READ THIS BEFORE YOU START THE ONE-PUNCH MAN TRAINING PROGRAM!

The One-Punch Man Training Program is simple, but difficult. It's not so much that the individual days are difficult (which they can be if you don't like running), but that the piling on of fatigue day after day can lead you easily into injury, especially if you're starting from nothing. So, there are somethings we need to cover before you begin on such an endeavor. The OPM Training Program is first, and foremost, an endurance program and will take a significant amount of your time to perform each day. If you do not foresee yourself having 2-3 hours per day on average to train, then you should not start the program. Obviously, as you become a faster runner or more in shape, certain days will be much shorter than others. (It also helps to support us on Patreon!)

But it's still gonna suck.

Preparation

If you're new to exercise, start with the Preparation for the One-Punch Man Training Program, and start your climb from there so you aren't just starting with three years of murdering yourself with the OPM Training Program. (Video)

Gotta start somewhere.

Warm-up and Stretching

The warm-up for the One-Punch Man Training Program will consist of loosening up your joints and muscles and putting your through a slight stretch.  This should be done every day before your training. The warm-up and the stretching will extend your training time, but they are VERY important. If you are not consistent with the warm-up and stretching, it will be much harder for you to continue the daily grind of the OPM Training Program.

These stretches and movements will help balance out the movements that you will be repeating during the program. There are, of course, some variations of the push-ups, sit-ups, and squats that are designed to do just that, but this is going to really make sure you don't end up with a muscular imbalance.

Warm-up before training

1. 5 Minutes Walking (Exaggerated arm swings)
2. #10-20 of Real Anime Training Warm-up
3. 50 Band Pull-Aparts 
4. Foam Rolling from "Luffy, the Rubber Man"
5. #10-20 of Real Anime Training Warm-up
6. 1 Minute Each General Stretching from "Luffy, the Rubber Man"

Stretching after training

1. 5 Minutes Walking (Focus on slow, deep breaths)
2. The Real Anime Training Stretching Routine
3. #1-3 of General Stretching from "Luffy, the Rubber Man"

Nutrition

The first thing we need to do for this program is remind everyone here that THIS IS NOT A WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM!  Do NOT eat to lose weight during this training.  Eat to perform. Eat to get stronger and faster. If you eat to lose weight, I guarantee that you're going to end up injured and hating yourself.

Next, we need to get your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This is the amount of energy you would expend if you literally laid in bed all day and did nothing. You can get that number here.

Once we've got that number, we're going to need to find out how many calories we will need on a daily basis. We're going to be erring on the side of caution, so if you have a relatively sedentary or moderately active job, then multiply that number by 1.725 (Example: 2,000 Calorie BMR x 1.725 = 3,450 Calories per day).  However, if you have a very physical job, multiply the number by 1.9. (Example: 2,000 Calorie BMR x 1.9 = 3,800 Calories)

We want to try to eat a wide variety of foods:

• Lean meats (chicken, fish, pork, beef, etc), vegetables (carrots, broccoli, kale, spinach, radishes, etc) 
• Whole grains (wheat, oats, quinoa, barley, amaranth, etc) 
• Fruits (apples, bananas, berries, watermelon, etc)
• Nuts, seeds, legumes
• A lot of water.  With as much activity as you are doing, you need to make sure you're drinking a sufficient amount of fluids. If you're not used to drinking much water, try to stay above 64 ounces of liquid a day, although you can drink 128 to 172 ounces of water to help stay hydrated. Make sure that you're adding a sufficient amount of sodium to your diet, as well, considering how much you'll be sweating and drinking. Hyponatremia is a nasty thing. 

Macros

Let's start with carbohydrates.  You're going to need fuel for this training program, so we want to have sufficient energy to get through these workouts. A good rule is about 40-60% of your calories coming from carbohydrates during endurance training, but it might be a little easier to use your weight as a guide, in which you would eat 5 to 10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of weight. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds, so it would be about 2.2 to 4.5 grams of carbs per pound that you weigh. (Source)

Whichever you decide to do, make sure that you keep track of the number of calories and the foods that you eat in a journal AND how you felt at the end of each day. You may find that your body likes or dislikes certain carb sources more than others. 

Before training, you want to try to use more complex carbs, such as grains. However, after training, using simpler sugars such as fruit is a good way to replenish your glycogen reserves. 

Up next is protein. We're going to need this protein to build muscles over time.  There's a lot of debate about this one, with as little as .5 grams per pound being used or as much as 2 grams per pound of weight (or 30%, if we're talking percentages).The answer is probably somewhere in the middle, so as long as you're in that range somewhere, you're probably fine. Make sure, once again, that you are recording everything. You may find that you feel better, are stronger, and recover faster if you up your protein intake. You may not.

Fats are a good thing!  They should round out the other 30% of your calories or whatever remains of your listed caloric needs for the day after you've calculated your protein and carb needs. They should come from good sources like fish, seeds, nuts, avocados, and (in lesser amounts) beef and other red meat. 

Food is good. It might not grow your hair back, but it'll definitely help make you stronger.

Recovery

There are a lot of good things you can do to facilitate your recovery. Here are the basics:

• Get enough sleep!! (GET THEM 8 HOURS!)
• Eat well and stray hydrated (See above Nutrition section)
• Warm-up and Stretch (See above section)

-For some further thing you can do, you can consider occasionally seeing a massage therapist who specializes in sports massage or even a physical therapist if you have a particularly nagging ache. In lieu of either of those, you could pretty much live on your foam roller or spend more time working on flexibility and mobility. 

-Try BCAA's.  Having free amino acids available for use during and after activity has been shown to speed recovery and performance, so give them a try if you feel like you're having trouble recovering.

-Pay attention to the programming when it tells you to go at an easy pace or go light that day. Those days are designed to help you recover while you train. Don't ignore them!

-Try temperature therapy. Some people swear by Cold Water Therapy and some people swear by using heat. I think that the research points more in the direction of heat (such as warm baths and heating pads), but some people advocate ice baths and cold packs.  Typically, ice baths and cold packs are great for alleviating pain directly after trauma, but not as good for facilitating recovery. If you'd like to learn more about ice baths, JaxBlade has lots more info on it.


Training Gear

You will need some training gear to get through this program. At the beginning, it will be sort of minimal and most of it will be geared toward running. Later, you will need access to gym equipment such as barbells, dumbbells, and a place to do pull-ups.

1. Running shoes- Although it's probably better if you go get a custom fitting.
2. Here's a handy tool to help decide what else to wear, depending on a variety of factors.
3. Compression socks-- Will help with fatigue during runs.
4. Weighted Vest - As an example. You want a vest that will fit well and not shift too much during running, as that will lead to chaffing.
5. Wrist and Ankle Weights
6. Bands/Therabands
7. Half BOSU Ball
8. Hand wraps- We're going to avoid traditional wraps for time's sake.
9. Dit Da Jow- Use on hands and feet after impact of running or bag work
10. Tiger Balm/Icy Hot/Biofreeze- Muscle and tendon soreness

There may be more things you need to buy, so if you have any questions, please comment and let me know or send me an email at realanimetraining@gmail.com.

Strengthen yourself day by day, staying focused on the goal ahead. Take your training and your recovery seriously and you will eventually become strong and acquire amazing endurance. With this program, you're not going to lift the most weight in the world and you won't win a marathon, but you will have a LOT more endurance than a strength athlete and a LOT more strength than an endurance athlete. You can do it. Prepare yourself . Take your time. Follow the Program.  Support the cause!

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!!

(This post contains affiliate links.)

GRAPPLER BAKI- PART III

BAKI ESCAPES... INTO THE MOUNTAINS

After a demoralizing loss to Yuri, Baki decides he needs to up his game a little.  Thus, like Masutatsu Oyama (the founder of Kyokushin Karate), Baki travels into the mountains in order to break his softness and in order to follow in his father's footsteps.  Baki packs all of his gear (into quite the large backpack) and begins to make his way, on foot, up into the mountains.  Hiking long distances through the mountains is a serious test of endurance, especially if coupled with an enormous pack, and should not be attempted without proper training or supervision.  Walking up and down steep, uneven terrain; climbing small boulders and even scaling rock faces with a pack (or without safety equipment, for that matter), Baki eventually makes his way to a small cottage inhabited by a giant of a man, named Ando.

Ando, a friend of the family, spent some time with Baki's dad training on this very mountain, chopping wood and dealing with the harsh environment.  After a display of wood-chopping power and a bit of advice about eating (which we will cover in a moment), Ando makes a promise to turn Baki into a powerhouse.

Seeking to Fight a Monster

Baki, although thankful for Ando's willingness to help, is more interested meeting another resident of Yasha Crag: the Yasha Ape.  Some time ago, Baki's dad hunted one of these monster's down by hand and the young Hanma feels it's time he did, too.  Ando warns against fighting the beast, and for good reason.  The Ape is almost seven feet tall and built like a mountain, vicious and is capable of easily killing a bear.  However, Baki wants to meet the monster, so he sets up camp deep in the woods in order to draw him out and, sure enough, during his training, he emerges.

Before we get into the details of the fight, it is important to note that the likelihood of a human being able to kill a bear or a gorilla (which this essentially is) bare handed, or even sometimes armed, is extremely low and should never ever be attempted for two reasons. 

First: You will most likely be seriously injured or killed if you fight a large and/or vicious wild animal.  

Second: Seeking out a creature in order to kill him, just to say you can do it, is mean-spirited to say the least.  

Ando comes to help Baki, but both are quickly beaten, with Ando's belly being ripped open.  In his defense, Baki throws his lantern on the Ape, who retreats into the woods.  Back at the cottage, Baki attempt to disinfect Ando's wound with vodka, to which Ando replies would do nothing against the bacteria on the Ape's claws.  Thus, using gun powder and a lighter, he disinfects the wound in a, I must imagine, very painful manner and, then proceeds to get Baki to call for help.

The lesson we draw from this is that it is important to have a working knowledge of first aid, even if very little.  Learning how to properly clean and dress wounds and even how to set a bone for the short term will be valuable knowledge in case something goes wrong in the wild, or even in a scenario where help is not immediately available.  Also, do not go into the wilderness without first letting someone know exactly where you will be, having a way to contact someone if there's an emergency, or having a way out if things get too hairy.

Ando is taken to the hospital and Baki... wants vengeance.

"In Fighting, the One Who Eats the Most is the Winner"

It's an interesting way to look at fighting, but it's a bit of an oversimplification.  Essentially, what I think our dear friend Ando meant is that in order to become stronger in training it is important to eat properly.  However, in Baki's case, with the extreme amount of training in which he is undergoing, it means to eat as much as possible.  Baki's nutritional requirements, I'm sure, are off the charts.  This would be the case for any athlete who trains all day long. Proteins would be needed to rebuild muscles, carbohydrates would be needed to fuel the training, and fat would be needed for long-term energy and body health.  It is important for you to find out just how many calories you need in order to function properly as an athlete or martial artist.  As a general rule, the number of calories needed at any given time is based on factors such as your activity level, your weight, and your metabolism.  For an athlete, the basic calorie requirements should first be set from your protein needs.  

Light to Moderate activity: ~.7 grams of protein/pound you weigh

Moderate to Heavy activity: .7-1.2 grams of protein/pound you weigh

Super Heavy activity: 1.2-1.5 grams of protein/pound you weigh

Gauging what is Light, Moderate, Heavy, and Super Heavy in terms of activity is very important.  You don't want to take in too many or too few calories.  Light activity can be classified as 0-45 minutes of low intensity exercise and 0-30 minutes of moderate to heavy intensity exercise.  Moderate activity can be classified as 45-90 minutes of low intensity exercise and 30-45 minutes of moderate to heavy intensity exercise.  Heavy activity can be classified as around 90-120 minutes of low intensity exercise and 45-60 minutes of moderate to heavy intensity exercise.  Super Heavy activity is anything that falls above the limits of Heavy.  These are merely guidelines to help you determine about how much protein you need.  The breakdown of your other macro-nutrients are 30% calories protein, 30% calories fat, and 40% carbohydrates.  I know this is a lot to take in, especially if you're new, so we'll leave at this for now, even though there are volumes to be covered.

Trying to Cross the Line

To push himself to greater heights, Baki utilizes a body chemical known as endorphins.  Wikipedia states: 

{Endorphins work as "natural pain relievers..."}

{During a release of Endorphin the person may be exposed to bodily harm from strenuous bodily functions after going past their body's physical limit. They may be able to keep running despite pain, and thus possibly come to bodily harm from endorphin release. }

 It is important to state that it is never a good a idea to push past one's limits on a continual basis.  Rest, food, and the proper amount of training make you stronger and keeps you from being injured.  However, Baki, being a super-elite level athlete (and an anime character) uses the combination of endorphins, a ridiculous amount of training, and a large amount of food to produce super results within a short amount of time.  

However, that is not this only line Baki must cross to continue his journey to meet his father's power.  So, he faces fear, and, in the ultimate "cliff-hanger" to an episode, jumps off a cliff.