If you’re an anime fan that also has an interest in fitness, you might be wondering if the One Punch Man workout is killing your gains. In this video, I am going to review the popular daily workout routine and determine whether or not it is beneficial to building more muscle.
While this is certainly derived from a source of fiction, this workout routine has gained traction lately and likely because of its simplicity. Perform 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 bodyweight squats, and a 10 kilometer run everyday. A straight forward and easy workout, but I do have some issues with it that I think need to be addressed.
My first problem with the One Punch Man workout is the lack of posterior chain work included. As I highlighted in my Stop Doing 100 Pushups a Day video, ignoring the muscles on the back side of the body is a big mistake. By doing so, we are allowing our bodies to create muscular imbalances that will lead to postural deficiencies. As a physical therapist, this is something that I can let go by the wayside.
Now, as I said above, I don’t think that performing 100 pushups every day is a good idea because it is most likely not challenging you at the right difficulty level, whether it being too easy or too difficult. Instead, as I mentioned in the Stop Doing 100 Pushups a Day video, you are much better off finding the appropriate volume for your ability levels or finding the right pushup variations to challenge you adequately.
The One Punch Man workout continues with performing 100 sit-ups everyday. I am a big proponent of daily ab training and appreciate the fact that this workout promotes that idea. However, my issue with this part of the routine is that you are training your abs very one dimensionally. I love the sit-up, but the abs and obliques are multifunctional in that while they work through flexion of the spine from the top down as well the bottom up, they also provide and prevent rotation while also preventing extension. By not training through every function of the core, we are limiting the benefits that can be achieved.
The next part of the One Punch Man workout contains 100 bodyweight squats. What I do like about this is similar to what I like about the 100 sit-ups portions: increased frequency of leg training. Often enough, I see people opting to train their legs only once a week or at even worse, skip training their legs altogether. I’m grateful to see One Punch Man being able to promote MORE leg training. My big problem, however, with the 100 bodyweight squats is the remedial nature of the exercise and the lack of ability to overload and thus I think there are better options for building more muscle.
The final part of the workout is the 10 kilometer run. Another area where I have an appreciation and in this case, the merit of daily conditioning. Now, while cardiovascular training is not necessary to be ripped and lean, it is, however, important to our overall health. Cardio is extremely important for a healthy and optimally functioning heart – something that can’t ever be ignored. It doesn’t matter if you have to walk, run, or ride a bicycle, you need to train your heart. My issue with this part of the One Punch Man workout is that running 10 kilometers is a little daunting for many, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start somewhere.
So while I wouldn’t recommend that One Punch Man workout as something to be part of your daily routine, I would say it could be a good measure of your overall fitness. In fact, in the ATHLEAN-X Training System, we have a similar workout that is presented as a challenge to do just that, called the 400 Challenge. It includes 100 reps of pushups, sit-ups, inverted rows, and bodyweight squats. While the 400 Challenge seems similar, the key differences are that is simply a challenge, a measure of your fitness level as opposed to a daily workout, and that it includes an exercise to train the posterior chain (something I mentioned previously).
In conclusion, I would find that performing the One Punch Man workout is not so great as a daily routine to build muscle, but is better used as a measure of your fitness levels, such as the 400 Challenge is built into the ATHLEAN-X Training System. If you are looking for a training program that includes these tests while also providing you the overload to achieve the gains you’re looking for, head over to athleanx.com using the link below to start training like an athlete today.
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Chris Wright
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Hey Jeff , can you please make a video on how to correct ac joint pain.
@Red Tie Okay…Very sorry
@kay oss Thanks
@sunder rajan I’m a beginner at the workout. I can’t do that now.
Хоть я и из России, но вы и ваш канал помогаете мне тренироваться правильно, пока большинство вокруг меня жрут водку. Спасибо.
@Ildar Uzbekov im aware i was joking.
Da blyat
The OPM workout is what got me into training, but like (I’d hope) most people, I very quickly moved on to a better workout routine.
Same, I literally was never capable doing pushups until that anime dropped and went viral…I then forced myself into doing them and that’s how my fitness journey started lmao
I bet there’s a lot of foolish people that actually thought doing all that would get them in amazing shape
Ain’t no way you were running 6 miles everyday
@Burner Account Of course not. But I tried.
I love how Jeff has fully embraced the things we make fun of him for.
Well technically even other characters in one punch man denied that 100 push up sit up and crunches and 10k run was enough to make you super strong… It was mildly difficult … So one punch man workout was said to be flawed in that same episode in the anime
Thats what happens when people don’t do their research
I think that what people dont get. When Saitama (OPM) “reveals” his secret, Genos (OPM’s student) is pissed because it doesnt really explain his power. Genos even says something to the effect of “that not even that hard of a work out”. That’s the humor of the show/manga Saitama doesnt really know either. He just is extremely overpowered to the point where he is bored and nonchalant in regard to his powers.
thats the joke, a training like that would probably just injure you along the way and even if it didnt is mildly difficult since you do a 10km run you will lose weight and then the push ups and squats will become less effective over time
One punch man is a parody. it isnt meant to be taken seriously at all.
I think its a nice starter routine, but obviously you’ll need to add more exercises to progressively overload and challenge yourself.
A routine of 6 miles/day is no where near a starter routine. Even for someone experienced.
@X Reed for a runner like myself it would be good
@X Reed it honestly should be though. Reject modernity, return to ape
AX1 and 2 are so good because they are always different, week in week out, the one man punch thing would get horribly boring fast so its not sustainable, which I think is the key
So what im hearing is
100 pushups – 5×20 challenging
100 weighted crunches with twists
100 squats with weights
+100 deadlifts
10k run
And finally, 10000 facepulls
Jeff could you cover one of the following:
How to double your dips in 21 days
How to achieve one arm pushup
How often do you suggest to shake up your workout routine/split to keep the gains coming.
Shout out to Jesse and thanks for all the content !
@Pierre A pretty sure one arm pull arm will hurt your shoulder and kill your gain.
Never seen jef do a one arm pull-up, if he can do one I doubt it’d be something he’d tell anyone to train
underrated comment
Weighted Dips
One arm pushup: literally widen tf out of your pushup base, build up and narrow it down slowly from there. That’s how a lot of people ik (myself included) do it. Hope it works for you
Jeff is fluent in modern culture/memes in the best possible way. It doesn’t come across as a “how do you do fellow kids” thing, he tastefully incorporates meme references into his videos evincing that he knows what he’s talking about without trying too hard.
@FANAZA:⭕️ SHUT UP
thanks to jesse
The way it works is, he gets someone else to write the fluff parts of the script and explain a few memes to him. Then after he is done recording, he laughs at how dumb he thinks it was… like a normal person his age
“Living is killing your gains”
“Dying is killing your gains”
“Never having been born is killing your gains”
Lmao
Schopenhauer is Jeff’s middle name
Never gonna give you up.
That’s a checkmate.
I tried doing sit-ups and leg lifts a long time ago. I have a few anatomical quirks that prevent that- I don’t have obliques at all (those muscles never formed) and I have a few weak points Just below my chest that make leg lifts a no go.
I can train my bottom, top, and back muscles, but for my “core”- what muscle IS there, I just tense them whenever I stand, walk, or do anything. It’s enough to allow me to stand and walk, but The Majority of lifting is done through my upper, lower, and back muscles. (You can stick your hand right through my sides, and poke one part in the front Straight through to my back)
For those of us with incomplete muscle formation and how it interacts with the rest of the body, wouldn’t isolating it and “planking” be a safer alternative? At least as far as safety is concerned and other weak points?
I can squat fine, but Once you reach a certain Weight threshold, would upsidedown squats be safer?
This video is LITERALLY unwatchable. Didn’t review the 3 meals a day (just a banana in the morning), no AC in the summer, no heating in the winter, or training so hard that your hair falls out. 0/10 would not recommend.
Just kidding. Love the breakdown. I get asked about this workout all the time. I’m glad it’s inspiring people but I do hope people keep their workout difficulty progressive, train pulling motions, and maybe add rest days. Great point about how this can be used as a challenge to get people into the working mentality.
… Then again, I can’t jump to the moon and back, so maybe I should just listen to Saitama.
Hampton wazzzzuppp
DO A COLLAB PLEASE!
@Gerald Singano i agreee
I actually got a tonne of hair thinning like 2 years into training so I decided to join the elite club of baldness.
I think it’s a good starting point for someone who has never worked out consistently before. Just doing it for fun because your favorite character does it and you wanna challenge yourself can make you really care about staying active. I know that’s how I started, anyway
Even in the One Punch Man series, other characters outright pointed out this workout shouldn’t be responsible for getting the build he had. The point of the series is actually something I’d think Jeff would get behind – the character kept pushing beyond what he thought his limits were. Yes his limits were low, but it was about the dedication and the challenge for him.
dude what the hell are you talking about
@cakebanans about the anime one punch man
no dude, for the characters in the series, the work out isnt even Hard, thats the problem
Real human is already capable of doing those work out, theres no way it will work for those superhuman
I am glad that he is a man of culture for knowing one punch man and it’s workout, but he is not entirely wrong for how that full workout that saitama does can give extreme fatigue and pain in your body and bones for doing it every..single..day. working out is fun and worth the results but always beware of the amount of how often you do workout and the exercise you do during it.
Yes man I think the same. Maybe do the Saitama’s workout every day, in the real life is dangerous. Is a sad fact, but in our reallity we can’t do that workout, but try it once, if you have exprience, I believe that is not bad :))
Athlean X Talking about One Punch Man? Um Hell yeaa
Most ambitious anime crossover
BROOOO JAX BLAAADE!, nice to see you here.
@Greenlightsaber96 He’s everywhere, and nowhere. But without the nowhere part.
Personally if this workout is too easy for you i’d say:
1. Replace the pushups with explosive push ups
2. Replace the sit ups with pull ups because it also trains your core and its a pull excercise
3. Replace the squats with jump squats
4. Take a day to rest instead of doing this workout every single day to give your body time to heal and rest
exactly. and start the workout with jump squats for testosterone boost while working out
As Genos said in a later episode Saitama’s workout “isn’t even that hard”. So what is the secret to his strength?