History Main / PrisonsAreGymnasiums

Compare/Contrast TrainingMontage and PrisonRiot. See PrisonsAreEducationalInstitutions for this trope's intellectual counterpart.

* In the Wano Arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler:Luffy takes advantage of his time in Udon Prison to train, first by doing manual labor while wearing sea prism cuffs, then by using Queen's execution sumo tournament to develop his Armament Haki to the point that he can deflect attacks without touching his opponent like Rayleigh.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

** Mr Zsasz is a particularly odd example. While in Arkham Asylum he's kept completely immobilized, except when he's sleeping. Despite this he manages to spend his time practicing isometrics, surprising Batman with his newfound strength (and resultant speed) when they finally fight.

* Travis Clevenger in ''ComicBook/{{Bloodhound}}'' is an example of the fairly rare "fat man loses a lot of weight" type. He was obese before his sentence, and by the events of the comic (about two and a half years later) he's lost nearly 150 pounds (68 kilos) while also building his muscles.
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/HardTime''. Ethan Harrow spends a lot of his sentence exercising, but not in a way that turns him into a bodybuilder or a power lifter -- more like a triathlete. He's in excellent shape when he's released [[spoiler:at age 65]]. This is partially because he petitioned for, and got, treadmills and elliptical machines in the exercise yard.
* ''ComicBook/JustImagineStanLeeCreatingTheDCUniverse'' has this as part of Batman's backstory. Before he became Batman, he was Wayne Williams, a nobody who ran afoul of a local mob boss and was framed for a crime he didn't commit. Once in prison, an older inmate advised him to make the most of his time there by building his body in the exercise yard and his mind in the library. By the time he got out, he was practically twice his original size.
* There's an exercise room in ''ComicBook/{{Kaijumax}}'', with {{Kaiju}}-scale equipment: a treadmill with cars and people to stomp, weigh machines with skyscrapers that can be pushed over, etc.
%% * ''Comicbook/KickAss'' Big Daddy does that during his stay. [[spoiler:However, in the comics it turns out that it was all a lie.]]
* Creator/KurtBusiek's ''ComicBook/PowerCompany'' featured Carl Bork, a guy who messed with tribal magic before he was put away and came out looking like the Hulk and lifting tons with one hand.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' has wound up in prison on occasion. Inevitably, he spent half his time working out to keep in shape, and the other half killing other inmates with his bare hands.
* ''Realworlds: Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' featured a scrawny nobody with a Superman tattoo on his chest who bulked up ridiculously big after just two years in the joint.
* Played straight with the character Sundown from ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderman''. The accident that gave him his solar radiation-manipulating powers drove him a little crazy, and he fought several heroes while they attempted to calm him down. Accidentally wounding a little girl shocked him back to sanity, and he willingly pleaded guilty to his crimes and went to prison as penance. While in prison he bulked up considerably, using exercise to pass the time. He didn't have to do it to survive in prison; on his first day two inmates made the mistake of attacking him and he used his powers to flatten them both. All the other prisoners gave him a wide berth after that.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: In the Golden Age the Amazon prisoners on Reformation Island spent a lot of time doing physical training under Mala's watchful eye, making them all stronger than they'd been when they entered and meaning that prisoners who'd been there long enough to test out as reformed were often nearly as strong and fast as an Amazon.

Compare/Contrast TrainingMontage and PrisonRiot.

* ''Power Antoinette'': UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette and her family are [[HistoricalBadassUpgrade portrayed]] as bodybuilders and warriors. When she, her daughter Therese, and her son Louis XVII are locked up, they work out in their cells to maintain their bodies and build up strength to escape. However, in Louis' case, his captors starved him, causing his body to whither and leaving him barely able to move when he is rescued.

** Mr Zsasz is a particularly odd example. While in Arkham Asylum he's kept completely immobilised, except when he's sleeping. Despite this he manages to spend his time practicing isometrics, surprising Batman with his newfound strength (and resultant speed) when they finally fight.

* ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'':
** ''Film/FirstBlood'' ends with John Rambo going to prison after embarking on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against a small town sheriff who pushed him too far. At the beginning of the sequel, ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII'', John Rambo is released from prison and he's even more muscular than he was in the first film.
** The beginning of the second films shows the inmates working in a rock quarry, breaking up rocks with sledgehammers. This constant exercise allowed Rambo to both bulk up and cut body fat.

* Downplayed in high-security prisons, which prohibit barbells and other training equipment, as they could be misused as weapons or escape tools, although they still usually allow working out without them. Some prison authorities offer counter-aggressive workout programs such as UsefulNotes/{{Yoga}}. Inmates can also do weight training by lifting ''each other''.

* The first film of the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' franchise, ''Film/FirstBlood'', ends with John Rambo going to prison after embarking on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against a small town sheriff who pushed him too far. At the beginning of the sequel, ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII'', John Rambo is released from prison and he's even more muscular than he was in the first film.

* In ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', Conan is taken as a young boy and tied to [[WheelOfPain a grist mill]] along with several other slaves. Time passes. Eventually, all the other slaves have died while, as a result of many years of toil, effort, and hard work, the boy Conan has turned into "Ahnold"!!

--> ''So they send you packing… to the federal pen. For the rest of your natural life. No computer, no gear, nothing. Total drag. Cement and bars, and the other guys inside aren't exactly your average beefcakes. They catch a glance at your cyber-jockey derrière and get a wet gleam in their eye. So what you do for the next twelve months is hit the weight room--hard and fast! You pump iron like your life depended on it--and it does. You learn to sleep with one eye open. Punching the heavy bag becomes your breakfast; tae-kwon-do your lunch, and for dinner… well, you gotta eat sometime. And practice? Plenty. 'Cause these boys got a gleam in their eyes that won't go away. But how you've changed! Over once scarecrow arms, muscles wrap tight and heavy, and you've got a fu-kick that makes the boys call you "Sir". Before you were just an average pencil-necked geek, now you could grace the front of Muscle and Guns Magazine. And just in time, too.''

* In ''Videogame/{{Hades}}'', [[SisyphusVSRock Sisyphus]] has been sentenced in Tartarus to roll a boulder up a hill, then doing it all over again once it inevitably falls, for all eternity. As a result of this nonstop workout, he is one of the most ripped and muscular characters in the entire game, despite not being a god.

* ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'': Rather confusingly, Edmond Dantes is said to have gained unusual strength due to spending 14 years of imprisonment in a small cell. It's not from exercising, but simply the rough conditions that made him stronger.

Prison is a brutal environment, where [[SocialDarwinism "survival of the fittest"]] is in full effect. The generally violent nature of prison life also gives inmates a major incentive to stay in as good a shape as possible; their lives might very well depend on it. There's also the fact that a prisoner often spends most of his time locked in a small room with minimal furnishings (so that they cannot be turned into weapons or escape tools), so they might spend a lot of time working out for lack of anything else to do. In real life, prisons, even the maximum security ones, feature gymnasiums, and sports fields such as basketball courts. However, this trope usually involves the prisoners working out in their own cells, often in secret - ''especially'' if it's preparing for busting out.

Since feeding prisoners costs money and prisoners are considered the scum of society, they are often given a diet which is barely enough to sustain life, especially in stories set in ancient times or in societies with a harsh government. This means it can sometimes require WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief if a character actually manages to physically bulk up in prison. Though as some prison reality shows and documentaries will point out, inmates often trade and bargain with other inmates to get more food to get around this, and even if that's not shown to be the case, it's believable if all they're doing is cutting the flab, exercising the muscles they've already got, and getting some very interactive lessons in [[TookALevelInBadass learning how]] to [[CombatPragmatist fight dirty]].

* Downplayed in high-security prisons, which prohibit barbells and other training equipment, as they could be misused as weapons or escape tools. Some prison authorities offer counter-aggressive workout programs such as yoga. Inmates can also do weight training by lifting ''each other''.

* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Meg Griffin became capable of beating up her own family after spending only three months in prison.

* Seen in the first episode of ''LightNovel/RokkaBravesOfTheSixFlowers'' for Adlet, who's stuck in a solitary cell. However, Nashetania busts him out using her blades.

* ''Film/LesMiserables'' has the prisoners of the galleys stronger than average men, because they are given physical labor punishments like pulling large ships into port.

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[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

* Averted in ''Film/{{Papillon}}''-the titular character when first committed to solitary confinement indeeds tries to keep himself in shape, but soon (after being given half-rations for refusing to tattle on a friend) weakens, and emerges 5 years later a prematurely aged & physically broken man.

* In ''Webcomic/Lookism'', it's forbidden to work out inside a juvenile detention cell. Some prisoners still try to get some exercise in by filling up water bottles for weightlifting and keeping lookouts to watch for guards.