CONVICT CONDITIONING

A while back, I ordered a copy of Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade. I have purchased many books and DVD's from Dragon Door Publishing and have never been disappointed. I am especially high on Pavel Tsatsouline's work around kettle bells and stretching.

After receiving my copy and devouring the 300 pages in one sitting, I knew that, not only was I not disappointed, I was in for what could well be a two year affair with the most comprehensive book on body weight conditioning that I have ever read.

There is much talk of the author's time in prison, where he painstakingly developed, refined and taught this program. The references to prison life, while not to the point and not applicable to his larger audience, is nevertheless entertaining.

The gist of the book is that nearly anyone can develop incredible strength and flexibility without ever touching a weight. If you read my earlier posting on the TRX system of training, you know that this is right up my alley. This is accomplished by performing 6 basic exercises through 10 progressions per exercise. In fact, I found that I could use the TRX to more effectively execute some of the prescribed movements in Convict Conditioning.

The first progressions are incredibly easy. So easy I think my mother could do them and she has been dead for 45 years. I recently got my wife to do the beginner levels for the 6 exercises and her comment was, "Is that it?!". Regarless, everyone no matter what level of fitness they enjoy, is admonished to start at the beginning. Absolutely resist the temptation to skip ahead. This has the effect of conditioning the ligaments and tendons and preparing the joints for the more challenging excercises to follow. Don't worry, you are in for some really tough workouts down the road. Tough, but, in my opinion far safer, because you have properly prepared the body through the time you have invested in the easier work. These gentle progressions have other benefits, you leave each exercise bout feeling refreshed, not totally drained from over (s)training, and when you have finished the progressions at one level, you are confident that you are prepared to take on the beginning repetitions of the next exercise.

I reluctantly did this and about two weeks into the program I was despairing my loss of definition. When I got to the third level of progressions in push-ups, pull-ups and squats, I suddenly noticed that my definition was back and I had lost an inch or so off my waist. The most important thing though was that my poor shoulders, shredded from years of too much weight too fast, had not felt so good in a very long time and I am thinking, maybe I don't need surgery after all!

I do not know if, at 65, I will ever achieve the elite levels of (1.) 1 set of 100 one arm push-ups (2.) 2 sets of 50 one legged squats, (3.) 2 sets of 6 one armed pull-ups (4.) 2 sets of 30 hanging straight leg raises (5.) 2 sets of 30 stand to stand bridges (6.) 2 sets of 5 one arm hand stand pushups. I know that I am going to just happily follow the progressions in no particular hurry and see where it takes me. As they say, I will keep you "posted".

I do not know a single soul connected with this book or Dragon Door Publishing. I am not receiving one red cent for writing this article, but I just wanted tell you about a really good thing when I heard about it and after I had a chance to try it out on myself as well as on two of my clients who are also happy with the results they are achieving.

Yours in health,

Walt