My progress through Convict Conditioning

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

I've been looking to save money so I cut out going to the gym.
I did the whole bodybuilding thing. It was okay for awhile. Made my body look real nice and pretty, but hey - I wasn't any stronger. I couldn't lift things any better or wrestle around any better. Sure, I was more fit, but my body lacked strength.

So I found this convict conditioning book and have been doing it for the past couple of months. I'm going to plot my progress here (why not, eh?) each time I work out. I workout almost every day, unless work calls me, in, so you'll be seeing this thread updated a lot.

Today I'm doing squats and bridges.
Squats
Warm up set 1 : 30 full squats
Warm up set 2 : 20 full squats
Work set 1 : 20 close squats (using a weighted ball to help me get all the way down)
Work set 2 : 20 close squats (with the weighted ball)
I'm going to be repeating this work set throughout the day until I can perform the ass-to-grass movement without the ball. What I do is I descend with the ball, release the ball and try to hold the position for as long as I can.

Bridges
Warm up set 1 : 50 short bridges
Warm up set 2 : 40 short bridges
Straight bridges : I'm having some serious difficulties with this. I'm doing an in-between set to get my body strong enough to perform this properly, so I'm doing the exercises detailed in this video: Convict Conditioning- Step 2- Straight Bridges - YouTube
Work set 1 : 10 table tops
Work set 2 : 10 table tops
I'm very weak with this work set. I'm going to repeating them until I can do 20 of them. I'll just keep repeating throughout the day.

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

I have a cold. I caught some virus somewhere so maybe I'll try to muster up the energy to sweat it out by skipping rope if I have time.

Otherwise, I'll be doing abs and pushups today.
I've been readng Pavel Tsatsouline's book Bullet Proof Abs and he explains the proper way to do a situp or crunch. He also describes how to relieve the pressure on the lower back's psoas muscle group while doing the leg raises and it's shown me that I'm not as strong in my abdominals as I originally thought. I had been doing the hanging leg raise (master step) but I've went down to the flat frog raises, which is step four. I'm going to redo all of these steps, but keeping my lower back straight and firmly pressed against the floor to better isolate my waste muscles.

Abs
Warm up set 1 : 35 Flat Knee Raises
8 Russian Ballet Leg Raises
Warm up set 2 : 30 Flat knee raises
8 Russian Ballet Leg Raises
Work set 1 : 15 Flat Bent Leg Raises
20 Janda situps
8 Russian Ballet Leg Raises
Work set 2 : 15 Flat Bent Leg Raises
20 Janda situps
8 Russian Ballet Leg Raises

Pushups
Warm up set : 20 full pushups
Warm up set 2 : 17 full pushups
Work set 1 : 10 uneven pushups
Work set 2 : 10 uneven pushups

[eiffel Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eiffel]

As a martial artist, I do a lot of bodyweight conditioning as well, and I've also gone through many of the progressions in Convict Conditioning. If you haven't already, you should definitely check out the York Hand Balancing Guide. It's available for free online, and all the progressions require little to no equipment.

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

I will, thank you. I can't at this very moment. The soonest I can would be tomorrow morning.

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Cardio and pull ups today.

i did 30 minutes of running with a 20 pound vest on.

Pull ups
Warm up set 1 : 10 close-grip pull ups
Warm up set 2 : 7 close-grip pull ups
Work set 1 : 2 uneven pull ups (both sides)
Work set 2 : 1 uneven pull ups (both sides)
I did this final work set maybe 4 or 5 more times. I'm really weak in this area, especially my left arm. I keep swinging and lack the stability. My left wrist hurts something fierce if I do it for 4 or more reps, so I'm keeping it small until I build strength.

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

I started with some more pull ups today. I did several 1-rep sets until my forearms got too weak to continue.

I did 40 minutes of running, sans vest.

Working on my handstands today
Warm up set 1 : Wall headstand 1 minute
Warm up set 2 : Wall headstand 1 minute
Work set 1 : Wall headstand 2 minutes (Mastered!) - good 'cause I hated this step.
Work set 2 : Crow stands 20 seconds

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

Pushups

Warm up set 1 : 20 close grip pushups
Warm up set 2 : 16 close grip pushups
Work sets : 8-10 uneven pushups x 4

I also ran to and from my martial arts class today.

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Squats and Bridges

Squats
Warm up set 1 : 20 close squats (with weighted ball)
Warm up set 2 : 20 close squats (without ball)
Work set : 5 Uneven squats
This is impossible for me right now. I lack the balance and strength and flexibility to dip my ass all the way to my calf. I'm going to be working on this for awhile.

By the end of the night, I must have done 4 or 5 sets of these. I used something to stabilize myself to get down and then tried to let go and use my own strength to get back up ... TRIED. By the end of it all, my legs felt really ... weird.

Bridges
Warm up set 1 : 50 Short bridges
Warm up set 2 : 40 short bridges
Work set : 10 table tops
I lack strength here too. I did 6 sets of 10 table tops before I quit. I can't seem to bring my hips all the way up no matter how hard i push. My legs get really weak, specifically my inner thighs.

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Pull ups and Handstands

Pull ups
Warm up set 1 : 10 close grip pull ups
Warm up set 2 : 10 close grip pull ups
Work sets : 1-2 uneven pull ups x 8

Handstands
Warm up set 1 : 2 minute wall headstand
Warm up set 2 : X minute wall headstand
Work sets: Crow stands (17s, 23s, 23s, 23s, 32s)

I really like doing the crow stands. They help build stability and balance. I'm trying to do them where I'm supporting my whole body with muscular tension, rather than resting my legs on my shoulders as CC recommends. I think it will make me that much stronger when I progress to the next step.

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

1 hour of running with a 20 lbs vest on

[Realman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Realman]

Question you are focusing on strength training , so what i want to know for doing this you will get musclar density ?

By gaining strength does this increase baseline metabolic rate or does only happen by increasing muscle mass ?

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

Strength training as I am doing does make the muscles bigger and more compact. I don't know about it increasing your baseline metabolic rate, though.

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Pushups and Leg Raises


Pushups
Warm up set 1 : 20 close-grip pushups
Warm up set 2 : 16 close-grip pushups
Work set 1 : 8 uneven pushups
Work set 2 : 8 uneven pushups
Work set 3 : 9 uneven pushups
Work set 4 : 9 uneven pushups

Leg Raises
Warm up set 1 : 35 Flat knee raises
Warm up set 2 : 25 Flat knee raises
Work set 1 : 7 Russian ballet leg raises + 20 flat bent leg raises
Work set 2 : 7 Russian Ballet leg raises + 30 flat bent leg raises
Work set 3 : 7 Russian ballet leg raises + 30 flat bent leg raises
Work set 4 : 8 Russian ballet leg raises + 30 flat bent leg raises

[faithandhope Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close faithandhope]

Haha, know what I've been doing? No money for the gym etc, so I've been weight lifting with an 80-lb heavy weight punching bag. But I do a weird thing where I basically dead-lift it, do some squats with my arms straight out, and the bag on top of my fists... Yeah, motherfucking hard. Then without putting it down, I do other things like shoulder press, put it on my back for calf raises and tricep pulls, short range curls. Its like a full body workout! And definitely anaerobic, gets my hard pumping more than a run

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

Now slab that bag on your back and go for a jog around the block and up a few stories.
If you can tie it to yourself, you could find some place to to pull ups to work out your arms, shoulders and back.

Sounds like you have a good little workout device there. Just a bag. Imagine that!