The Saitama workout from One Punch Man is 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and a 10 km run, every single day. In the story he also ate healthy food, skipped the air conditioner and heater, and kept it up for three years. A real person can do it, but it takes about 90 minutes to two hours a day, and starting at full volume from zero is a fast route to sore shins and cranky shoulders. Build up over about 12 weeks and keep one or two rest days, and it becomes a realistic endurance challenge.
It also won’t make you strong in the way a barbell does. Here’s what the routine actually trains, and how to work up to it.
What is the Saitama workout, exactly? #
In One Punch Man, created by the artist ONE as a webcomic in 2009 and adapted to anime in 2015, Saitama explains that his power came from a simple daily regimen. The Wikipedia summary of the character lists it as:
| Part | Daily amount |
|---|---|
| Push-ups | 100 |
| Sit-ups | 100 |
| Squats | 100 |
| Running | 10 km (about 6.2 miles) |
| Food | Eat healthy food, the story’s “three meals a day” |
| Climate | No air conditioning in summer, no heater in winter |
He says he did it for three years, and the joke is that it cost him all his hair. The hair loss and the one-punch strength are fiction. The workout is real enough that thousands of fans have tried it.
How long does the Saitama workout take? #
For most people, somewhere between 80 minutes and two hours a day. The run is the big block.
| Part | Typical approach | Rough time |
|---|---|---|
| 100 push-ups | 10 sets of 10, or 5 sets of 20 | 10 to 15 min |
| 100 sit-ups | 4 or 5 sets | 8 to 10 min |
| 100 squats | 4 or 5 sets | 6 to 10 min |
| 10 km run | Easy, conversational pace | 50 to 75 min |
A recreational runner at 6 minutes per kilometer (just under 10 minutes per mile) finishes 10 km in an hour. Newer runners are often closer to 70 or 75 minutes, and some will need walk breaks for months. These are estimates, so time your own first attempt.
Is doing the Saitama workout every day a good idea? #
For a trained person, a few weeks of it is a fun challenge. As a permanent daily plan, it has real gaps.
The U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, plus muscle-strengthening work on at least two days. Seventy kilometers of running a week plus daily bodyweight work is several times that. More isn’t automatically bad, but it’s a lot of repetitive load on the same tissues.
The main problems:
- No pulling. Push-ups, sit-ups and squats never work your back the way rows or pull-ups do. Months of pushing with no pulling can leave your shoulders feeling rounded and achy.
- No heavy load. Bodyweight squats stop building leg strength once 100 of them feel easy. The routine keeps getting longer but never gets heavier.
- Running volume from zero. Going from no running to 10 km a day is the classic setup for shin splints and sore knees. Tendons and bones adapt more slowly than your lungs.
- No rest days. Saitama never took one. Real bodies adapt during recovery, and a rest day or two a week usually means better sessions on the other days.
What will the Saitama workout do for your body? #
| It builds | It doesn’t build much of |
|---|---|
| Aerobic fitness and running endurance | Maximal strength |
| Push-up and squat endurance | Upper back and biceps (no pulling) |
| A strong daily habit | Muscle size past the beginner stage |
| Work capacity, the ability to do a lot of volume | Power and speed |
If you’re a beginner, it will make you noticeably fitter, and your push-up and squat numbers will jump. After a few months the returns shrink, because nothing in the routine gets harder except the time it takes.
A 12-week plan to work up to the full routine #
Split the reps into as many sets as you need, spread through the day if that helps. Incline push-ups on a counter count in the early weeks. Run at a pace where you could hold a conversation, and walk when you need to.
| Weeks | Push-ups | Sit-ups | Squats | Run | Days a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | 30 | 30 | 50 | 2 km run/walk | 4 |
| 3-4 | 50 | 50 | 60 | 3 km | 5 |
| 5-6 | 60 | 60 | 75 | 4 to 5 km | 5 |
| 7-8 | 75 | 75 | 100 | 6 km | 5 |
| 9-10 | 90 | 90 | 100 | 8 km | 5 |
| 11-12 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 10 km | 5 or 6 |
Rules that keep the plan safe:
- Hold a week if it felt hard. Repeat it instead of moving up. The table is a ceiling, not a deadline.
- Keep running increases small. A common rule of thumb is to raise weekly distance by no more than about 10%. If your shins or knees ache for more than a day, drop back a step.
- Take at least one full rest day a week. Two is fine.
- Stop reps before form breaks. A saggy push-up or a sit-up yanked by your neck doesn’t count toward the 100.
If 10 km is too far for now, the 6-week interval running plan is a gentler way to build the running base first. And if you want to start with just one part, the “100 squats a day” item in our home workout streak challenges is a good first step.
How can you make the Saitama workout more balanced? #
Keep the spirit, fix the gaps. A “Saitama plus” week might look like this:
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| Monday | Full Saitama routine |
| Tuesday | Strength: squat, bench press, barbell row, 3 to 5 sets each |
| Wednesday | Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, plus 3 sets of pull-ups or rows; easy 5 km |
| Thursday | Full Saitama routine |
| Friday | Strength: deadlift, overhead press, rows |
| Saturday | Long easy run, 10 km or more |
| Sunday | Rest |
The barbell days add the load that bodyweight work can’t, and the rows cover the pulling the original routine skips. You still hit the 100/100/100 numbers several times a week.
How to track your own hero training #
Saitama never logged a thing, but you’ll want to, because the fun is watching the numbers move. Write down the reps you managed in each set, your run distance and time, and whether you completed the day.
One Gym Man fits this routine almost exactly. Push-ups, sit-ups and squats are the required basics in its exercise list, and it logs runs with distance and time. Your strength work raises a Strength stat, runs raise Agility, and every consecutive training day raises Morale, which multiplies your damage. Then you take your hero into turn-based fights against 30 monsters across 10 threat tiers, from Wolf to God. You can’t one-punch anything, but you can watch a tier that looked impossible turn winnable as your logged training adds up. The app is free and isn’t affiliated with One Punch Man.
For more on how workout games like this turn training into character stats, read what a fitness RPG is. And for sensible first-year targets once 100 push-ups feels easy, see beginner fitness milestones.
Frequently asked questions #
Can the Saitama workout make you strong? #
It builds endurance and makes beginners stronger at first, especially at push-ups and squats. It won’t build much maximal strength, because the load never increases beyond your bodyweight. Adding barbell or weighted work two or three days a week fixes that.
How long did Saitama train? #
In the story, he says he followed the routine every day for three years before he became powerful. He also skipped air conditioning and heating and ate healthy meals. The hair loss that followed is a running joke, not a real side effect of push-ups.
Is 100 push-ups a day too much? #
For someone who can already do 30 or more in a row, 100 split into sets is usually fine, as long as your shoulders and elbows feel good. Beginners should start lower, use incline push-ups, and add pulling exercises so the shoulders stay balanced.
Can a beginner do the One Punch Man workout? #
Not on day one. A beginner doing the full routine immediately is likely to end up very sore, and the 10 km daily run is an overuse risk. Start with the week 1 numbers in the plan above and build up over about three months.
Should you skip rest days like Saitama? #
No. Rest days let muscles, tendons and bones adapt, and most people train better with one or two a week. You can keep a daily habit going with a short walk or light mobility on rest days instead.