The Deck of Pain

There are many lessons that we can take from prisoners. A lot of workout programs have developed in that environment due to a lack of equipment and freedom. Strength matters, and gaining it with as little equipment as possible matters more. Due to this, calisthenics and body weight exercises are very popular. Deck of Pain is one of the more interesting ones that I want to touch upon.

A lot of prisoners have access to playing cards. When you don't do anything but work out every day, you get bored real easy. Adding cards to the mix creates an element of randomness. This makes the workout into a game of sorts. You might get unlucky and have to do the same exercise for 50 reps before you move on to the next one. Or the different exercises might be equally spread out. It's never the same. This is why the deck of cards workout, also called the deck of pain was created. Here's how it works.

You assign a body weight exercise to each suit. Shuffle the cards and draw a card from the deck. The number cards represent the number of repetitions that you must do. All the face cards represent 10 reps and all the aces 11 reps. For example, if you got 9 of diamonds, you would do 9 reps of push-ups. Repeat until you're all out of cards. It's as easy as that! In the end of the workout you would have made 95 reps of each exercise.

If you want to get most out of your workouts it's best to combine this training method with solid exercises. Push-ups, Pull-ups, Leg Raises, and Squats. An example deck would look something like this:

Clubs - Push-ups.

Diamonds - Pull-ups.

Hearts - Leg Raises.

Spades - Squats.

This is a perfect combination since it works out all your body. You can vary the intensity of this workout by adjusting the individual exercises. You can do wall push-ups and reverse pull-ups if they're too hard to do. Or you could do hanging leg raises and one armed push-ups instead. It's all adjustable to your current level.

This training program is not only good for prisoners and people with no equipment. It can help you motivate yourself to workout at all. Following a program like this feels like playing a game. You have a clear goal to work towards and a milestone after you're finished, an empty deck of pain.