Prison Workouts...from the beginning

A little update of the Prison Workout...

It all began on Monday, October 13th.  I thought I'd be doing it alongside a few coworkers --- but it quickly turned into cross-country participation. Our friend "The Chief" used his powers of influence to gather some support, and here we are....lots of committed followers!! Excellent.

The Prison Workout was designed as a bodyweight-only program. It demanded participants learn new movement patterns and work their joints and muscles through full ranges of motion. The only equipment I suggested was a pullup bar.  The program consisted of 25 workouts over 5 weeks.  (They have since been numbered 1 through 25 for those who continue to join us.)  I posted (or stole) various YouTube videos for participants to watch and learn new exercises.

As we all began to get closer to that 5th week, I was pressured into developing another program building upon the skills learned in the original PWO.  This "PWO2" included either a single dumbbell or a kettlebell, and a pullup bar.  The movement patterns were relatively the same, but now included weighted resistance.  New more challenging movements were also added. These 26 workouts were lettered A through Z.  Variety, short time durations, and very limited equipment were all factored into the daily workouts.

So some of us are nearing the end of PWO2.  And the question again arises: What's next?

That is a great question. I'm afraid I don't have an easy answer for that yet. (I am working on a post about post-prison ideas.)  I DO have specific plans for myself. I will be returning to gymnastics ring training, parallettes, barbell lifts, upper-body plyometrics, and medicine balls. I am going to be doing exercises that focus on strength, and probably less MetCon workouts. I will also be adding more long distance running/cycling/kayaking in preparation for a 24-hour adventure race.  And of course...stair training. I love the variety!!!

I'm not sure I have the qualifications to develop anything more advanced than these first two MetCon workout programs.  I fear any "blanket program" will not address certain INDIVIDUAL needs. Each of us have certain weaknesses that need specific goal-oriented programs.  The PWOs have addressed certain aspects of fitness that are most often neglected.  But there is more to well-rounded fitness than the PWOs themselves. For many of us, these structured WOs were a great way to break into another world of physical fitness.  But we have only just begun to scratch the surface.... I assume CrossFit.com will be a likely home for some of you. They pride themselves on variety and randomness, as evidenced in their Workout of the Day (WOD).  

I am very excited for all of you who have come this far with us. What a great journey so far...

Post some ideas of your post-PWO plans....