On a wet spring night in Charleston, South Carolina, my girlfriend and I toasted our stay at the bar atop a southern luxury hotel. As one usually does when the conversation is quiet, I check my phone. It’s 11:50 p.m., I have 25 left promote do it before midnight.
I sighed, entered a plank position on the floor and start. As my girlfriend sips her pink, everyone is looking at us funny, perhaps wondering why this weird guy is openly working late on such a weekend.
Did I lose my bet? Am I trying to impress my girlfriend? Am I trying to brag to the patrons of this posh bar? No. I’m trying to complete the One Punch Man challenge and I need to test 25 more push-ups for the day.
What is the One Punch Man Challenge?
Japanese TV show One Punch Man Follows the journey of Saitama, the world’s most powerful superhero who defeats all his enemies with a single punch. The anime is based on a joke that he is too strong, he is tired of fighting enemies and hopes to eventually face a worthy opponent.
One Punch Man poke fun in superhero cartoons and anime. Usually, the main characters in such shows have exercise routine make them all-powerful (such as Dragon Ball Z’s Goku performing a trillion times sitting up against the enemy). In comparison, Saitama’s training is simple – to the point that when he announces it to his patron and a few enemies, no one believes him.
What is his training? 100 push-ups, 100 times sit on100 squatand a 10 thousands run — every day for a year and a half. Also, never use air conditioning in summer or heating in winter, to boost your mind. And of course, eat three meals a day, but only banana in the morning is fine.
The training regiment became a viral hit, popping up on the internet with people trying to stick to the regimen for days, weeks, and months. As an athlete who loves to run, exercise from time to time and someone who is always up for a challenge, I must throw my hat in the ring. While I hit all the physical elements of my workout, I allowed myself the simple pleasure of conditioning and warming up.
What does a certified personal trainer think of the One Punch Man challenge?
Before taking on the challenge, I phoned Anthony J. Wall, director of international business development for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and certified personal trainer. I asked him if he had ever heard of such a challenge and what he thought of it.
Wall bluntly: “From ACE’s perspective – and as a certified personal trainer – there are clearly some red flags in a program like this.”
The first red flag, Tuong says, is that it takes time for the body to adapt to the exercise. If you try this challenge without strength training background, mass can lead to overload injury—100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10K jogs a day are things you need to work on for a long time.
Trevor Raab
That flows into the second red flag — your body needs Rest between exercises. If you’re doing the same exercises every day, your body isn’t really recuperate after the previous day’s efforts — your muscles hurt, making it harder to continue the challenge the next day. Ultimately, this can lead to serious injury.
Third: repeated challenges like this can be a motivator for a startersand actually lead to a negative mental link with exercises. “Not everyone understands that the discomfort will go away, that muscle aches go away,” said Wall. “So someone is saying, ‘oh my god, I feel pain now. How will I feel in two weeks — or six weeks? ‘ It’s hard to tell people, don’t worry about it, it’ll go away. “
As mentioned, I am a experienced runner who lifts twice a week, so I’m pretty confident I’ll be fine. Despite that, Wall advised me to try just two weeks to get started, with the option to continue if I feel fine. Two weeks is a far cry from the year and a half the anime suggested, but as it turns out, it’s the right amount of time.
One Punch Man Challenge
On day one, I was optimistic. Based on another Wall suggestion, I broke the push-ups, sit-ups and squat into sets. If that sounds like cheating, Saitama never said they had to be continuous — and even so, I probably couldn’t do 100 push-ups in a row without breaking my fragile runner’s arm. . During my peak as a graduate athlete, I ran 80 to 90 miles per week, so 10K runs expected to be pretty easy for me to handle.
That confidence lasted for the first few days — perhaps because I was vacation and had time to do it. I wake up, run, do half of it all strength exercisesenjoy my day, then do the final sets in the evening before bed.
Trevor Raab
On the fifth day, the pain began to appear. My shoulders and chest are lifted from push-ups and squats range of motion Compact. I started to take longer and longer break between sets. I found myself in the situation mentioned earlier, doing push-ups while going for a drink. I became engrossed in my work, diligently focusing on getting the right amount of work done each day, regardless of whether that meant sitting up during breaks while watching TV or making excuses for attending events. social gathering to squat in the back room.
By day 11, I pushed my optimism aside and boredly followed the bland routines. Mine abdominal muscles, armand butt was inflamed, mine running becomes slower and slower, and my mental strength disintegrated. I don’t get it early anymore – with vacation in the background and work ahead, I’ve been postponing my assignments. At 9 or 10 p.m. every night, I try to work out slowly, tirelessly. I no longer care form or profit. I just want it to end so I can do something else or hang out tennis or basketball with my friends without worrying that the next soreness will make my push-ups, sit-ups, and squats harder.
But I only have three days left. So I put my full focus, set after set during the day, run after workand prayed that I would recover enough that it wouldn’t smoke the next day.
Finally, after two weeks, I was done. Sadly, I didn’t become the most powerful superhero in the world — but I did look weird.
One Punch Man challenge: Consequences and takeaways
I called Wall after two weeks to discuss my findings. As expected, his previously discussed red flags were in place.
My body has adapted to running, so it wasn’t much of a challenge. However, my body was Not adapt to such a large volume strength training Daily. I was in so much pain that my form for all exercises was affected and my body’s natural range of motion was constricted. If I had recovered properly, my body would have been able to bounce back between workouts. But because I did the exact same routine every day, it was not possible to recover. Hurt plus balanced repetition excitementso, with each passing day, I became more and more mentally detached from the challenge.
Wall asked me how long I think I could realistically maintain this habit if I had to. I replied that physically I could probably handle another two weeks. But morale, it was not a pleasant experience. I am a variety person, running on some days, playing different sports on other days and going to gym twice a week. Not everyone can do the exact same thing over and over again. And that’s the point with the One Punch Man challenge—or any exercise, for that matter: If you don’t like it, it’s going to be really hard to do. Consistency.
Trevor Raab
“If you don’t stick to the program, it’s not as important as excellent programming,” says Wall. “If you don’t like something — no matter what the magazine says or what the personal trainer says — then you won’t comply for whatever reason and you won’t succeed.”
Wall criticized these types of challenges, which are often promoted by influencers or professional athletes. He emphasized that every person is different, so no exercise routine is one size fits all. One thing all regiments practice do have in common, however, is goal. Goals stem from five key components of fitness: myocardial endurance, muscular strengthmuscular endurance, Flexibleand body structure.
“Very few people come [to a personal trainer] and said, “I want everything about fitness,” says Wall. “Most people would say, I want more poweror I want to lose a little weightOr maybe I want to look and feel a little better. ”
The One Punch Man challenge addresses cardiovascular health and body composition while running, muscle strength, and endurance from push-ups, sit-ups and squat. But in any case, Wall believes the challenge will be over.
Normal people can’t jump in safely 10K runs, just over six miles, or do 100 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats without the soreness and repetitions that hurt their long-term motivation to exercise. The goal of the challenge is simply to tick the boxes — which Wall and I agree is not a fun way to exercise. Instead, being in the moment and feeling the energy, mood, and confidence increase from your workout is a much better way to approach fitness.
I won’t do the One Punch Man challenge anymore. And unless you’re confident to fit in and want to dabble, you shouldn’t either. Wall’s advice? Be skeptical physical challenges and the fads you see social media or read online — but don’t be afraid to have fun either.
“If you have a challenge, watch your body. If you have to take a Top, rested. If you have to stop, you stop,” Wall said. Exercise is considered physical and mental activity. It is said to help you lead a healthy life. So if you try a challenge, consider whether you’ll come back to the other side excited to tackle your next problem. physical goal—Other than despair and pain like me.
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