I admire people who train and get as fit as they can. I don’t think I’d go to the gym if I wasn’t a boxer, but I’d still follow a fitness regime of sorts, which would include Solitary Fitness. Paul Smith Jnr
MARK RAHIM – MARTIAL ARTIST
Being a martial artist, the development of the punch is of maximum interest to me, so Charlie’s statement that the impact and power of a punch comes from the tricep and not the bicep made me think. As a bodybuilder for several years, all my focus has been on the bicep.
I weighed 18st at my peak, benching 150kg for ten reps without any steroid help at all. Just good diet, regular training and good sleep, which is very important. The trouble with being 18st of good muscle, you find it hard to even do your shoelaces up. To sort this out I took up Tang Soo Do, which is a Korean martial art, first introduced in England in 1945 by grandmaster Hwang Kee. Our martial art has a fantastic history going back over 500 years. I currently study under Master Tony Johnson who is the best Tang Soo Do instructor in this country, training three to four days a week. Of course, there are press-ups involved but I wanted more so I bought a professional tricep push-down machine and 30 sets of dumbbells from 15kg up to 30kg. Another good sound bit of advice Charlie gave me is bag work.
I have dropped to 15 ½st through karate and am twice as fit, with Charlie’s advice and training aids; my arms still peak at 18in round. It’s not about how much you can press but how fast you can punch. My master’s favourite quote is ‘a journey of a 1,000 miles starts with a single step’.
So, get off the sofa and, if you haven’t trained for a while, get a check-up and join a gym. Better still, take up a martial art. Try a few clubs but go for one that insists on discipline.
As a routine, I do five sets of push-downs with different bar attachments to work all sides of the tricep to get the full horseshoe shape.
A big thank you to Charlie for some good advice from a good mate.
Go on, fight to get fit. You never know, you may end up living another 20 years.
RAYMOND KRAY
When most people think about fitness, one of the first things that comes to mind is how much it will cost. From the payment for a pair of trainers to the cost of joining a gym, and perhaps even the cost of buying supplements, it all adds up. I asked Charlie about supplements once, and this was his reply: ‘My book on fitness will blow all the myths away – fitness and health clinics are a rip-off, so are supplements, so are steroids. If you buy a £300 pair of shoes, do you run any faster?’
I have used Charlie’s advice from Solitary Fitness for some time now, and with great results, both physically and financially. The book helped me gain overall body strength and stamina, and this was extremely useful when Charlie’s son Mike and me pulled off two rooftop protests in London for Charlie. Firstly, we scaled the walls of the Tower of London, then on the second day we climbed St Margaret’s Church next to Westminster, and all of this was achieved with backpacks on.
The good thing about Charlie’s book is that the workouts are easy to follow and they definitely work. It doesn’t matter what level of training you are at, there is something in here for everybody.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in fitness.
SABRINA AND RICHARD MENZIES SABRINA
Charles Bronson’s Solitary Fitness advice has helped me with my training. I am a student of Sepoy Karate and need plenty of exercise to keep my fitness high. When I’m not at Toddington Dojo, my bedroom is my gymnasium, my body is my equipment and my heart is my drive, pushing myself through push-ups, sit-ups and plenty of stretches. Charlie’s advice is simple and very effective.
RICHARD
Charlie has maintained a high standard of fitness in the confines of his prison cell. No free weights, running machines or fancy modern equipment. So, when it comes to advice on fitness, I’d say he’s worth listening to. In taking his advice, I have often worked out in my own home using just floor space, a medicine ball and self-motivation. Simple advice.
As a student of Shotokan Karate, this advice has helped me with my training on many occasions. After all, the Dojo of Dunstable Bushido is not a place for idleness.
Vinny Clay Bonnar
Shot dead on my mother’s birthday, 14 November 2000
Vinny was 6ft 5in of solid muscle. He could have a serious punch-up. He was loved by his family and respected by the chaps. Vinny was a Solitary Fitness fanatic while in jail. He was a proper strong-willed man. And he’s got this page in my book coz he earned it with blood, sweat and tears. He was taken out with guns. The cowards feared him so they shot him. In a fight, Vinny would have punched their noses into the backs of their skulls, and they know it.
Men like Vinny never really die. They live on with
MAX RESPECT.
IF I HAD TEN MEN LIKE HIM, I’D RULE THE PLANET.
UNSTOPPABLE.
The first thing you’re gonna notice on some of the pages is that I’m using a professional sportswoman to help demonstrate some of the exercises. Now a lot of people are gonna wonder why I’m using someone like Storm when we could have got any Tom, Dick or Harriet off the streets. Well, I’ll tell you why, coz how do you think you’re gonna see what muscles are working if I used someone with little or no musculature?
Storm has trained for many years and is not the average human specimen you would usually come across. The exercises in this book will not give you a physique that will win first place in the Universe contest, but they will give you a body that can be used in all sorts of situations. You’ll be able to walk into any gym easily and confidently hold your own with most of the steroid users, while remaining perfectly natural. Your strength gains will be with you for life. You’ll develop an inner core of power and strength that will not desert you.
This book is not a bodybuilding course; it is designed to give you maximum strength while helping you maintain maximum agility and speed. There’s nothing special about being muscle-bound: I’ve come across the biggest and best, and I’ve always come first … Think about it!
Most of you have read about me or heard of my feats of strength … all on prison swill! I am the example you must look to; I am living proof that my methods work. I have Her Majesty’s Prison Service and the Home Office of the United Kingdom as witnesses to what I say I’ve done. After all, they monitor me 24/365. No one could take me to court and say this is all a load of lies – I’d call 10,000 prison officers as my witnesses.
I pick up a muscle mag, I start to laugh and I wipe my arse with