room.
Prisoners do this in jail. They have tiny jail cells, cramped and confining, yet in those spaces, they
find and a lot square footage for different purposes. The bed is for sleeping. Toilet for toilet-ing. The
rest of the floor space is theirs to control and manage. They can read, play games, hang out, or work
out. Those who work out are in the best shape and stay in shape even when the yard is closed or
occupied. It’s a simple process. If you have room to do a push-up, you have the space you need to
use human psychology to your advantage. Even if that space is against a wall. If you have a wall, you
can do a push-up.
No Space, No Problem
Prison workouts rely on simple but effective self-motivated workouts to stay in shape. Some jails don’t
have any equipment at all, or access is restricted to inmates to a degree that it becomes unreliable to
keep a consistent schedule. But there’s always space in an inmate’s room to move. Push-ups work
the upper body; squats work the lower body; crunches work the mid-section; pull-ups work the lats
and shoulders, and that’s it. Pick a body part, pick a day, and rest when the whole body is done to
begin the cycle again.
Pull-ups can be done from anything that’s overhanging, like the rail of a cell door, or railing outside in
the yard whether it’s meant for working out or not. A prisoner will use whatever they can. That should
be your method, too within reason. As long as it works, use it. It doesn’t have to be state-of-the-art or
belong to a gym, it just has to do what you need it to do. Banister railing for a balcony or a low
hanging tree branch in the yard are substitutes. If you live in a walk-up, you have a whole set of stairs
for a workout.
If Prisoners can Stay in Shape, So Can you
No matter what, even the most restricted and confined prisoners can still work out – and so can you. If
there’s space to fit your body for a bed, there’s space to get in the most basic, staple push-up
workout. And if there’s space to stand, you can alter the angle with against-the-wall push-ups to take
the load off your chest and add it to your arms or shoulders.
- Start by picking one section of the floor, a corner of your main living room or home office, anywhere that’s clear and without distractions, clean it up a bit, and start doing push-ups.
- Do them every day or every other day, in whatever amount you’re comfortable doing, in order to “mark” the territory.
- That space in your room will become a “gym”.
- You will associate it with working out and can expand it slowly by adding more routines and sets.
If you can do push-ups in a space, that space is enough to get fit 24/7 in.
Unless you’re reading this from prison, you have way more space than you realize, more than you
might even know how to use. If prisoners can make their space work out for them, you can too!
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