Getting buff behind bars.<\/p>\n
Filippo Cardone, 48, used to be able to eat a whole pizza by himself \u2014 and his workout routine was almost non-existent.<\/p>\n
But in August of 2024, he pled guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 37 months of confinement, including 13 months in Tucson Federal Prison and time in a halfway house and on house arrest.<\/p>\n
And he didn\u2019t waste his time while locked up. Instead, he developed a \u201cgrueling\u201d fitness regimen \u2014 including a \u201cMike Tyson\u201d-like training routine \u2014 along with a strict diet that helped him drop almost 90 pounds. He came out a changed man.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was the healthiest I had ever been when I got out of prison,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n
Filippo Cardone is pictured before his weight loss. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
Filippo Cardone is pictured after losing 85 pounds while in prison. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
Cardone launched his career as a floor trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he traded in the S&P futures pit and NASDAQ 100 futures pit. He went on to invest in real estate and buy commercial properties, including shopping centers and flipping thousands of homes across the country.<\/p>\n
But in November of 2023, he was arrested and charged with wire fraud in a scheme involving Bitcoin. He ultimately pled guilty to one count and reported to prison in June 2025.<\/p>\n
When he got there, he was immediately confronted with the state of his health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing they do when you get to prison is they take down your name and replace you with a number,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was at 278 pounds and my blood pressure was at 157\/117, so I was already really defeated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing in, I didn\u2019t know what to expect \u2014 but I did know that this would be the perfect time for me to get in shape.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commissary diet<\/p>\n
Inside, Cardone overhauled his diet. On a typical day, he\u2019d eat a packet of about two ounces of shredded beef \u2014 off of which he would rinse the oil \u2014 as well as a packet of tuna. They each cost $1.95 from commissary.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a nice tuna can, like a Chicken of the Sea, because you can use the metal to make knives or weapons and stab someone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In August of 2024, Cardone pled guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 37 months of confinement, including 13 months in Tucson Federal Prison. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing in, I didn\u2019t know what to expect \u2014 but I did know that this would be the perfect time for me to get in shape,\u201d he told The Post. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
He would put the tuna in a bowl with salt and pepper and mix it with hot peppers to make it \u201ctastier.\u201d The \u201cguys in the kitchen\u201d would also make a \u201cspecial salad\u201d for him topped with peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers when they were available. <\/p>\n
For added nutritional value, he\u2019d make protein shakes with protein powder, milk and peanut butter every morning.<\/p>\n
Other foods that made it into the rotation included bananas, oranges, oatmeal, peanuts and clams, when they were available.<\/p>\n
Perhaps most eyebrow-raising was that he tried to keep himself to a restricted intermittent fasting window: All meals were to be eaten between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., no exceptions.<\/p>\n
Cardone overhauled his diet with commissary food including tuna, fruits and veggies. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
\u201cI would work out from 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning, do laundry, shower and eat. The rest of the day I would just fill up jugs of water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Altogether, he believes he consumed up to around 600 calories a day \u2014 and claims even with so little, his bloodwork came back in good shape.<\/p>\n
Slammer strong<\/p>\n
Then came the fitness routine. With the help of a fellow inmate who would become his close friend and fitness trainer, he embarked on an intense strength-training regimen \u2014 a far cry from his more \u201crelaxed\u201d approach of uphill treadmill walks and free weights before jail.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrength training ensured I wouldn\u2019t lose muscle, especially as I still needed protein to build up. I had to pivot after I lost so much weight, so to avoid getting saggy, we hung a rake across the dip bar and I would practice pull-ups and lots of squats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His workouts started at 5 a.m. and included burpees, push-ups, bear crawls, planks, super mans, jumping jacks, pull ups and lunges. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I take my shirt off, you\u2019ll see I don\u2019t have any loose skin or stretch marks. I did it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
His workouts started at 5 a.m. Cardone tackled a mix of muscle groups in high intensity intervals, including burpees, push-ups, bear crawls, planks, super mans, jumping jacks, pull ups and lunges, all in the \u201cdripping sweat\u201d of the Arizona heat.<\/p>\n
One of his \u201cmost insane workouts,\u201d though, was what they called the \u201cMike Tyson,\u201d which involved doing 2,000 push-ups, 2,000 body weight squats, 500 dips and 2,500 crunches.<\/p>\n
When it came to equipment, he and his trainer pal had to improvise \u2014 including making their own weights with laundry bags that they would fill up with rocks which they would then use to do curls.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d also walk \u2014 then jog \u2014 laps around the yard. <\/p>\n
When it came to equipment, he and his trainer pal had to improvise \u2014 including making their own weights with laundry bags that they would fill up with rocks which they would then use to do curls. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
Making progress<\/p>\n
To keep track of his progress, Cardone weighed himself on the prison\u2019s \u201cbroken down\u201d scale every day. Within four months\u2019 time, he realized he had dropped from 278 to 238 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first 40 pounds are usually the easiest to lose, as that is the liquid weight from water and bloating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Six months before his release date, his trainer friend decided it was time to \u201cstep it up.\u201d \u201cMy body started transforming into muscle and I really built up my shoulders and a strong core,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing I learned about prison is you have to keep your center and balance and it grows who you are. It\u2019s something you always think about, and my workout routines bring me right back there. It changed my life; it saved my life in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
A fellow inmate would become his close friend and fitness trainer. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
When he finally walked out of federal prison before entering the halfway house, he weighed 193 pounds, 85 pounds less than when he first stepped in.<\/p>\n
He realizes that his time in prison could have been spent very differently given his more prosperous circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a few bucks, so for a guy like me going into prison, I could have easily flopped and eaten like a fat pig and acted like a big shot,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n
Instead, he decided to keep his head down and blend in among the other inmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore this experience, no one could tell me what I could or couldn\u2019t do \u2014 I had power and money \u2014 but every day I do a workout, it humbles me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He has plans to open performance clubs offering blood testing on premises, plus high-end facilities including saunas, a hyperbaric chamber, steam rooms and red-light therapy. Courtesy Filippo Cardone<\/p>\n
What comes next<\/p>\n
Cardone transitioned to a halfway house in July and will remain there for a total of five months before going on house arrest.<\/p>\n
In an effort to use his experience to inspire others, he has plans to open performance clubs offering blood testing on premises, plus high-end facilities including saunas, a hyperbaric chamber, steam rooms and red-light therapy.<\/p>\n
He hopes to start with five or six locations and imagines opening within three to five years. He also plans to sell his own line of vitamins and protein powders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis journey isn\u2019t about money for me, I already have money, it\u2019s about giving back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getting buff behind bars. Filippo Cardone, 48, used to be able to eat a whole pizza by himself…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[3457,674,337,97,2825,3458,673,93577],"class_list":["post-850565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-diets","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-prisons","tag-weight-loss","tag-wellness","tag-wire-fraud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}