Paul Wade (4)

Alternative title: how to stave off cabin fever and stop your body from wasting away completely while stranded in the most boring city in the continental United States.

This is an excellent introduction to body weight conditioning. Of the 6 progressions laid out toward mastery (pushup to one arm pushup, squat to full one leg squat, pullup to full one arm pullup, leg raise to hanging straight leg raise and then extra beyond to windshield wipers, bridge to stand to stand bridge, handstand push from crow stands to one arm handstand pushup) all are within the capabilities of a dedicated individual and start low enough that a mildly fit individual can approach show more them. The volume of the workouts is huge, but approached at a achievable pace. I was doing 100 pushups in 6 sets one night, followed the next night by doing 100 squats in 6 sets. One just has to take their time and let their body adjust to this level of output. The advice on approaching the progressions is good. A small lack is that there is no horizontal pull in the sets laid out by Coach Wade. I think he feels that is included in his 6 progressions, and is also hard to do without equipment which is lacking in his environment. Even with the one progression per day pace (6 days per week with a rest day) good progress can be made toward both strength and muscle development. Coach Wade does include a 2 progressions per day workout, but strongly advises postponing that til late in the program. Coach Wade lays out training goals at each of the 10 levels of each progression which are conservative and if followed, ensure one can complete the entire progression with minimal risk of injury. There is a sequel, Convict Conditioning II, which is not as concise, but has excellent advice and some good, but more gymnastic progressions. The sequel needs an editor. This book, Convict Conditioning I, is well edited and is truly a valuable resource for any person interested in body weight conditioning. show less

Convict Conditioning details how to get started and how to improve in bodyweight training. Anyone from a beginner to an expert will be challenged by the book, which includes everything from wall-pushups to one armed handstand pushups and bridges. It was a little too 'he-man' for my taste, but other than that it has a lot of good training advice.

Convict Conditioning 2 builds on the training in Convict Conditioning; there aren't any additional big, full-body moves, but it covers the technical and detail movements like improving grip strength and working around injuries. If you're starting out, Convict Conditioning is the best book for you; if you've read CC already and you're interested in more, pick up CC2.