Convict Conditioning Myths and Misconceptions 

I worked in multiple federal prisons and the only inmates that were doing progressive calisthenics were the ones in special housing units where the only rec equipment they had was a pullup bar and a basketball hoop. If they got released into general population, some would continue this style workout. I was more physically intimidated by some of these convicts because they had a hardness along with an agility that would be like fighting a polecat in a telephone booth.

I’m happy doing Steps 1-4 each day. To each his own. My philosophy is don’t do so much you start dreading it and end up quitting.

Dude you're a genius. I was lifting for years. Got good gains sure. But the suspension straps using my bodyweight till failure, I've gained much faster with a lot less time and less joint pain.

I still swear by the Convict Conditioning books. The exercise choices and the alternatives, the progressions, the routines.

Coming from a lifelong fitness advocate and certified Power Pilates trainer, 64 years old. Good point on handling cynicism. 2nd point, personal testimony. A student of mine was an employee of Lewisburg and she stated that bodyweight strength training was prevalent and the inmates called it "doing their pilates.' Just saying. Just as Pilates is therapeutic for posture, so too CC is therapeutic for the strength chain. Because of the progressions, my joints are prepared for the harder levels when i'm ready for them. The same principles of advancing for Pilates exercises is the same pattern followed by CC. Like Pilates, it is a system designed to achieve an end. One for posture, the latter for strength. One of your best vids... EVER.

Training on top of Training, pain on more pain, day on top of more day, month to month, year on top of year and you start to improve, at first you disappear, everyone laughs at you, but you do not surrender and reaches the Glory. There is no Glory without Suffering only more bitterness, discontent, anguish, and Despair.

I love your black belt analogy. I feel that getting to step 10 simply means you mastered the basics and you just stopped being a beginner

Thank you Matt! I always get a lot from your vids. This month marks a year with CONV COND. I am following coach Wade’s program pretty closely and I make gains with every workout. I’m 61, have heart disease and am stronger than ever. Your videos have helped me a lot also, so a sincere thanks to you. Keep up the good work and be fit and live free!

Thank you for doing this, Matt. We as fitness enthusiasts get so caught up in the cosmetics of things (often because they're measurable/countable), that we forget to see the bigger picture. Unless you're some kind of professional athlete, your fitness journey boils down to one thing: living better. If fitness as a whole is not doing that for you, pick something else. Paint, or knit, do whatever grabs your fancy.

The advice on getting the most out of each step really opening my eyes

You give a lot of good perspective to this. I've had that book for about 10 years now and if I had followed the program, I'd be a monster. I'm not. I fiddled and diddled with a bunch of other stuff. Now I look at it as an investment. I've got to invest time and effort into step 2, or 3. I'm glad that you and others are delving into this book on RU-vid. For whatever reason, Coach Wade wants to stay under the radar, that's ok and opens opportunities for people like you. I don't care if he exists or not, the books are great.

When I got my black belt it just ment I accomplished the basics . Then I could start honing my skills

Thanks for your synopsis of CC. I got hold of the book over 5 years ago and started training using it. Like you I got to about steps 6 on most exercises before discontinuing due to illness. It really doesn't matter who Paul Wade is, it's a Dragon Door publication (I think) likely to have been cooked up by Pavel and gang with a 'Convict' marketing spin, they're still business people! If you read it through it sounds fair; results borne from hard work and variance (progressions), what you refer to as wringing out the most of exercises the term used in CC is to 'milk it'. My physique using CC was lean and athletic, but behind that were the intangibles you don't see; lack of injury and AMAZING joint/ligament strength for example. When vaulting fences while out running it felt like I was clearing them by a foot, floating over them! Also due to all the hanging from a bar my grip was fantastic. Great thing about these workouts is you can do them anywhere; well you do need a bar, I would go to the play park across from the office, move the swings aside and start hanging ha ha, only thing is you don't want to come across creepy, a man in a play park! Think it was clear what I was up to. Down side if you want to call it that is that progress can be slow so won't appeal to many folk in this age of instant results. So, just dropped on your vid, wondered if people were still doing anything CC related, not like CC owns the rights to these exercises, mostly ancient moves. I think I'm going to check in with CC again in the New Year, alongside with gym work (squats, dead lifts). From North Yorkshire, England, here's to a killer 2020!

the point that really resonates with me is the wringing out the sponge point. its so true people are so focused on getting to the next point and the overall goal. one key thing i like it trying to get the most out of each progression. in a way do as little work to get something back. if you truly get as much as you can out of each weight or progression its gives you more progressions and possibilities if you get what i mean. if your on step 5 do it as long as you can and to the point you get nothing more from it and in a way you plateau becaise then you have real reason to progress. if you jump up the stages you will ever plateau harder and not even be able to do the next stage or you burn through a program so fast and get very little out of it

In my opinion the low volume low frequency is really tied in with strict form. If you start chasing reps sacrificing strict form just to get to the next progression level you might be experiencing a plateau one or two levels later because your muscles are too weak due to earlier bad form. Just my two cents.

"WORK HARDER!!!" Same observations (and Greg Doucette, body builder - the quotes are his words - says the same thing): most guys, including me, take that advice and don't do those last reps that really count for muscle building. With the levels: I began using the next level (say 6 for eg) once I started hitting something like 18-20 on the previous level (say 5 for eg). Either that or I find a way to make it harder - incline more, add weight, something. I mix exercises like that when I feel I need more. Then I go back to do high reps for conditioning. When I need fatigue, I hit it hard to evolve, but then I keep in the wisdom that I have to do conditioning days. And this way, things don't seem so boring and the progression happens - time will tell.

Thanks for clarifying some of these up. I've been doing bodyweight training and followed CC as my first routine back in 2012. I pretty much gained 30 pounds of muscle. However since 2015 I believe I havent gained anything. I've progressed to pistols, uneven pullups, leg raises etc in my routine but gains are still minimal. This is why I subscribed to your channel this year.

Thank you Matt, thanks Paul Wade and thanks to the Kavadlos! All of you make my day everyday!

Awesome video Matt! I think it's interesting that so many people think Paul Wade is the Kavadlos or even you. From reading CC1-3 and C-Mass, and CC FAQ, along with blog posts, I just think Coach Wade is a different person. He always references old-time bodybuilders/strongmen and is very fervent in his opinions. Besides, your philosophy and Kavadlos' philosophy differs from Coach Wade's philosophy. It just makes sense to me, having read your books, their books, and Wade's books, that you are all a different person.

Hey Matt! 3 questions: 1. What step are you on for each CC exercise? 2. How long did it take for you to progress (including regressions) to the point you are at? 3. What is your long term goal for as you get older (at 40 step 9, at 50 step 8 ect.) Thanks very much, great video!

What a great video! The intermediate steps have really helped me to improve without injury and improve technique. Thanks.

Interesting video! CC/Paul Wade was my first real exposure to calisthenics some 5 years ago or so. It's nice that it's/he's still being talked about.

I'll be remembering the nugget about getting the most out of the regressions i'm using instead of angsting over later progressions~

Great breakdown and analysis Matt. I will say also that Furey and Pavel had big hands in the bodyweight movement and really getting the ball rolling. Wade's book really supercharged the revolution and propelled it forward.

I really like your point of view regarding this, thanks for sharing

The best motivation video ever. Thank you, I appreciate your advice.

Damn...last week i finished 7th lvl of pullups(trained an year with CC until that progress).Today i could not do 8th level.Only could hold myself with 90 degree in my hands.But then i remembered that Poul Wade said to go a little back and work cleaner and harder to get better results)So that is what i did.Thank God I have insane amount of patience,becouse even if i am doing lvl 7,my hand looks way too big than it should be just to do lvl7 pullups😂.I went back 2 levels,and want to do exactly the same things i did,but trying to find another hand position this time.I hope i will be able to get to lvl 8 finally)When i get angry,i just remember that Poul Wade has trained for 20(!) Years,and i have been training only for an Year.And pullups arent that easy in fact.Pullung whole body with one hand is really challenging)Thank u very much,I hope one day i will do OAHSPU:^)

Definitely agree with your view on cynicism and having to have faith in a program. Consistency is what I've always found to be the key to any program, and consistency requires faith/dedication. With regards starting low volume, I think this is a clever tool for the beginner since too much DOMS will quickly put someone off working out again if they haven't been doing it for years - though this is a personal view. So it's a means to an end for consistency, I guess, and building that habit in beginners. Step wise, in recent years I've been going back to basics a lot, and definitely think that squeezing as much as possible from each exercise before going onto a harder progression is definitely beneficial in all regards. But of course, it requires patience to squeeze everything out of a step, so again it comes down to a dedication/faith in the program thing. I do often feel that some of the progression levels are set far too high though, but this likely just reflects my specific weaknesses - namely in my back muscles after a past whiplash injury. So for me, the 3 x 30 which i think is the progression of the horizontal rows is way too high, or always has been for me. I keep trying to get there, but can't seem to crack it, so anyone else's views on whether they've attained this step would sure be interesting to see if this is just me have a specific weakness (back muscles) or if everyone likewise struggles with this back related step. With the push-ups though, they actually seem too easy. So it's swings and roundabouts.

Coming back here after two years to remember this. It's about how much you can squeeze out of a step.

The coverage of issues around progression between steps is nice. CC seems to have a conservative prescription of high reps. But it seems to me that a flexible approach of progressing skill at lower reps(5 as per Pavel Tsatsouline/GTG, or other strength approaches), while continuing to do the prior progression to increase reps, improve technique, add explosiveness etc might be better in some cases. Especially since some steps can be broken down into more easily progress-able mini-steps.

Hey Matt, love your videos man! I always watch them before I workout to get me in the zone, thankyou for being a great teacher.

matt, that was a great breakdown and summation of the cc book. i don't follow the progressions in the book, but i refer back to it from time to time, and i did use the wall pushup regression to heal my chronic golfer's elbow. your sponge analogy was brilliant as was the point you made about fairness. i think the book has great value for anybody who trains or wants to begin bodyweight style training.

I just love working out, playing, as I feel so good after and feel like shit if I don't play. I am 75 years old and have been playing for 63 of those years.

I bought this book and found it very interesting, however I found it hard to gain, I find better results using volume personally, doing 2/3 work sets just doesn't do it for me, and only one work out a week just tickles the muscles, however I do know someone that used it and grew, so depends on the person. Good luck to everyone in your training and do what works for you and more importantly enjoy what you do.

You Rock Matt man!!! So much truth and correct attitudes to embrace.. sane and healthy advice do you give... thanks!!!!

Hi Matt, An excellent podcast and you addressed the cynicism surrounding Convict Conditioning (CC) very well. On my Kindle version of CC, the Disclaimer says in part: “This book is intended for entertainment purposes only. This book is not a biography. . . . Despite this, the author maintains that all the exercise principles within this volume - techniques, methods and ideology - are valid. . . . “ Perhaps the cynics skipped this part? As someone who started CC training a year ago, at age 54, to avoid a walking frame in old age, there were two moments that convinced me if the validity of the programmer. The first was during jackknife squats. When I first started them, I could only get my thighs to about ten degrees above horizontal. By the time I progressed to the next stage, it was hamstrings on calves, no problems at all. That increase in flexibility still amazes me. The second was close pushups. Prior to CC, I had never been able to do them. But this week I was able to do two sets of twenty by progressing by one rep per set per trading session. CC has absolutely worked for me. Cheers KO

Thanks for giving a new perspective on the same book I've read 4 times...... really helpful.....you and all your videos are real help to me ......

So you ARE Paul Wade in the end.

Thank you Matt. You have such a clear way of speaking, it is mind opening on so many levels. I just love your sentence: HOW LONG CAN I STAY AT A GIVEN LEVEL AND STILL GET SOMETHING FROM IT? Also because it can be applied in general life. So often I wish to be a step further than my present moment. But now seeing it from your perspective, it no longer makes any sense to wish to be anywhere else than where I am right now. Maybe a bit of a philosophical comment, but all in all, I just wanted to share my high appreciation for your work, books, videos, clarity of thought and enlightening perspective. 👍🙏

Hope you're hitting the 100.000 soon :)

I always thought the theme was fiction. Seemed obvious to me. I liked it for that reason. Gave a bit of a role-play style to it which made it more fun.

I agree with all your points there. Suspension training really did a lot for Chalistenics at home.

Paul Wade said" body building builds each and every muscle seperatly which disturb their unity as a whole body.while cathathletics provides strength to muscles without disturbing their unity and increasing their strength together

This is great, really needed this!

Amazing synopsis of Convict Conditioning!

This channel is Soo underrated

I've read all wades books. He transformed my life. I went from 0 hand stand push ups to over 10 full range of motion. That being said. Paul says whey is bad for building muscle whey protein isolate has given me ungodly gains. And I saw that using weights only helped my calisthenics If I stuck with calisthenics

Some of the steps were like impossible for me without getting poor form. Example I can do the handstand step 1, but I cannot for the life of me get the crow pose at all step 2. So I moved on and am doing well on step 3 Doing a pistol squat with a basketball assist step 9 squats was impossible for me I just fell over every time. Then I used a pole to assist, getting the right form but not using my hands for help much and I was able to do it. I think there may be a better program. Probably one by the Kavadlo brothers. But it’s still a great book.

I'm very grateful for this video and I'm sure if the lack of talking on the topic of "is CC real or fake" will be welcoming to you too. I have my own opinions about the first two points but I agree with you, people are too caught up in those points instead of asking whether or not this will give them results. I get it. I really do. No one wants to try a program, and potentially waste time, if he or she can't believe the person creating it is real or not. We have been conditioned by other shifty programs that fell far short in the past. However, regardless of what one believes of the author, anyone can easily look at you, the Kavadlos, and numerous other calisthenics fitness folk on RU-vid and see the results for themselves. The program works. People need to stop getting hung up on the other part. If people can't get past this, well, that's okay with me too, because that's more room at the playground for me to make my gains while they stay small. Great job, Matt!

plus that russian strength guy pavel something said you should stay at a weight or progression and stay there until its easy. dont just think ive hit the reps now move on, stay there until the 2x 20 push ups are easy and you have made the stage too easy its another way to lose and when to move up and how to leech everything you can from each stage

Better to go til failure on a friday for example, if you are doing 3 days per week training.

I train with CC few years ago, i did until the 9 step for 2 years but i got ill and lost all my progress, i think the time is not worth it if you lost all your progress on single event, sure i got a lot of progress and muscles from it.

What are your thoughts on jailhouse strong by Josh Bryant?

The older I get the more I realize volume is my enemy and intensity,tension and concentration are my friends.

Anyone here actually benefited in this book? id like to hear your advice.

Great points, Matt!

It's not worth going to jail to get gains imo

This is gold. We get more than fitnessadvice here. "Mother nature has no concept of fairness". Which basically makes nothing fair I wanna add.

Some of the exercises are basically impossible for me... 100 strict one arm push ups 😆

Love the work you're doing keep it up

Thanks, Coach! Great video!

Want to start this. I turn 61 in 21 days. My left rotor cuff has been repaired twice and have no strength in it and I think this will help. Back surgery coming soon. (If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself... NOT). Thanks for expelling the myths.

Great video.Great advice!

If u wanna get the pistol in less time, get pavel tsatsoulines book, the naked warrior, u will get the secrets on muscle contraction which is the secret to super strength. Strength is just a skill according to pavel, u gotta contract every muscle in ur body to generate more strength like matt tells us to.

The best summary I've heard so far.... As I've progressed I've learned to take cc with a pinch of salt. I find some of the progressions either put the body in compromising positions or are in fact regressions. All in all its a fantastic book, ground-breaking really, but you can use it how you want to and get as good if not even better results compared to taking it all literally. Great video!

Brilliant video, great work.

Fair vs Balanced. Brilliantly explained! 🤜🤛

lm kind of confused by it though, so as a skinny dude who never worked out, when i start, should l do all steps 1-10 in one workout session ? So for instance, Monday- Pushup series steps 1-10 Tuesday -Squat Series steps 1-10 Wednesday - etc etc ? Or Monday- Step One/ 3 sets of 50 (Thats it) then Tuesday (Incline Pushups, 3 sets of 40) etc etc Im just confused on what the routine should be..

wisdom, thank you

I usually split it into 3 exercises alternating everyday and sundays a rest day and sats cardio

wow, what a great video, thank's a lot !

Good thoughts. I’m a proponent of the system and know that it works.

I'd say the main problem with Convict Conditioning is the programming. The progressions are good, but it doesn't really provide much in the way of programming principles. For instance, it doesn't discuss recovery between workouts. I've only read CC1, so maybe there's more in C-Mass or something.

Good honest explanation, especially the fairness of mother nature! ;)

Is it possible to follow this program without commiting a crime?

I read tour book AND like ir very much. I thing you should have given some tips AND tricks on how progress (as I read the thing about how to add reps etc) instead of this👍

Hey Matt. Do you agree to first reaching a certain step in the basic movements pullups, pushups, legraises and squats before starting bridges and handstands?

I never started from step 1 besides handstand and spine.

very good:as same the individual experience and mind set is the difference,not the method(i iam a BB from many yeras ago too,btw)

Well put.

Hi Matt hope you see this. I had recently seen your veterano+ workout routine video and i really liked it. However i was wondering how it would work if instead of doing 1 set for the rest of the exercises, i could do them in some sort of HIIT training. How would that influence muscle growth? Great channel btw

Great video. Love your ears!

Hey Matt, what I meant is How do you ensure the weight you are gaining is muscle and not fat? Because if you eat in a caloric surplus doesn't your body store it as fat since you are not using the calories?

When CC1 dropped nobody was doing calisthenics except the people getting slept on like HKF, the Kavadlos, etc. EVERYONE was cardio and weights and weighing lentils, and CC was like alien tech to most people. What most people don't get unless you're into literature, is that Paul Wade is you, and your story is that your mind is your limitation, not your environment or story. I honestly think Al Kavadlo wrote it because he has an English background and it is an obvious fable. All 4 books will really level up your training if you're dedicated. I've since brought carnivore diet into my life as well and goddam these two really fit together perfectly. Once you get off the sugar merchants, your body recovers so much better and you just drops pounds like crazy even if you eat like 4 lbs a day hahaha.

After the routine do you do a complementary workout in that day? Do you do complementary training in other days of the week?

Are one arm handstand presses even possible??????hell of a great channel brother 👍👍

CC is a great book and program. Though I do mainly Power lifting I like to do some bodyweight work too and CC covers all the main exercises and muscle groups. It's a bit like Starting Strength for calisthenics.

You are a good guy Matt!

I think Paul Wade is Al Kavadlo's naughy brother Danny! Or someone at Dragon Door. It was the first bodyweight book I bought and I'm not sure why the prison thing (which is no doubt fake) really sold it to me.

Hi ✌️ first of all great video and great insight to the CC :) but i háve a question I havent figured out. Lets say im on step 1, doing the mid level reps, how can I advance to the advanced set of reps? Like is there a mid serie of reps between the 2 difficulties? I hope You guys get the idea of what I mean.. Like how do i progres in each of the step? When I do the mid serie I automaticali ho for the hardest difficultie? I am sorry for my english, I am not a native speaker. Thank You for the great vid and help. Bless You.

Great stuff, well done. Old guy here and honestly, CC works best simply because of the joint work. Which is IMHO the greatest aspect of the program. I do couple it with Pilates to work on my posture, flexibility, range of motion, and of course, strength. Sure, I can sub a full push ups instead of the halfsies and then graduate into one leg PU's for level 5. That is another great aspect of the program. And the sequencing of protocols is only limited by your ability to conceive of different combinations of the level, sets, and reps. Also, shout out to Jonathan as he gives CC a fist pump as well... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aAy7_YvYeQk.html

good synopsis...

I would only care about maximum joint health and bullet-proofing my body against injury while gaining some strength, balance, flexibility and conditioning. Is this a fair expectation? I am just terribly tired of injuries and pain. Thanks

I don't really like weightlifting due to the elbow pain I always get from lifting but CC made my pain go away. I've been using the CC program for about 7 months now and I feel like the 3 times/week workouts are not enough for me. I've been thinking about doing 6/week adding 2-5 reps each workout. What do you think, is my recovery too small or should I go slower or something like that? I'm not that big due to losing 40 kg in 1-2 years but I have leftover skin and fat and am now trying to build a solid foundation.

The real best workout book

His name is Paul Wade

Do we need to start at step 1 If we are much more confident in our abilities to skip it?

Anoninnnnnity..anonnnonity. anonimity!

Hey Matt I injured my wrist, how do I maintain strength and muscle if I can't use my left hand? Is there anything I can do while it recovers

Hey Matt just curious, did you do any official fitness certifications or human physiology studies etc or all self taught? Im looking at learning anatomy myself was wondering if you recommend anything.