Robert De Niro's Penitentiary Workout for Cape Fear. De Niro’s program involved all body weight exercises just as a real prisoner would most likely perform while in jail. Body weight exercises like dips, chin-ups, pull-ups, and push-ups were used in addition to performing 600 crunches a day which sculpted the actor’s abdominals and gave him a total body muscle building workout. Training days were split into pushing (push-ups, dips, squats) and pulling days (pull-ups, chin-ups, rows).