You’ve seen those prison documentaries, and in them the inmates are huge, muscular, jacked, strong.

On the one hand, you know they get that way because they have little else to do but lift weights or work out. But have you ever looked at what their program actually is like?

In the article “Kentucky Strong: Prison Strong?” Chase Karnes interviewed an inmate about the lifting program within the prison. In short, there really isn’t a program because there isn’t much. They don’t have fancy equipment, just bars, plates, squat stand, maybe some dumbbells. They didn’t do much for fancy: press, squat, deadlift, dips, chin-ups/pull-ups, sit ups, and other basic movements.

And they got strong.

Very strong. Said the strongest guy there was 5’8″ 185# and was squatting and deadlifting 600# and benching over 400. That’s strong.

They had crappy food. They didn’t have anabolics.

But what did they have?

Motivation. The thrust of the program is survival, because you gotta be bigger, tougher, stronger than the other guy. It is prison, after all. So if this guy is doing 8 reps, you’re going to get 9. If he’s pulling 505, then you’re pulling 510.

So you don’t need a fancy gym. You don’t need most of the specialized equipment you find in most gyms. Bar, plates, bench, rack (bonus if you can do pull-ups and dips off it).

You don’t need all the bullshit supplements that get peddled all day on so many websites. You don’t need PED’s.

You need time. You need dedication. You need a strong work ethic. You need to hit the weights hard on basic movements like squat, deadlift, press, pull-ups. You need to eat the best you can. You need to rest. If you can have a training partner to motivate and push you, that’s a bonus, but otherwise you have to push yourself.

There are certainly things these men did in their lives that isn’t right. But when it comes to getting big and strong, there is certainly something they are doing right. It’s something we can learn from.