Fit For Release

With the UK prison system at breaking point, a new wave of smart fitness programmes is transforming jail culture and giving inmates a second chance. MH met the men and women creating change from the inside

- Scarlett Wrench

Not many former convicts, once granted their freedom would walk back into prison voluntarily. But LJ Flanders made it his mission. Every morning at 8am, he would arrive at HMP Wandsworth in south London – one of the largest prisons in western Europe – to set up for the first of many fitness classes he’d be teaching that day. He would collect his keys, then unlock and relock the doors that led to his “gym”, a carefully risk-assessed basement space within the prison. At 9am, the men he’d be training would make their way down from their 10ft by 7ft cells.

During the first of his two-week trials, Flanders coached 105 prisoners – some as young as 18, others in their sixties. In the morning, inmates were led through an intensive, hour-long bodyweight session; afternoon classes offered lessons on nutrition and emotional resilience. Later on, inmates were invited to lead the workouts. Some were fairly new to training. One man turned up in the brogues he’d worn for his recent court appearance and had to ask around for a spare pair of trainers. Flanders never asked any of them what they were in for. “I find it better not to judge,” he says.

When I meet him in his shared office in central London, Flanders is busy on his laptop, prepping for a prison industry recruitment event called Unlocked Graduates. In 2016, Flanders founded Cell Workout, a social enterprise designed to improve prisoners’ physical and mental fitness. Ultimately, he says, he hopes to employ former inmates as instructors “on the outside”, coaching at-risk youth groups.