Notorious inmate's keep-fit guide

Bronson's prison diet has not affected his strength

The UK's most notorious prisoner has written a fitness manual for people who live in small spaces.

Charles Bronson has spent 24 years of solitary confinement inside a 12-feet long cell.

He is serving life for attacks on prison staff and fellow inmates, which have included taking a number of people hostage.

But he is now revealing the fitness secrets which allow him to do 3,000 press-ups a day on a prison diet of porridge and stew.

I have to get my mind active so I will pace up and down my cell and every minute I drop and do 50 press-ups

Charles Bronson

Bronson, from Luton, Bedfordshire, was born Michael Peterson in Wales and was jailed 27 years ago for robbery.

But he named himself after the Hollywood actor who starred in the Death Wish films.

He is currently a category A inmate at Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, where he is allowed out of his cell for one hour each day.

The book - entitled Solitary Fitness - is due to be published in the autumn of 2002.

In it he derides body builders who use steroids and gym users.

He said: "My workout really starts from the time I get out of bed, I put my head in a bowl of cold water then I blow out a quick 100 press-ups just to get the heart pumping.

"With being in solitary, I have to get my mind active so I will pace up and down my cell and every minute I drop and do 50 press-ups.

"You'll be amazed how it adds up. Some days I'll push 2,500 to 3,000 press-ups.

"It sounds inhuman and amazing but remember that it's killing time for me. It's my buzz."

A prison service spokeswoman said: "Prisoners cannot profit from a book while they are inside and they cannot write about their crime."