The actual Saitama workout from the manga and how to run it without blowing your knees out
The Saitama workout isn't some secret program that got leaked from a gym in Tokyo. It comes straight from ONE's One Punch Man chapter 2, where Saitama describes his exact daily routine. I've seen hundreds of people attempt it online, and most of them quit after week two or end up with shin splints, so I figured I'd write out what actually works versus what just sounds tough. The original routine is bluntly simple: 100 push-ups
100 sit-ups 100 squats 10 km running
Every single day. No rest days built in. That's it. No equipment, no split, no periodization. Just four movements done daily until he apparently became a god of fitness. Here's the thing most people miss. The manga never specifies the intensity or pace. It doesn't say whether the 10 km should be at a conversational jog or a hard tempo run. It doesn't say whether the push-ups should be broken into sets or done in one go. This ambiguity is exactly why people get injured trying it. I learned this the hard way in 2019 when I attempted a straight copy of the routine and tore my patellar tendon on day 18 because I was running 10 km every day at a pace I hadn't conditioned for. I had zero background in distance running. The workout didn't account for that. The workaround I use now, and what I recommend to anyone attempting this, is to treat the numbers as minimums rather than fixed targets and to build up to them over at least eight weeks. Your body isn't prepared for 10 km daily on day one. Period.
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How to actually scale this into something sustainable
Start with the running separately. If you can't currently run 5 km, don't attempt 10 km. Use a walk-run method for the first four to six weeks. Three kilometers easy pace, three times a week, building to five, then seven, then ten. The push-ups, sit-ups, and squats are far less risky because they're low-impact. You can do them every day without the same cumulative joint stress, but you still need to structure them if you want progression. For the calisthenics portion, break the 100-rep targets into sets that leave you with two reps in reserve. That means if your max clean set of push-ups is 40, you're doing sets of 35-38, not grinding out 100 in failure sets. The number of sets depends on your current strength level. A beginner might need 10 sets of 10. Someone more trained might do 4 sets of 25. The total volume matches the source material; the distribution doesn't have to be rigid. Volume progression for the running should be the bottleneck. Add no more than 10 percent to your weekly distance. This is basic endurance programming but people skip it because they want the cartoon results. Your tendons and ligaments adapt slower than your cardiovascular system. That gap between "I feel fine" and "my knees are swollen" is where injuries live.
What the routine actually trains and what it ignores
The Saitama routine is a full-body conditioning base. The push-ups hit chest, shoulders, and triceps. The squats hit quads, glutes, and hamstrings. The sit-ups target the core. The running builds aerobic capacity. That's a solid foundation. But it's incomplete as a long-term program because it lacks a pulling movement entirely. No rows, no pull-ups, no deadlifts. Your posterior chain gets zero direct work. Your shoulder health degrades over time when you do pressing without balancing pulling. I've seen this play out with people who did this for six months straight. Posture started deteriorating. Upper back stiffness became chronic. The fix is straightforward: add at least one pulling exercise, two to three times per week. Chin-ups, bent-over rows, or face pulls. Twenty to thirty minutes added to your routine covers the gap. Another gap is progressive overload. Once you can do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats comfortably, the original routine gives you nowhere to go. You're just maintaining. For actual strength or hypertrophy gains, you need to change variables: add weight, slow the tempo, increase range of motion, or shift to harder variations. A standard push-up becomes inadequate after a few months for anyone with a training background. Archer push-ups, deficit push-ups, or weighted variants are the logical next step. Same with squats: pistol squats, Bulgarian split squats, or barbell back squats if you have access to a gym. The sit-ups are the weakest link of the four exercises anyway. They place shear force on the lumbar spine and aren't functionally superior to planks, dead bugs, or hanging leg raises. If your goal is core strength, swap the sit-ups for something with less spinal flexion.
Realistic expectations about results
People treat this as a shortcut to looking like Saitama. That won't happen. Saitama is a cartoon character drawn by an artist who makes people look ridiculous on purpose. The workout will improve your cardiovascular endurance and baseline muscular conditioning if you stick with it. You'll run faster. You'll do more push-ups without gassing out. Your legs will handle hills better. Those are real outcomes. But you won't become massively muscular from 100 reps of bodyweight squats alone. That's hypertrophy-level volume without hypertrophy-level intensity. The rep range is too high and the resistance too low for meaningful muscle growth past the intermediate stage. Also worth noting: the daily format leaves no recovery window. Even though the per-session intensity is moderate, doing the same movements every single day creates repetitive stress. I had a client who did this exact routine daily for four months while also working a construction job. He developed bilateral knee pain that traced back to the cumulative impact of the running combined with the squats with zero deload weeks. We dropped him to four training days per week, rotated the running distance down to 5 km on off days, and added explicit rest days. His pain resolved in three weeks. The program didn't change in philosophy, only in recovery architecture.
A practical weekly template
Here's a version that keeps the spirit of the original while removing the injury risk: Monday: 100 push-ups (broken into sets), 100 squats (broken into sets), 5 km run Tuesday: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups or core swap, 5 km run
Wednesday: Active recovery only. Light walk or rest Thursday: 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 7 km run Friday: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups or core swap, 5 km run
Saturday: 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 10 km run or longer easy distance Sunday: Rest Add one pulling exercise per session. Two sets of 8 to 12 chin-ups or rows is enough to start. Increase the running distance gradually. Replace sit-ups with anti-extension core work if your lower back ever complains.
When this program fails entirely
Don't attempt it if you have a history of stress fractures, anterior knee pain, or lumbar disc issues. The combination of daily running and daily squats is aggravating for those conditions. Don't attempt it if you're sedentary and over 40 without clearing it with a physician. The jump from zero to 10 km daily is a legitimate cardiovascular and musculoskeletal shock. Don't attempt it if your sole motivation is to look like an anime character. It won't get you there. It's a conditioning framework, not a bodybuilding or aesthetic program. If you want something closer to actual athletic development, combine this foundation with a structured strength program. Barbell compounds, progressive loading, structured deloads every fourth or fifth week. The Saitama routine works best as a supplemental conditioning block, not as a standalone years-long program. It's fine for 8 to 12 weeks if you scale the running appropriately and add the missing pulling work. After that, you'll outgrow it regardless of how consistently you do it. The manga is comedy. The workout is a joke that happens to be a functional base. Respect both facts and you'll avoid most of the mistakes I've watched people make online.
