Should Prisoners Be Allowed To Lift Weights?

[Miss Muscle]

I think exercise and activity is great for them but I'm going to say no.

I consider having access to weights a "luxury" and they are supposed to be punished.

If they truly want to get strong and build muscle there ways to do it regardless...push-ups, pull-ups, etc.

I don't think the majority of prisoners are going to physically "hurt" others when they get released. However a few will and it's best they don't have access to weights. Like I said before...if they are determined to get muscular/strong they will find a way without weights.

What is your opinion?

 

[Jackbe]

I think exercise and activity is great for them but I'm going to say no.

I consider having access to weights a "luxury" and they are supposed to be punished.

If they truly want to get strong and build muscle there ways to do it regardless...push-ups, pull-ups, etc.

I don't think the majority of prisoners are going to physically "hurt" others when they get released. However a few will and it's best they don't have access to weights. Like I said before...if they are determined to get muscular/strong they will find a way without weights.

What is your opinion?

Have you ever been to a prison?

I have both visited friends and worked in the prison system.

Weights are a good outlet for their energy. So, my answer is yes.
Please remember that the crimnal justice system is meant to be about rehabilitation.

I would say that without weights and excerise and amount of voilence would increase.

 

[Miss Muscle]

Have you ever been to a prison?

I have both visited friends and worked in the prison system.

Weights are a good outlet for their energy. So, my answer is yes.
Please remember that the crimnal justice system is meant to be about rehabilitation.

I would say that without weights and excerise and amount of voilence would increase.

Yes. And I think physical rehabilitation is great. However like I said I think it is a luxury and their are other ways to use physical exercise as rehabilitation.

Thanks for chiming in.

 

[Kane_Red_Machine]

i don not think than is a luxury. no. but it lets them with a contact with dealers. for AAS or something else.

the gardians are welltimes involved it trafic of druggs.

so sport is good enough for them. basket-ball, soccer,... all of these team-sport.

and also delopping muscle is a risk.

 

[drewbolic]

Dailymotion - Lifting in prison - a Sports & Extreme video

I say yes.
Not to mention the health benefit of lifting weights.The sodium is unbelievable in prison food without means of training and exercise it becomes a serious health risk.
Also it gives you something constructive to do with your time.
MM if you take these so called luxury's away and lock inmates up and treat them like animals,it does nothing but harm.If there is no means of rehabilitation physical,educational and mental, inmates are more likely to act like the animals they are being treated as.
If everything is taken away it makes for a much more dangerous person apon release,they should use the time incarcerated to learn rewards and "luxury's" can be taken away if you dont follow rules of expected behavior.

And Im not stringing theses words together to debate this thread,this is my personal experience inside the system.

 

[Jackbe]

Yes. And I think physical rehabilitation is great. However like I said I think it is a luxury and their are other ways to use physical exercise as rehabilitation.

Thanks for chiming in.

Lol....when I say rehabilitation, I mean the rehabilitation of offenders.

Yes we punish, but most developed legal systems have the goal of rehabilitation....that is rehabilitation of the offender prior to reintegration back into society.

Sadly this not the case at the moment... more often then not, but as populations continue to grow, it is necessary that criminal rehabilitation be addressed.

As for it been a luxury....they are already in prison...you know - deprivation of liberty and all that.

 

[Tiramisu]

Allowed? No. Required? Yes. Men need physical exercise. Like walking the dog, men need to exert themselves. This is not just a physical fitness issue but a mental fitness issue.

 

[mosh69]

Great thread and topic!
I'm pretty open about my past because I've come so far from it, and lived through the madness and insanity of the criminal justice system and dept of corrections. 8 years all told.

I was unlucky enough to "Fall" at a young age and being a smart kid with a desire to build something positive within myself amidst the pain and suffering that surrounded me, weights and the bodybuilding lifestyle became an excellent outlet!
I fell in love with this sport in prison, I learned everything I know about health, training and nutrition in prison.
And I honestly believe having access to real weights and developing my knowledge and body behind those fences has made my life so much happier and healthier.
There's no question that bodybuilding through weight training is an extremely positive activity and lifestyle.
Better health and fitness, goal chievement, self esteem, positive well being and discipline are just a few.
Of course ure gonna have the hardened criminal, the degenerate, the ignoramous who will use his bulk and strength to intimidate and take advantage of weaker men and women.
But to say men and women are sent to prison "To be punished" is totally wrong and unfair honestly.
As I've heard many times over the years "You were sent to prison as punishment, not to be punished".
Make sense?
Until you've been there or lived vicariously through a loved one living there, you have NO IDEA how debilitating just losing every freedom we take for granted truly is.
It is a miserable, painful, excruciating existance because u are truly living among the worst element ure state has to offer.
And keep in mind a large percentage of the inmate population are non violent, drug offenders, crimes of passion (Women self defense), dui, and even treaffic offenders.
You think inmate and u see a Jacked up Ronnie Coleman with a bad attitude.
Not the reality at all.
And to toss in one last point, I'd be willing to bet almost 100% of all correctional staff and brass would vote "Yes" to this question.
They'd much rather have that population on the weight pile, achieving a basic physical goal, creating a positive effect in their miserable lives, exerting all that negative energy.
Than laying around on their bunks, or walking around the track smoking weed, drinking buck (Wine), thinking up something else negative to do.
While I was inside, the guys on the weight pile were more often than not the more laid back, mature, decent guys.
There's my .2 Sorry so long.

 

[C Wood]

I know a couple powerlifters that got their start in the pokey.A pro powerlifter guard strongly suggested one of the guys start lifting after he noticed his thick build and short stature.The guy had never lifted in his life and after 3 yrs of training he can squat 750/bench 590/dead 610 at 220 lb BW.

He told me lifting helped him behave because it was all he had to look forward to while locked up.If you get disciplined you cant lift.

He did 18 months and has given up the booze and cocaine that got him locked up in the first place.The discipline learned from a strict diet and training regiment have carried over into his employment and personal life.

He has a 60k a yr job and a new wife that has gotten on the fitness bandwagon along with him.

In this case I think allowing weight lift was a huge positive in this man's life.

 

[cyto33]

to hard for me to say much about this but i will say NO. they should have nothing at all but locked up and beatin every day.
the hard offenders of coarse. rapist murderers child abusers. those types of people.
as for the rest that are not violent offenders yes.they should have time to heal the body.

 

[barnzy7]

Lol....when I say rehabilitation, I mean the rehabilitation of offenders.

Yes we punish, but most developed legal systems have the goal of rehabilitation....that is rehabilitation of the offender prior to reintegration back into society.

Sadly this not the case at the moment... more often then not, but as populations continue to grow, it is necessary that criminal rehabilitation be addressed.

As for it been a luxury....they are already in prison...you know - deprivation of liberty and all that.

Lol come on man, I think your view of the "rehabilitation" system is a little messed up from working there.

Our justice system is completely messed up.

I agree with cyto, non-violent offenders, yea no problem. Rapist, Murders..100% no. Id personally put them all too death is they are without a doubt guilty.

 

[getfitdoc]

of course they should.

 

[Greazy-Pickle]

Lol come on man, I think your view of the "rehabilitation" system is a little messed up from working there.

Our justice system is completely messed up.

I agree with cyto, non-violent offenders, yea no problem. Rapist, Murders..100% no. Id personally put them all too death is they are without a doubt guilty.

 

[drewbolic]

Over the past two decades, no area of state government expenditures
has increased as rapidly as prisons and jails. Justice Department
data released on March 15, 1999 show that the number of prisoners
in America has more than tripled over the last two decades from
500,000 to 1.8 million, with states like California and Texas
experiencing eightfold prison population increases during that time.
America's overall prison population now exceeds the combined
populations of Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming.
What is most disturbing about the prison population explosion is
that the people being sent to prison are not the Ted Bundies, Charlie
Mansons, and Timothy McVeighs - or even less sensationalized
robbers, rapists, and murders - that the public imagines them to be.
Most are defendants who have been found guilty of nonviolent and
not particularly serious crimes that do not involve any features that
agitate high levels of concern in the minds of the public. Too often,
they are imprisoned under harsh mandatory sentencing schemes
which were ostensibly aimed at the worst of the worse.
As this analysis will show, the very opposite has been true over the
past 20 years. Most of the growth in America’s prisons since 1978
is accounted for by nonviolent offenders and 1998 is the first year
in which America’s prisons and jails incarcerated more than 1
million nonviolent offenders.
John Irwin, PhD is Professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley. Vincent Schiraldi and Jason Ziedenberg are,
respectively, Director and Policy Analyst of the Justice Policy Institute.

 

[drewbolic]

and i agree the skinners,baby blasters,all violence and sexual charges against children should be shot and mutilated...and thats still not enough.

 

[Dreaded Pirate Roberts]

Have you ever been to a prison?

I have both visited friends and worked in the prison system.

Weights are a good outlet for their energy. So, my answer is yes.
Please remember that the crimnal justice system is meant to be about rehabilitation.

I would say that without weights and excerise and amount of voilence would increase.

Bull shit! the criminal justice system is not about Rehab. It is there to keep the people who are a public safety problem out of the public. They don't put you in jail until you have transgressed on the safety of the public. In most cases this means violence. So making violent criminals stronger is just stupid

 

[drewbolic]

Bull shit! the criminal justice system is not about Rehab. It is there to keep the people who are a public safety problem out of the public. They don't put you in jail until you have transgressed on the safety of the public. In most cases this means violence. So making violent criminals stronger is just stupid

DPR the criminal justice system in the US is about money.Most prisons are privately owned and they get x amount of dollars to house inmates...its all about capitalism

 

[Tiramisu]

Bull shit! the criminal justice system is not about Rehab. It is there to keep the people who are a public safety problem out of the public. They don't put you in jail until you have transgressed on the safety of the public. In most cases this means violence. So making violent criminals stronger is just stupid

Sorry but this is entirely untrue. The vast majority of incarcerated people are there for essentially victimless crimes. Don't kid yourself breaking the law and transgressing public safety rarely have much to do with each other.

 

[Massive123]

Luxury? A few bench presses and barbells are far from luxury. We're not talking expensive Life Fitness machines, cardio machines with iPod connections & personal trainers.

Keeping all prisoners in a cell is counter-productive. Let em lift!

 

[barnzy7]

Keeping all prisoners in a cell is counter-productive. Let em lift!

Why not throw them out in the fields and coal mines and put them to work instead of lifting.

Like said above, the justice system sure does love its money.