F.A.Q. By Paul Wade

9
CONVICT CONDITIONING: THE SUPER F.A.Q.
• Change the order of the exercises
• Change your rep range
• Change your volume
• Change your training speed
• Add in variants
• Set new short/medium term goals to hit
• Focus on some explosive work for a while
• Change your training frequency
• Add some spice: neck work, grip, calves, cardio
• Mix in some skill work; balance, gymnastics, acrobatics
• Cross-train: boxing, martial arts, wrestling
• Devote some specialist training to a single movement
• Shake things up with ultra-high reps
If you allow yourself to be flexible and creative, it’s easy to shake off boredom. Don’t lose your
gains by quitting. Sure, if your training is just too tough, it’s okay to take your foot off the gas
from time to time, provided you come back harder. But if you do radically come off your program—maybe
by going back to weight training—maintain your bodyweight gains by adding in
just one total-body calisthenics workout per week. That way, if you do choose to go back to CC,
you won’t have lost ground.
In the end, no amount of tricks can make up for low discipline. This is just as true when it
comes to fat loss as muscle and strength gain. John Du Cane has estimated that only 3% of athletes
who seriously begin training in Convict Conditioning will see it through in the long-term.
Resolve to become one of that elite group of bodyweight warriors.
Why shouldn’t I train to failure?
Consistent hard work is the key to success in bodyweight training. I’m not a big believer in
“light” or “easy” training sessions. Provided you are fit and healthy, and if you have followed
through the early steps to get your joints and tendons conditioned to the heavier work, there’s no
need to slack off. You need to work hard when you train—real hard. The harder you work, the
better your results. Training is serious business. Take it seriously.
This doesn’t mean that you should train to failure. For those unfamiliar with this idea, “training
to failure” means you continue your set until you cannot complete another rep.
Some very hardcore athletes—bodybuilders in particular—have taken this type of training to
the limit. One of the major proponents of training to failure was Arthur Jones, exercise ideologist,
eccentric genius and inventor of the Nautilus exercise machines. When Jones was training athletes,
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