Japanese Man Becomes Real-Life Saitama After 1,096 Days of Relentless Training

In the anime world, Saitama’s transformation from ordinary convenience store worker to unstoppable hero happened through three years of grueling daily exercise. In real life, a Japanese middle-aged man named Tasuke decided to find out if the fantasy could actually work—and the results are impossible to ignore.

Starting on April 21, 2023, when he was 41 years old, Tasuke committed to the exact same routine that built Saitama’s legendary strength: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run every single day. For 1,096 consecutive days, he stuck to it. No days off. No excuses. Over those three years, he ran 16,136 kilometers and performed 109,600 repetitions of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats combined. The numbers alone are staggering, but the visual transformation tells the real story. Tasuke went from looking like an average office worker to a genuinely impressive middle-aged athlete with visible muscle definition, a six-pack, and the kind of endurance most people can only dream about. Unlike the bald superhero who inspired him, he got to keep his hair.

What’s particularly striking about Tasuke’s journey is that he wasn’t starting from rock bottom. At 1.75 meters tall and weighing 74.7 kilograms when he began, he was already in reasonably decent shape for his age. But three years of discipline transformed“not bad”into genuinely remarkable. The difference between his starting point and his current physique proves something manga fans have always suspected: the training routine works. Perseverance, taken to an extreme, has undeniable results.

Before you dust off your workout clothes and lace up your running shoes, though, the article includes an important reality check. That grueling daily regimen isn’t fantasy—it’s actually dangerous. Running 10 kilometers every single day and performing hundreds of repetitions of bodyweight exercises can cause serious injuries, particularly in the early stages when your body hasn’t adapted to the intensity. What works in a fictional universe where the protagonist has superhuman durability doesn’t translate directly to the real world. Tasuke succeeded, but that doesn’t mean everyone will—or that they should attempt it without professional guidance.

Interestingly, Tasuke isn’t the first person to attempt this feat. Last year, another real-life Saitama from China followed the same three-year training plan and used it to turn his life around. It seems that when a fictional training routine is compelling enough, some people can’t resist testing whether it actually works. The answer, so far, appears to be yes—though the real version requires far more caution, recovery, and good luck than the anime ever suggests.