Escape from New York Workout

Welcome to our Escape from New York Workout. This timed circuit workout is a tribute to the cult action movie.

1997 - The shit has hit the fan

Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed by John Carpenter. The film stars Kurt Russell as ‘Snake’ Plissken.

The film’s storyline, set in the alternative future world of 1997, is set in a war-weary and crime-ridden United States. The country has converted the whole of Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum-security prison. Air Force One is hijacked by insurgents and is deliberately crashed in New York City. Ex-soldier and current federal prisoner Snake Plissken (Russell) is given an offer by the US Government. Infiltrate and rescue the President of the United States and receive a full pardon or serve his full sentence. To ensure he doesn’t deviate from the mission an explosive chip is implanted in Snake’s neck that will detonate unless he returns in 24hrs.

Left – Snake captured by the US government. Right – The ‘Duke of New York’ (played by the late Isaac Hayes aka ‘Chef’ from South Park.)

The film is a lot of fun gangs of crazies, mace-wielding brutes and even a Duke of New York hunting Plissken. It is a race against time through dark streets where danger lurks at every turn. However despite the dystopian theme the film is laced with dark humour and one liners.

Snake has 24hrs to rescue the president out of Manhattan Island Penitentiary.

About Snake Plissken

The protagonist of the film is Snake Plissken, a former U.S. Army Lieutenant. Snake was part of a Special Forces Unit (Black Light) and earned two Purple Hearts during campaigns in Leningrad and Siberia in World War III. He was the youngest man to be decorated by the President. Betrayed by the US military, Snake trusts no-one least of all the US government forcing him to do something against his will. He is highly skilled in firearms use and hand-to-hand combat due to his military training.

"I don't give a fuck about your war or your President"

― 'Snake' Plissken

Naturally Snake is very cynical, mistrustful of others, and holds nothing sacred, although he does have a loose sense of honour. Plissken is very cool and level-headed thinking under extremely stressful situations. Although he will kill without remorse or hesitation, he does not kill for fun or when it is unnecessary. He is also known for his quick wit and gallows humor.

Kurt Russell and John Carpenter scored high in creating one of cinema’s first and memorable anti-heroes.

Being a notorious cult film bulf myself, this workout is a tip of the hat to . It follows a similarly timed schedule. Complete the workout in the time allotted or at least die trying :D.

The Circuit

Equipment required:

A heavily functional equipment workout. Don’t worry if you don’t have to hand some of the equipment, improvise with what you do have. See our section here on improvised gym equipment.

Kettlebells, battleropes, medicine ball, TRX, tire, dumbbells, sandbag, punchbag, macebell.

Warm ups

(Always warm up before starting any routine). Start by performing mobility drills on shoulders, hips, ankles, wrist and neck muscles. Use light core stretches to activate the muscle groups we shall be using.

After mobility drills use three rounds of the warm-up drills below.

Workout Tips

The workout contains 3 x full-body circuits. The workout is timed so you should be aiming to complete all circuits twice within 60 minutes.
Set your timer for 60 minutes.
Make your way steadily through the exercises.
Concentrate on good effort and technique and try not to exceed rest times.
Recovery is up to you, take breathers if you need them but keep your eye on the clock.