History Main / PrisonsAreGymnasiums

* In ''AmericanGods'', Shadow was pretty buff ''before'' going to prison, and came out even fitter.
** He fits a bit better in the BadassBookworm variant. Already physically impressive and a capable fighter when he got sent to jail, he received some basic instruction in philosophy and slight-of-hand from cellmate [[LouisCypher Low-key]] [[RougeAnglesOfSatin Lyesmith]]

* Marco from ''KingOfThorn''. {{Lampshaded}} numerous times [[http://v1.mangafox.com/page/manga/read/587/king_of_thorn/chapter.10546/page.4/ in the manga]] , where several people are unable to believe he was the same computer nerd hacker from before. He definitely beefed up a ''lot'' while in prison.

* May soon be discredited in real life - it costs a lot of money to maintain gym equipment. You want to be fit, you do work for the prison or do push-ups in your cell. Of course, it didn't help that frequently people were more afraid of the convicts who were leaving prison than when they went in to begin with. Hence, gym equipment is no longer available in many prisons.
** There's even legislation prohibiting prisons as gymnasiums.

* Several prisons outside America (mostly in countries where PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad and prisons are meant to reform even hopeless career criminals) have a balanced and nutritious diet and well-equipped gyms. In those countries this trope is perfectly justified. That said, these countries often have a rather better record of rehabilitating criminals as well.

** He fits a bit better in the BadassBookworm variant. Already physically impressive and a capable fighter when he got sent to jail, he received some basic instruction in philosophy and slight-of-hand from cellmate [[RougeAnglesOfSatin Low-key Lyesmith]]

** He fits a bit better in the BadassBookworm variant. Already physically impressive and a capable fighter when he got sent to jail, he received some basic instruction in philosophy and slight-of-hand from cellmate [[RougeAngles Low-key Lyesmith]]

** The prison-sculpting and subsequent awesomeness has led to the "[[RockYouLikeAnIrohcane Rock You Like an Irohcane]]" meme.

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** Plus being friends with one of the guards meant he got some better food.
*** Also, Zuko seems to regularly give him food. He might not take it while he's around, but Iroh's a practical sort, he won't refuse nourishment.
*** Combined with the above, its [[JustifiedTrope justified]]; as the [[BadassGrandpa former]] [[FourStarBadass crown]] [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething prince]], he has some background in buff. And when someone ''has'' had a lot of muscle, its no so much a case of building it up as pulling it back together.

* ''{{Hancock}}'': random inmates are seeing doing his. Hancock himself is beyond that of course.

* Ryo from {{Shamo}} learned karate and got in shape during his time in a high security juvenile detention center.

* [[LeParkour David Belle]]'s character in {{District 13}} has nothing in his cell except iron bars. So he mostly does vertical situps on those.

* The 70's TV show [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Justice_%28TV_series%29 Sword of Justice]] had this as key backstory for the main character.

* In the 1990s Fox [[Spider-man]] cartoon, Wilson Fisk went from "bowling ball" to [[IncrediblyLamePun "Kingpin"]] while in juvie.

* Billy Costigan in [[The Departed]] spends his prison sentence working out. Granted, he's an undercover cop, so he was probably in good shape to start with.

* Several prisons outside America (mostly in countries where PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad and prisons are meant to reform even hopeless career criminals) have a balanced and nutritious diet and well-equipped gyms. In those countries this trope is perfectly justified.

* ''{Montmorency}'': His doctor in prison puts him on hard labor to strengthen his weakened muscles after his accident. Montmorency takes it farther because he needs to be stronger to go to the better life of crime he has planned after he gets out.

* The Gordon R. Dickson short story [[http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743471741/0743471741___1.htm "Danger—Human"]] is built around this trope.

Characters who're already toguh as nails might use the time to read a lot of books, so the lesson is, however you go in, prison is a BadassBookworm factory.

Since feeding prisoners costs money and prisoners are considered the scum of society, they are often (especially in ancient times or with a harsh government) given a diet which is barely enough to sustain life. Thus it requires one to have a WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief that the prisoner of the hellhole manages to gain any abilities in prison.

But just as often the reason is to get the characters capable of defending themselves against prison bullies.

Now this can involve bulking up, but even if you don't need adjustable weights, you do need a bit more than a typical prison diet can allow. So if a character bulks up, there is some FridgeLogic, especially if the character gets a CharlesAtlasSuperpower.

* The Gordon R. Dickson short story [[http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743471741/0743471741___1.htm "Danger—Human"]] is built around this trope.

* ''Kick-Ass'' Big Daddy does that during his stay.

* Bernard Hopkins learned to box in prison and bulked up significantly. When he came out, he became arguably the best Middleweight ever.
** Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzon, Sugar Ray Robinson...there's not really an argument for him as a top five middleweight