1. Convict Conditioning - Book Review
The books Convict Conditioning 1 and 2, by Paul "Coach" Wade, argue that the human body is its
own gym, and even lay out training progressions, detailed explanations and diagrams of the
exercises, and information on "old school" calisthenics / body weight conditioning for insane
strength. I have been working through the progressions personally, and teaching from the books
to students in my boxing, MMA, and karate classes. I can say that the progressions are the real
deal. The body was built to run, jump, climb, push, and pull - all of these being survival skills.
Convict Conditioning teaches these in its training progressions. Essentially, body weight
conditioning is the way to go for optimal athletic performance. From easy wall pushups to one
armed pushups, remedial pull ups, basic ab work to hanging leg raises, and many other types of
exercises. All in all, I would argue that a lot of these exercises are similar to what is taught in
many martial arts and karate classes, especially the pushups, squats, and leg raises.
The author also argues against what he calls the
modern fitness scam. We're put on a variety of weight
machines that isolate muscles, or work out on a bench
and told to work out to pressing or curling genuinely
heavy amounts of weight, or lifting very light free
weights for lots of reps. Sure, we do see some results,
and there's no doubting the serious strength exhibited
by the world's best bench pressers. Although, on the
other hand, the body was not meant to handle those
kinds of loads - the joints and tendons don't naturally cope with them. Also, machines, heavy
benching, and light free weights do very little for overall health or overall functional strength,
especially compared to body weight conditioning.
Prison inmates won't always have access to any kind of equipment. Hence, the name Convict
Conditioning - the author's training progressions lay out a lot of things that prisoners practice
when in lockdown. The argument is not that the prison lifestyle is something to be sought after,
but that the human body is its own gym. All you need, at most, are a wall, something to hang
from, a chair, a tennis ball, and a medicine ball or basketball.
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Convict Conditioning also contains history about exercise and old school strongmen, as well as
details on warming up, supplementary exercises, workout routines from beginner to very

2. advanced, and more. The second book goes beyond the basics, and includes such things as
training progressions for the neck, forearms, and calves, and how to train your joints.
The full body, functional strength training that Paul Wade lays out is very beneficial to athletic
performance in general, and certainly for martial arts. I especially recommend his books to
everyone enrolled in self defense, Kungfu, Taekwondo, and Karate classes, or similar styles.
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