I’m glad you mentioned that…because ‘overtraining’ was one of those truisms of bodybuilding that I thought this example challenged. Perhaps overtraining is highly exaggerated (which of course is just a polite way of saying ‘crock of shit’ 
). According to my friend, his pattern of exercise was quite common in his prison, especially given the lack of proper weight facilities. And nobody started complaining about depression, restlessness, or anything like that And as for the genetics argument, well of course genetics always play a role, but I think that examples like the one I gave are interesting in other ways, because this type of growth isn’t uncommon in prisons, and I think that all the replies above carry truth. I’d like to research more about testosterone levels in competitive same-sex enviroments, including with soldiers in basic training. Even though ‘stress’ (and prison is obviously a stressful enviroment) is supposed to release cortisol, I think there are conditions where the male body will adapt, and testosterone levels will rise accordingly. Just a hypothesis, but worthy, in my mind, of further research. I’d also like to discuss overtraining, but perhaps that’s for another thread because I haven’t adequately formulated a question or debate topic on the subject just yet.
It’s not that overtraining is a myth, it’s that when doing bodyweight work there’s not much load, not much trauma like you’d get with heavy weights and not much neurological damage. In short, you can do a lot of bodyweight work and not overtrain.
a fucking amazing post/story !!.. this guy isn’t just an exception, there’s hundreds of (prisoners) guys out there that probably fit to a “T” in this catagory… my dad and uncle were huge guys back in the day, my other uncle was huge too, even though he spent 15 years in prison…
What in the fuck does dman’s grades have to do with anything?! Maybe he thinks that ‘bragging’ about how ‘intelligent’ & ‘educated’ he is will make him feel better about his 135 bench press, 205 squat & 225 deadlift (assuming he has the tough-ass genetics to squat & deadlift). 
lol! Anyway, everyone’s A LOT thougher physically than they think & overtraining is a myth. Genetics is, & always will be, the pussy’s way out of some hard lifting. Back when nobody knew any better, everyone got big & strong because they knew someone who had so they thought, ‘gee if he can do it so can I’. You guys & your genetics are just too much. roflmao.
So if an inmate had free weights in prison and hit them everyday,would this cause overtraining?
Like this particular person would do bodyweight excercises all day, so if he hit the weights for lets say an hour or 2 per day when they had the opprotunity to do so, instead of doing bodyweight excercises all day which would have the better chance of overtraining or would they both be ok?
I can buy the argument that bodyweight training is less traumatic, but my friend did a huge amount of training with his cellmate providing resistance – on his back for pushups, on his shoulders for squats, and pulling on his legs for the chins. They did anything they could just to make the work more challenging, and they’d always try to beat the previous day’s performance, even if it was only be one or two reps. And as for their workout patterns, their ‘routine’ – Wake up. Do 100 push-ups. Shower. Eat Breakfast. Get locked up in cell again. Do pushups, chins, squats, and sit-ups until completely exhausted. Read a book or magazine. Repeat workout. Eat Lunch. Repeat workout. Walk around the yard. Repeat workout. Read. Repeat workout. Mop floors, take some classes (when offered), Play cards. Eat Dinner. Repeat workout. Read until lights out. Repeat workout. Sleep.
Over training has a lot to do with rest, and diet. He had plenty of time to sit around and not do anything. And before you jump on me about prison food, it may not be fancy, or taste good, but it is good for building muscle. The sad thing is that it is probably better that what kids today eat in school.
There is also alot of sorting that goes to work in prisons. Men who commit crimes especially violent crimes on average probably have higher T levels and maybe higher natural strength levels to begin with. Combine that with working out all day long with perfect concentration and you’ll get some pretty big people regardless of the nutritional situation.
I know that body typing in criminology is of course extremely outdated but it is a documented fact that “relatively speaking” the XYY population in prisons is much higher than outside prisons. This does suggest some type of causal effect. BTW,I am only 21, I took these classes last year.
I remember you saying that its COMMON to gain 100lbs of muscle in one year without juicing. [Note I said muscle, not weight]. That was about a year ago. Just out of curiosity how much muscle did you put on this year?
Your studies and that cold you had last winter must of stopped you from gaining 1/5th of that.
Of course I’m just busting your balls.
genetics do play a role but if it is within one persons genetic potential to squat 500(or bench or “get huge”) and another persons genetic potential to squat 400 and the potential 500 guy only actualizes/realizes/trains to 50% of his potential and the 400 guy to 90%… obviously genetics has a role but its how we do it that makes the greatest difference.
i had a buddy who went into the pen at age 20. he weighed 160 at 6’1". he benced 200 squated 225 and deaded the same. he just got out and at age 24 he is lean as lean at 215. benches “only”(his words) 385 ,squats 500 and deaded 665. of course they had weights to work with. as with the friend from the original post my buddy ate 3 crappy meals a day. trained hard as hell 6 days a week. with 1 week off every 18wks. what did he have that we dont have(decent genetics, ok, but he said all of the guys he lifted with had similiar results) lots and lots and plenty of rest/recovery. eat. lift. sleep. eat. lift. sleep…
i am not drawing any conclusions. just making observations.
also, at one point his body weight was up to 235.
cool.
Criminals other than white collar tend to have higher testosterone levels before prison. The prison environment certainly could stimulate the amygdala at the base of the brain to start a fear response releasing lots of T and some cort, driving someone to get huge. The reality is though, if you’re getting lots and lots of sleep, eating lots, and doing nothing but training your body, you’re going to get huge. In fact I knew a guy who was incredibly skinny before going to jail and then came out big. He said it was the only time in his life he was big. I think when it comes down to it people don’t realize that the human body responds to stressors. The idea is to stress the human body and let it recover and that’s how you stimulate growth. Everything else is icing on the cake.
-Marc
this actually makes lots of sense.There are lots of ways to get stronger,not all of them involve weightlifting.I heard that herschel walker would do over a thousand pushups and situps a day,and would also do pullups and would sprint up a hill with a tire to get stronger back in the day,and didn’t start weightlifitng a few years into his nfl carear(I’m not sure what year).Ive heard carl lewis didn’t lift weights to get stronger he did plyometrics,and of course running.YOu can get stronger from pushups ,situps,and pullups
Well, I never thought I’d meet someone on a bodybuilding forum who has such a keen grasp of the principles of logic. And here I was expecting a reply of “I saw it on TV once”. Good job!
Just a question. Did your friend end up keeping his gains after prison? cause that would help to explain alot.
Damn Demo. It is precisely that type of logic which will drive you to be miserable as a cop. I truly love the way you think except on one single subject. Anyway, great explanation. Do you know anything about the XY relationship with women and athletics by any chance?
I worked with a kid who has XYY syndrome. He is at a special school, presumably because he is short fused, extremely competitive and aggressive? He hasn’t even hit puberty yet! He is very strong, fearless and great at sport. Do you know any more about his condition?
Sleep is a big factor. I assume you would get regular sleep at regular times? Stress factors would disappear after a while, at least for those who escaped the attentions of the faggot inmates.
I think you’ve answered your own question about overtraining, elegua. For the rest of us overtraining is increasing the levels of stress on the body to a point where’s it deterimental. I guess that once you accept you are in prision and that’s there’s nothing you can really do about it what stress do you have? No deadlines, no promotions, no tax returns, you know where and when your next meal is coming. So once you keep your head down and stay out of trouble your pretty stress free. Possibly allowing for much more training of your body without leading to overtraining symptoms.
I’ll catch you all later. this thread has inspired me to knock over a 7-11 so I can go on a bulking cycle in the joint. later