Dare To Be Successful

by John Barrett Hawkins

  Chapter 1: HOOKED ON HEALTH

  My name is John Barrett Hawkins. In 1987, at the age of 24, I was living the aspiring entrepreneur’s dream. After failing miserably with my first three business ventures, I finally found a niche. My chain of retail clothing stores, Just Sweats, had grown from one location to 22 with annual revenues of 10 million dollars in just three years. With a growing list of franchise requests, the company was on the threshold of a national expansion. A sportswear magazine even interviewed me for an article they were writing about Just Sweats, and I boldly announced my goal of opening three hundred stores from coast to coast within five years. It was the happiest time of my life. I was in love with one of the sweetest, most gorgeous women on the planet, and my career had reached heights previously unimaginable. Little did I know it was all about to end.

  Like many people who start their own business, I developed a profound emotional attachment to the company that I built. Along the way I also acquired an untamable attraction to risk. That combination proved toxic when my business partner proposed an insurance fraud that would enable me to reacquire his 45-percent ownership in Just Sweats. At that time I viewed insurance companies as corrupt, soulless entities, and faced no moral roadblock when it came to fleecing them. But something went wrong — very wrong. In the process of facilitating the fraud, my partner killed a man and I was held accountable. I was tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison.

  The insurance fraud was presented to me by my partner as a white-collar, victimless crime. In my lifetime I have never intentionally harmed another human being. I did not intend or suspect that my business partner would commit a murder; however, that did not, in any way, minimize my responsibility for the death of a man I did not even know. My ignorance of my partner’s heinous actions was deemed completely irrelevant by the law. I should have considered the possible sinister consequences of the scheme. In retrospect, I realized that my role in the fraud was pivotal — had I not been a willing participant, the murder would not have happened. I faced the unfathomable truth that I was responsible for a homicide. I could not begin to imagine the horror that the victim’s family experienced, or the agony that crushed their hearts. I felt overwhelming shame and deep sorrow for the pain I had caused them, and for the embarrassment I had caused my own family. My inner turmoil led to chronic depression, nervous breakdowns, and a suicide attempt.

  The only thing that sustained me through this personal nightmare was the love of my wife, Amelia, and our five-year-old son, Luke. I had told Amelia about the fraud before I committed it. Knowing that I never intended to hurt anyone, she stood by me.

  During the first two years of my life sentence Amelia and Luke spent their weekends with me in the prison visiting room. As soon as my son spotted me coming through the doors, he took off at a dead sprint, leaped into my arms and fiercely hugged me. I will always remember those hugs from my little boy as the purest moments of love that I have ever felt. Amelia was the best friend I’ve ever had; someone who supported me during my darkest hour. Her visits were an act of extraordinary generosity. My family’s love nourished my damaged soul and offered me a chance to cling to them like a newborn. Unfortunately for me, that neediness and the stigma of being a convicted felon’s wife eventually drove Amelia away.

  After Amelia left, I entered the most painful period of my life. A sense of hopelessness and sadness consumed every fiber of my being. From the other convicts I learned that there are more than twenty thousand prisoners in the State of California with life sentences, and no one convicted of conspiracy to commit murder had been paroled in the last seventeen years. It was a blanket policy — life meant life. I was a man with no future. My only escape from the daily oppression was exercise, but even that was lost when I severely injured my hip and ankle. With absolutely no medical care, I was laid up for a year. The inactivity led to my gaining thirty pounds of body fat and the return of an old, debilitating lower back injury. Eventually, my physical pain became as severe as my psychological pain. Thoughts of suicide returned and began to dominate my mental process.

  Around this time my friend Victoria, a forensic psychologist, sent me a book by Viktor Frankl, titled Man’s Search for Meaning, that would bring me back from the abyss. Frankl, an Austrian psychoanalyst who survived the death camps of Nazi Germany, made a significant discovery. During his three years of captivity he observed and evaluated his fellow inmates. He was intrigued by the question of what made it possible for some to survive the torture and starvation when most ­­—­ 19 of every 20­ — died. Those who perished had said they had no reason to live, and no longer expected anything from life. Frankl argued that they were wrong, stating, “Life’s not accountable to us. We’re accountable to life.” And indeed it was this sense of accountability, this sense of purpose that was the common factor in the inmates who survived. They invariably expressed that they had loved ones to return to or some important work to do or a mission to perform.1

  Frankl developed an extraordinary insight into mankind’s instinctive need for purpose. He writes: “Everyone has a specific vocation or mission in life; everyone has a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment.” These insights led Frankl to develop a new type of psychotherapy called “logo (the Greek word for meaning) therapy.” Logo therapy regards its assignment as that of assisting the patient to find meaning in his life. It tries to help the patient become aware of what he longs for in the depths of his heart.2

  What I longed for was redemption; to find some way of proving to my family and to the victim’s family that I am not the type of person who could knowingly be involved in the killing of a fellow human being. True, I was indirectly responsible for a man’s death, but I never intended for that to happen. I am not a murderer, and I certainly did not conspire with anyone to commit a murder. Frankl’s book inspired me to look within and search for a way to prove my true character.

  Another author who was instrumental in helping me find my way back to wellness was Stephen Covey. His book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is in many ways a modern extension to Frankl’s purpose in life therapy. My criminal conviction, the negative publicity and the daily humiliation of the prison experience worked together to completely destroy my self-image and confidence. 7 Habits helped me convert that negative attitude into a positive attitude by encouraging me to focus my energy on serving others, particularly those in need. This led to an epiphany. I saw that my incarceration, if viewed from a fresh perspective, could be considered a rare opportunity. Entrepreneurs are creators of concepts. Essentially what entrepreneurs do during the pre-opening stages is conduct a lot of research, then create business concepts. My realization was that I could still do what I love most in life.

  In 7 Habits, Covey writes: “Nothing has a greater, larger lasting impression upon another person than the awareness that someone has transcended suffering, has transcended circumstance and is embodying and expressing a value that inspires and enables and lifts life.”3 This one sentence led to monumental changes in my life, a desire to be the guy who transcended suffering and circumstance to create something noble. I made a conscious decision to apply my skills as a businessman toward something more significant than financial gain — by developing a company whose primary objective is to improve the quality of people’s lives — and amazing things began to happen. In time, I would find meaning in a seemingly meaningless existence and in some magical way my physical and psychological wounds began to heal.

  Exactly what type of business I would develop began to take shape while I was reading Dr. Deepak Chopra’s classic, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. The book’s emphasis is on mind-body medicine. I found myself analyzing my mother’s health condition. Over a three-year period she had suffered an endless series of illnesses and ailments that her doctors never properly diagnosed. This was preceded by a prolonged bout of clinical depression. A search for the cause was not difficult; in just three years she lost t
he three people she was closest to. First, her mother died. Next, her lifelong best friend of 40 years lost her life to cancer. Finally, her son was sent to prison with a life sentence. She was alone in the world and her depression had manifested itself in the form of physical ailments.

  Chopra’s book provided a concise explanation of how my mother’s mental anguish led to her health problems. It also enabled me to see that her three years of suffering could have been reduced to three months with a proper mind-body diagnosis and a pro-active recovery plan. I did some research and quickly realized that, just like my mother, millions of suffering people were not getting the proper treatment. So, I decided to focus my passion for business on designing a health care facility that would fill the obvious void. In time, it became my personal mission, “my concrete assignment that demanded fulfillment.”

  Early on, a man named Ken O’Donnell, a high-ranking IBM executive and former Inc Magazine “Entrepreneur of the Year” award winner befriended me. Ken was suffering from the neurological disorder Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and had a keen interest in the mind-body observations I was making. During the twilight of his life Ken became my mentor. Through letters and phone conversations we discussed a number of possibilities for a new kind of treatment center. He explained the emerging role the Internet was playing in health care and guided me through various strategies for developing a business in the New Economy. Of particular significance was something that he taught me about fund raising. Ken said that venture capitalists are attracted to business plans supported by the world’s top futurists, and instructed me to study their books and reports. In one of these books, The Experience Economy, authors B. Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore suggest:

  Everyone faced with a tremendous personal loss must go through a series of experiences such as shock, depression, confusion, guilt and anger before recovery can occur. How much better can we handle these stages and more quickly be transformed from grief to normal living when someone — minister, counselor or friend — guides us, than when we are left alone. In the same way all transformation elicitors guide aspirants through a series of experiences.4

  This information made a lot of sense to me, because both my mother and I faced a tremendous personal loss. For my mother, it was the death of her own mother, her closest friend and her son’s imprisonment. For me, it was the loss of my wife and son, my freedom and my self-respect. We both experienced each of these stages the authors described. However, there was a significant difference in our ability to recover. Where my mother’s recovery took many years, mine actually occurred during one 12-week window of time; the primary difference being that I was guided by various transformation elicitors.

  Viktor Frankl and Stephen Covey guided me through a transformation that gave my life meaning. During the same time frame that I was making these psychological changes, I met a young convict named Billy Dase who had just completed Bill Phillips’ Trans-formation Challenge, a 12-week diet and exercise regimen that produces amazing physiological changes. Billy encouraged me to read Phillips’ book, Body-for-Life, then challenged me to do the program with him. I was 30 pounds overweight and out of shape, so I decided to give it a try. The workout component consists of three 45-minute sessions of high-intensity resistance training and three 20-minute sessions of high-intensity cardiovascular exercise every week for 12 weeks. In the beginning it was grueling. My body was sore all the time. On several occasions I wanted to quit, but Billy kept pushing and challenging me. Peer pressure can be a powerful motivator. At week six I started seeing results and that got me over the hump. The end of the program coincided with my thirty-seventh birthday. I was in the best shape of my life and actually had developed a body like one of those guys on the cover of Men’s Health magazine. But more importantly, the pains in my hip, ankle and lower back were gone. The body aches I had endured for more than three years had completely disappeared. And so had my depression.

  The latest studies from the field of psychoneuroimmunology demonstrate that rigorous physical exercise can be a powerful weapon in the war against depression. In his book, Body-for-Life, Bill Phillips addresses this issue:

  The people who took the Transformation Challenge were getting physically fit, and they were getting their lives back in shape. It was, and still is, one of the most enlightening experiences of my life. Accepting this challenge rekindled the flame of desire for tens of thousands, and it broke down walls that were keeping people from moving forward in all areas of their lives.

  Many of the men and women who accepted my challenge reported that the program literally saved their lives. Their risk of heart disease —the number-one killer in America today — was drastically lowered, as well as the risk of being afflicted with other illness, such as diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis.

  Beyond even that, the psychological and emotional changes reported by these men and women were (and are) stunning. They described off-the-chart leaps in self-confidence, self-respect, and empowerment. They discovered that taking control of their bodies broke down barriers all around them. 5

  I had the exact same experience discussed by Phillips. Even though serving a life sentence in prison, I felt good about myself and the things I was working on. My recovery from suicidal depression and chronic lower back, hip and ankle pain might never have occurred without the guidance I received from Viktor Frankl, Steven Covey, Bill Phillips, Billy Dase and Gary Kraftsow, my yoga instructor. In a very real sense, they were my transformation elicitors. Looking objectively at my recovery made it clear that I had unwittingly infused my system with a number of harmonizing influences within that 12-week period: strength training, aerobic training, yoga, a healthy diet, purpose in life therapy, vitamins and nutritional supplements (I was taking glucosamine sulfate, which several studies reported causes the body to produce new joint cartilage). I firmly believe the combination of these harmonizing influences created a synergistic effect, thus accelerating my return to optimal mental and physical health.

  Another futurist that Ken recommended was the Institute of the Future, who predict: “Mental illness, particularly clinical depression, will eventually eclipse cancer as the leading cause of disability in the United States.” At first glance, this prediction seemed a bit far-fetched. But in considering how my mother’s depression led to a host of other health problems, I was able to see the underlying truths. The research on depression shows that it makes other serious diseases dramatically worse. Heart disease leads a long list of illnesses that worsen with depression. People with such illnesses as cancer, arthritis, epilepsy and osteoporosis all run a higher risk of disability or premature death when clinically depressed.6

  I had intimate knowledge of the evil that is depression, and thanks to my “health mentors,” I had also gained an understanding of how to combat the problem. I saw that the process of overcoming depression, as well as being overweight or even having back problems, could be much quicker and less arduous if people have transformation elicitors to guide them through the changes they need to make.

  In The Experience Economy, Pine and Gilmore predict that what is coming next is the Transformation Economy. They believe businesses that focus on transforming some aspect of the consumer’s life will achieve market dominance. In accessing this prediction, I quickly recognized that Bill Phillips (Transformation Challenge) was a successful pioneer in the Transformation Economy. I was granted one of those moments of exceptional clarity that allows you to see things at a deeper level of meaning. I had stumbled onto something quite significant and wanted to share it with the rest of the world by designing a medical center where suffering individuals could undergo a health care transformation. I wanted to develop a transformation center.

  From my prison cell I spent the next 10 years researching and designing an entirely new type of health care establishment called “Hooked On Health.” From the beginning I saw that I had an opportunity that businessmen in the “real world” could only dream of: An infinite amount of time to conduct research and create. Fo
r years all I did was read and apply what I learned to the task at hand. I read hundreds of books by cutting-edge physicians and innovative entrepreneurs, and integrated their wisdom into the Hooked On Health business plan.

  One of the best books I discovered on creating health is Ultraprevention, by Dr. Mark Liponis and Dr. Mark Hyman. Their medical model is information based; a system of treatment derived from the scientific study of health. These doctors took the time to keep up with research studies and incorporate the newest discoveries.7

  I followed their lead, and medical research studies became the foundation upon which Hooked On Health was built. The treatment model is based on the principles of mind-body medicine, which encourages patients to get in touch with their purpose in life and pursue peak physical conditioning as the ultimate form of prevention. These objectives will be facilitated through an evolutionary concept — Self-Care Mentorship — in which doctors and other health care professionals will utilize a series of seminars, courses and workshops to teach their patients methods of extreme self-care. The mentorship forum will be combined with lifestyle coaching and personal-fitness training sessions with the expectation that the cross-fertilization will guide people to optimal health. These core competen­cies, offered in a cost-effective mini-group formula and dynamically connected as 12-week transformation programs, will serve as the foundation for Pro-Active Health Care, a new, action-based paradigm in behavioral medicine.

  During the period of time that I was designing Hooked On Health, I met a sixty-eight-year-old, retired fireman named Charlie who was in prison for killing a gang member who had raped his fourteen-year-old daughter. Charlie was sentenced to sixteen years for manslaughter. The thought of dying in prison led to extreme depression and an overwhelming sense of guilt. Charlie was a father of six and a devoted husband. The entire incident had devastated his wife and he also shouldered the burden of her pain. Charlie is a good man. He had never previously broken the law and spent most of his adult life working to better his community. I wanted to help and offered to guide him through the transformation program I had learned from Billy. Charlie had not exercised in ten years and initially was not receptive to the prospect of intense training. However, I was successful in persuading him to read Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. One entire section of the book studies centenarians (individuals who live for more than one hundred years) and emphasized regular exercise as a critical component in longevity. Charlie saw an opportunity to outlive his sentence and return to his family.

  So, he agreed to let me train him. The first few weeks were brutal. He was so sore he could not even get out of bed on a number of occasions. I motivated him by preaching that if he got in top physical condition, he would someday get to go home. Charlie stuck with it and by the end of the program was a new man. Not only did his body look like that of a professional athlete, but also his depression completely disappeared. He became optimistic about his future, enrolling in a Bible College and making plans to become a minister.

  I vividly recall a day when he took off his shirt, flexed a brilliantly sculptured double bicep and said to me, “Hey kid, take a look at your handiwork.” It warmed my heart to see the old rooster strut. After our workouts he often said, “I feel so good, thanks to you.” Knowing that I was instrumental in helping Charlie find his way back to health and happiness was rewarding. Every time he thanked me, I was reminded of how important my Hooked On Health mission is and how grateful I am to have discovered the meaning of my own life.

  Charlie really opened my eyes to the role a transformation center could play in longevity, anti-aging and the quality of a senior citizen’s life. In the beginning, Charlie could not do a single pull-up. By the end of the program he could bring maximum intensity to every exercise for a full forty-five-minute workout. I even had him doing wind sprints three days a week. The effect this had on his self-esteem and sense of vitality was stunning. Charlie felt younger, stronger and more in control of his life. At the age of sixty-eight he had transformed his body from that of a flabby old man to a physique every bit as muscular and sculptured as that of a bodybuilder. Every morning he looked in the mirror and felt good about himself, which certainly played a major role in his ability to overcome depression.

  Charlie’s impressive physique and newfound physical prowess quickly became the talk of the prison yard. He was running circles around convicts half his age. Word got around, and it was not long before another man, Jim, asked me to train him. Jim was forty-seven years of age and nearly a hundred pounds overweight. From my research, I knew that 65 percent of the American population was overweight and that excess fat leads to an array of other health problems including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and certain types of cancer. I wanted Hooked On Health to offer weight-loss transformation programs, so this was a challenge I could not refuse. I decided I would learn everything there was to know about losing weight and dedicated myself to helping Jim overcome his obesity.

  As Jim and I got to know one another, I learned that he was also an entrepreneur. He had owned a small business and had experience in franchising. He also had an addiction to methamphetamine and easy money. This was his third time in prison as a result of selling drugs, and he was determined to break the pattern. He spent two years in a prison drug rehabilitation program called Amity and got straight for the first time in his adult life. Jim confided in me his desire to work with addicts when he got out.

  I shared my dream of opening Hooked On Health, and he convinced me that the transformation center should offer programs for drug abusers. Jim felt that the training regimen through which I was guiding him (exercise, diet and purpose in life therapy) complemented the group therapy he was getting with Amity and had been instrumental in helping him overcome his addiction. He was involved in a training course to become an Amity counselor and had a wealth of knowledge about fighting drug abuse. I learned that 75 percent of the men in prison had committed crimes that were drug-related.

  Dr. Chopra describes drug abuse as a lack of exultation; meaning that something is missing from a person’s life and they are using drugs to fill the void. According to mind-body medicine the cure is to help users get in touch with their purpose in life, to replace the high of the drugs with the exultation of meaning. I explained this to Jim and he agreed with me wholeheartedly. Jim has three children and he said that fulfilling his responsibilities as a father is what gave his life meaning and purpose; he started developing a plan to enable him to do just that when he got out. At the same time he was becoming involved in assisting me with Hooked On Health. We worked on mock-up transformation programs and eventually designed a drug rehab program that combined purpose in life therapy, group therapy and intense physical training.

  Over time I came to believe that Jim could help me get the business off the ground. During our workouts we discussed the intricacies of the business plan and worked on his presentation. Jim worked out hard and maintained strong discipline on his diet. In the course of six months he took eleven inches off a flabby waistline and put his body in peak physical condition. His transformation was incredible both physically and psychologically. By the time of his release I was confident that he was the right person to represent my vision.

  Shortly after Jim went home, I received the following letter from him, which I would like to share with you. In the letter he refers to me as “Cap,” which is short for Captain, and is in reference to my work as a yacht skipper many years ago.

  My Friend "Cap,”

  As I stated in the letter to my brother, just saying goodbye seemed to leave a void. Sometimes in parting important thoughts and emotions are easier expressed when written, which is why I felt compelled to write this to you.

  Although our time together has been relatively short, I feel that the time spent had essential characteristics of high merit. “Quality,” know it or not, you were a true inspiration. Thanks to you, I look and feel like a new man. Thank you for guiding me through my transformation. You truly are
a “Transformation Elicitor.”

  As the Captain of my sea into tomorrow, I give you a true heartfelt thanks for allowing me to be your first mate. Know that I will give 110% to our quest. I'm excited to be a part of your vision. And 1 hope you know I share in it as well.

  So my mentor, my Captain, my friend — this is not a goodbye, but it is a letter of hope and aspiration for you. Know that you have made a great and wonderful change in my life. Keep doing the things that you do, know that God will bless you sooner than you can imagine.

  With love,

  Your Friend and First Mate, Jim

  The letter unleashed a flood of emotion and I could not control the tears that ran down my face. I had worked so hard for so many years, but rarely had there been a sign that it had been worth the effort. But, like Charlie before him, Jim's transformation reminded me of how important this work is and of the impact Hooked On Health could have in people's lives.

  Two weeks after Jim got out; he met with a San Diego attorney whom he had known for years. The two men spent hours going over every detail of the business plan. The attorney loved the concept and said he knew some investors in Las Vegas who might be interested in funding the business. Unfortunately, Jim never got the opportunity to meet with them because of the 9-11 terrorist attack on Manhattan's Twin Towers. The economy went south, Vegas in particular. The investors the lawyer had lined up were no longer looking at any new deals, and rightfully so. It was the absolute worst time to open a new business. Jim and I joined the rest of the country in a national state of depression.

  I spent the first couple of months following 9-11 feeling sorry for myself. The media naysayers were predicting a prolonged recession and for a period of time I lost sight of my vision. When Hooked On Health was put on an indefinite back burner, my sense of purpose vanished. Like a rudderless ship caught in a rip tide, I drifted into the shadowy prison underworld. The gray walls, the barbed wire, guards barking out orders, horrendous people with whom I had to deal on a daily basis, my own lack of exultation — the prison world soon became unbearable.

  I desperately wanted to connect with people in the “real world” who shared my dream of developing a medical center, where individuals in need could transform their lives. But fear of rejection had wounded me. I had been convicted of an intolerable crime and could not conceive of a way to overcome my status of “life prisoner.” Self-pity and procrastination became my maladies, destroying my inner confidence and willingness to take chances. My dream was dying because I saw myself as Americans view all convicted felons — a piece of garbage discarded by society. The bad thoughts returned in abundance. At this crossroads in my life all forms of escapism looked appealing, and I could not conceive of a way to change that.

  Intuitively, my mother seemed to know how to pull me out of the doldrums. On Thanksgiving Day she suggested that I write a health and fitness book detailing the transformation program through which I had guided Charlie and Jim. A convict’s approach to fitness! She said that there was nothing like it. And she was correct — convicts use training methods of which most people have never even heard. I liked the idea immediately because it would enable me to recapture my focus on serving others.

  The prison workout program I learned from Billy had evolved into something truly unique. Even though conceived on the principles of Body-for-Life, the program was really quite different. Since the California prison system does not allow the inmates to use weights, Billy found a way to stimulate every muscle group through a rather ingenious high-intensity, bodyweight exercise training regimen. By bodyweight training I mean pull-up and push-up type exercises. Over time, I have interviewed other convicts who developed extraordinary physiques and incorporated their methods. I have also added yoga, some Pilates and a cardiovascular regimen used by world-class athletes. These elements, combined with the insights gained from my decade-long study of nutrition and mind-body medicine, came together to form a peak athletic performance and optimal health transformation program that I call Penitentiary Fitness .

  In my personal opinion, Olympic gymnasts and sprinters (both male and female) have the most beautiful physiques on the planet. Thus, I designed the exercise component of the transformation program to emulate their training methods. When you combine the athletic grace of gymnastics (pushing and pulling one’s own bodyweight) with the explosiveness of all-out sprinting, the results are extraordinary: powerful, multifunctional muscles with extremely sharp lines of definition. The bodyweight training program aspires to help you build a beautiful body, but perhaps more importantly, the system is designed to help you live a longer, healthier life. It will also drastically lower your risk of many diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and arthritis. It will strengthen your heart, your cardiovascular system, your immune system, and increase your balance, flexibility and coordination. Thus, peak athletic performance becomes the ultimate form of disease and injury prevention.

  Since I am not a doctor or even a certified personal fitness trainer, I decided to base the program’s recommendations on insights from leading weight loss and fitness authors, including Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, Dr. Robert Atkins, Dr. Jeff Volek, Bill Phillips, and Mark Lauren, among others; and on research studies conducted at the world’s top medical schools and universities. As previously mentioned, medical research studies were the foundation upon which the transformation center business concept was built. “The treatment model was derived from the scientific study of health and incorporated the newest discoveries.”7 Research studies provide a fascinating look at the inner-workings of the human body and at the same time can inspire us to make changes that will improve the quality of our own lives.

  Over the last 10 years I have read hundreds of published studies on the subject of weight loss, and I began to see patterns within the information. One medical school would discover that a particular food, nutritional supplement or type of exercise would produce dramatic results; then another research facility would analyze the same stimulus and confirm its effectiveness for weight loss. These findings inspired me to cross-reference and synthesize all of the relevant information, and what emerged was The Amazing Weight Loss Formula. This formula evolved from a simple and logical insight: When a person does everything that modern science dictates should be done to lose weight, then they will have the best possible results.

  The research revealed that developing muscle mass through high-intensity resistance training was by far the most significant factor in weight loss. When you add muscle, you’re resting metabolic rate speeds up. According to Mark Lauren, author of You Are You’re Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises, “The resting metabolic rate is the amount of calories needed to sustain all of your body's functions while at rest. The resting metabolic rate accounts for approximately 65% of your body's total calorie consumption, activity burning the remainder.8

  "Lean body mass accounts for approximately 80% of your resting metabolic rate.”9 That’s a significant statistic that explains why developing muscle mass through high-intensity resistance training is so important for people who want to lose weight. It is also why a convict’s approach to weight loss could be revolutionary. Convicts train at off-the-chart levels of intensity and that leads to extraordinary results.

  It is also important to note that this result was exactly the same for women. In fact, women will find bodyweight exercises and workouts to be an ideal way to burn fat, trim their tummy and shape their derriere. Many women refuse to lift weights because they fear becoming too muscular, or don’t want to exercise at a gym with a bunch of guys staring at them. Getting too muscular is a misconception created by the appearance of female bodybuilders, most of who take steroids. Normal women simply do not have enough testosterone to develop big muscles.10 Going to a gym is also a non-issue because the Penitentiary Fitness workouts do not require any equipment. Bodyweight workouts can be done in the park, at the beach, or even in one’s own backyard. By exercising outdoors we gain the ad
ded benefit of connecting with nature. Sunshine, fresh air and beautiful scenery nourish the body, mind and soul.

  A look ahead: Chapter 2 lists medical science’s top twenty fat-loss secrets. Chapter 3 suggests that you get your aerobic training by engaging in high-intensity sports and other activities that you enjoy. Chapter 4 explains exactly how muscles develop and why bodyweight workouts are invaluable for weight loss. Chapter 5 emphasizes the need for rest and provides techniques that will help you sleep better and recover faster. Chapter 6 breaks down the science of nutrition in terms that are easy to understand. Chapter 7 takes that nutrition information and shows you how to create your own meal plans.

  The remaining sections of the book focus primarily on personal motivation and the various workout plans. Chapter 8 relates the story of Daniel Durland, a young man who lost 110 pounds of body fat in five months using the Penitentiary Fitness system and discusses the virtues of infusing your life (and workouts) with purpose. Chapter 9 matches individual objectives with specific bodyweight workout plans. Chapter 10 explains the importance of warming up before a training session and cooling down afterward. Chapter 11, the 20-Minute Total Body Workout, explains a prison workout designed for busy, time-starved individuals. Chapters 12 and 13 detail bodyweight training routines that will help you develop a body similar to that of an Olympic gymnast. Chapter 14 discusses the most advanced prison exercises and workouts for both muscle development and fat loss. Chapter 15 offers a preview of my next book, Principles of Grace: A Parable to Find Meaning in Life. And finally, Chapter 16 provides illustrations and step-by-step instructions for each of the bodyweight exercises. Most of the chapters are brief and concise, some only a few pages, but all are power-packed with the knowledge you will need to achieve optimal health and to develop your best body.

  The Dirty Nasty Truth: Sneak Preview