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Advance Praise for Convict Conditioning


In Convict Conditioning Paul Wade has laid out a logical and effective “zero to hero”
progression in key bodyweight strength exercises and presented a solid training
philosophy. Get this book.

—Pavel Tsatsouline, author of The Naked Warrior


Convict Conditioning gives honor and respect to body-weight training. This book is an
old step in a new direction and I welcome it. I feel Convict Conditioning provides the
progression, precision and clarity that is necessary to combat our cultural decline in simple
body knowledge.

—Gray Cook, MSPT, OCS, CSCS, Functional Movement Systems, author of

Body in Balance


Convict Conditioning is a fantastic text crammed with solid information, and tons of
vital nuggets and powerful insights that when followed will pack your frame with rock-
hard, functional muscle. Like a hard thrust with a razor-sharp shank, ex-con Paul Wade’s
writing style rips through all the nonsense that fill the glossy muscle mags, to get to what’s
real: You don’t need free weights, fancy machines, spray-on tan and carefully torn T-shirts
to build powerful muscle. All you really need is your own body, a few simple exercises
and a plan. You provide the body, Convict Conditioning gives you the rest in a highly
readable, easy-to-understand format that teaches you what to do and how to do it. As a guy
who has written extensively on exercise, I highly recommend this book.

—Loren Christensen, author of Solo Training and The Fighter’s Body.


To paraphrase a famous political quote: “It’s the progressions stupid.” Coach Wade has
laid out a set of progressions in Convict Conditioning that can lead to mastery of the big 6
bodyweight exercises and you would be wise to listen. This is knowledge proven in
“extreme” conditions. So respect the progressions and put in your time—you’ll be
stronger for it.

—Brett Jones, Master RKC, CSCS, CK-FMS


Outstanding! By far the most innovative fitness book in years. Many talk about



“mastering your body weight” yet Convict Conditioning actually delivers a blueprint for
anyone, regardless of your current fitness. The training “progressions” are genius. I had
illusions I was able to do some Master Steps right away but was unable to CORRECTLY
get past step 6 in one of the big six and was at steps 3-5 on most. This program will give
me the tendon strength to blast past my previous body weight abilities and real usable
strength and speed for hand-to-hand training! I’ve already pre-ordered a case of books for
my friends and associates. Don’t hesitate—just get it and start getting real, usable, strength
and power to move your human machine!

—Tim Larkin, Master Close Combat Instructor, targetfocustraining.com


Convict Conditioning by El Entrenador is a remarkable book on how to take your
bodyweight training to extreme levels. Convict Conditioning deserves a place on the
bookshelf next to The Naked Warrior.

—Kenneth Jay, Master RKC, author of Viking Warrior Conditioning


Convict Conditioning is a refreshing book on strength. While there are many books on
the topic of body weight conditioning, very few focus on true strength through body
weight movements. This is not another book on how to do 50 pushups; this is a book to
learn how to do One Arm Handstand Pushups, One-legged Squats, or how about One
Arm Pull Ups ? Truly the stuff of comic books, but completely attainable with a crystal
clear progression plan.

Paul Wade is highly entertaining and motivating in his delivery, I guarantee you will
find this a pager burner. This program is completely scalable to challenge any person,
from your Mom, to any weekend warrior, to an elite level athlete in the off-season.

I have implemented several of the drills in to my training, the progressions for the
bridge and core drills are particularly helpful to every person’s power program. I believe
Convict Conditioning would be exceptionally valuable to military preparation programs,
wrestling coaches, and martial arts instructors. The drills will quickly develop body
mastery and skill, with simple modifications to movements already heavily employed in
those areas. With its focus on strength development, it will yield high dividends in short
order.

Convict Conditioning should definitely be on your watch list. I think this program
combined with Pavel’s Naked Warrior would allow someone to build strength that would
cause Spiderman to look over his shoulder.

—Adam T Glass, RKC II, Professional Performing Strongman


Coach Wade’s book comes along at a critical time for me, both personally and
professionally. (And no, I’m not going to jail!). His bodyweight training progressions will
help me create better, more efficient workouts for both myself and my members. If you are



a serious student of bodyweight exercise and physical culture, you must get this book.
And if you enjoy a little bit of the dark side, the origin story of Coach Wade’s knowledge
will help you tear through this book in one sitting.

—Craig Ballantyne, Turbulence Training


I DID NOT want to like this book. In fact, I did not even want to read it because of the
title. BUT not only do I like this book, I LOVE IT. It is probably the best compilation of
callisthenic exercises and training progressions I have seen; reaching all the back to the
beginnings of organized bodyweight exercise.

As an ex elite gymnast and gymnastics coach, using the body as the resistance to
strengthen oneself is near and dear to my heart and is the base for any truly functional
training regimen. After all, if you can’t use your own weight what do you need added
resistance for? Coach Wade understands this completely and has crafted programs that
will make anyone who uses them a complete physical animal in no time flat.

Easy to read, so well organized and thought out I had no choice but to embrace it
wholeheartedly. The progressions of the exercises are brilliant and make even the most
difficult of these movements accessible to all who have the heart and stamina to stay the
course.

Coach Wade goes to the heart of true training with correct biomechanics, kinesiology
and training progressions that so many in the word of physical training just seem to miss
these days. Bravo Coach, bravo, an epic book that deserves to be in the library of all who
love the world of strength as well as a historical understanding of the foundation of all
modern resistance training.

—Mark Reifkind, Master RKC Instructor, Girya Kettlebell Training


Convict Conditioning is jam packed with the most powerful bodyweight training
information I have ever come across. It’s the book I WISH I had in my hands when I was
a competitive wrestler, BUT, even more important to me is that I can pass on this
knowledge to my clients AND my son and daughter when they grow up. That’s how
impressed with and trustful I am of the information in this book.

—Zach Even-Esh, author The Ultimate Underground Strength System




CONVICT CONDITIONING


How to Bust Free of All Weakness—Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme

Survival Strength

By Paul “Coach” Wade




Convict Conditioning


How to Bust Free of All Weakness—Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival
Strength

By Paul "Coach” Wade
Copyright ©2009 Paul “Coach” Wade

All rights under International and Pan-American Copyright conventions.

Published in the United States by:

Dragon Door Publications, Inc
P.O. Box 4381, St. Paul, MN 55104
Tel: (651) 487-2180 • Fax: (651) 487-3954
Credit card orders: 1-800-899-5111

Email: dragondoor@aol.com • Website: www.dragondoor.com
ISBN 10: 0-938045-76-8 ISBN 13: 978-0-938045-76-2
This edition first published in January, 2010

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the
prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

Printed in the United States of America

Book design, and cover by Derek Brigham

Website http//www.dbrigham.com • Tel/Fax: (763) 208-3069 • Email:

bigd@dbrigham.com

DISCLAIMER

The author and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner
whatsoever for any injury that may occur through following the instructions
contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described herein for
informational purposes only, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people and
the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.






To Melanie Shoshana Ault


A dame worth busting out of high security for.




DISCLAIMER!


Fitness and strength are meaningless qualities without health. With correct training,
these three benefits should naturally proceed hand-in-hand. In this book, every effort has
been made to convey the importance of safe training technique, but despite this all
individual trainees are different and needs will vary. Proceed with caution, and at your
own risk. Your body is your own responsibility—look after it. All medical experts agree
that you should consult your physician before initiating a training program. Be safe!


This book is intended for entertainment purposes only. This book is not biography. The
names, histories and circumstances of the individuals featured in this book have
accordingly been changed either partially or completely. Despite this, the author maintains
that all the exercise principles within this volume—techniques, methods and ideology—
are valid. Use them, and become the best.




Table of Contents


Foreword

Part I: Preliminaries

1. Introduction: A Journey of Strength

2. Old School Calisthenics: The Lost Art of Power

3. The Convict Manifesto: Bodvweight Training vs Modern Methods

4. Convict Conditioning: About This Book

PART IT: THE BIG SIX: POWER MOVES

5. The Pushup: Armor-Plated Pecs and Steel Triceps

6. The Squat: Elevator Cable Thighs

7. The Pullup: Barn Door Back and Major Guns

8. The Leg Raise: A Six-Pack From Hell

9. The Bridge: Combat Ready Your Spine

10. The Handstand Pushup: Healthy . Powerful Shoulders

PART III: SELF-COACHING

11. Body Wisdom: Cast Iron Principles

12. Routines: Workout Programs


















Acknowledgements

Index





Foreword


Some time in 1969. A brash Cambridge undergraduate sat hunched in the reverent
silence, as two saffron-clad Tibetan Buddhist monks lectured on the mysteries of
meditation and enlightenment.


The monks radiated gentle peace and ease. Their eyes crinkled with humor, as if
sharing a perpetual inside joke. “Everything is beautiful, nothing matters,” they seemed to
hint. Their words washed over the young man’s head—mostly wasted—as his mind darted
from restless thought to restless thought.


One monk began to speak of the inner freedom that arises from the practice of deep
meditation. The monk used an analogy: “You can be locked in a prison cell—apparently in
bondage—and yet you remain free inside. Nobody can take that inner freedom from you.”


The undergrad exploded out of his seat with an angry rebuttal. “How can you say
that? Prison is prison. Bondage is bondage. There can be no real freedom when you are
being held against your will!” A deep button had been pushed, the knee-jerk response out
of ah proportion to the monk’s analogy.


The fellow monk smiled beatifically at the angry young man. “It is good to question
your teachers,” he said with absolute sincerity and no hint of irony. And the monks
continued with their talk, flowing like a river round the jagged boulder in their midst.


Forty years later. Some time in 2009. The volatile young Cambridge undergrad is
now a somewhat wiser and a whole lot more mellow fellow. He’s running a dynamic and
rapidly expanding venture called Dragon Door Publications—a vehicle for those with a
passion for the cultivation of physical excellence.


And I’m about to introduce the world to one of the most exciting books I have ever
read. It’s a book about prison. It’s a book about freedom. It’s a book about survival. It’s a
book about humanity. It’s a book about strength and power. It’s a book that belongs in the
hands of our military, our police, our firefighters, and all who protect our country from
harm. It’s a book to circulate in our high schools and colleges. It’s a book for the
professional athlete and for the out-of-shape desk jockey. It’s a book for stay-at-home
moms. It’s a book for boomers seeking to reverse the sands of time. It’s a book for anyone
seeking the secrets of supreme survival strength.



It’s a book by an ex-con—a man stripped of his freedom over a twenty-year period; a
man confined in some of the harshest prisons in America. Forced into strength by the
brute needs of base survival. A man stripped of all but his body and mind—who chose to
cultivate himself against all odds and create a private freedom no one would be able to
prize from him. The freedom of a strong body and a strong mind.


It’s a book called Convict Conditioning.


Convict Conditioning?! How and why would a company of Dragon Door’s stature
dare publish a book with such a title? Surely, this has to be some glib celebration of the
criminal—hardly deserving of one of the world’s premier fitness publishing companies?


Many of our country’s leading fitness experts have read preview copies of Convict
Conditioning —and loved the contents. In fact, in many cases, raved about the contents.
But in many cases, they balked and winced at the title. Convict Conditioning?! “John, the
contents are superb, but they deserve a better title. This book belongs with every member
of the military, every law enforcement officer, it should be given to every child by their
parents.. .but how many of them are going to read it, with a title like this?”


I did waver, I admit. Not about the book, but the title. Would I be selling America—
and even the author, Paul Wade—short by such a title? Would those two words, “Convict
Conditioning,” somehow turn away the hundreds of thousands who stand to benefit from
the strength strategies within its pages? Would the title relegate these wonderful secrets to
just a small band of enthusiasts who grasp the brilliance of Paul’s Big Six progressions—
and could care less about the title?


But the more I thought about it, the more absolutely convinced I was that the title had
to stand. Because Convict Conditioning is about exactly that: a strength-survival system
born from one of the most daily-dangerous environments any man can be placed in.
Convict Conditioning is about taking your strength and power to a level where no predator
would remotely consider attacking you. Convict Conditioning is about achieving an aura
of strength and power that sends a dramatic and entirely unambiguous message to other
limbic systems: “Don’t even think about it!”


To call this reservoir of knowledge by any other name would be to do it a great
disservice. It would be akin to taking a rare, rich Roquefort—bleeding with potency—and
calling it Cheddar Mild. Sorry, can’t do it.


And the central message needs to stand: there IS a freedom that cannot be taken from
you—whatever little box you may be stuck in. And that’s the freedom to cultivate the
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