The world is in crisis. An unknown enemy has risen to threaten society, and we are only beginning to learn the extent of its abilities - or possible weaknesses. 

If this is a comic book, or an action movie, or a hot new anime, we all know what’s about to happen - our hero(es) swoop in to tip the balance for good and save the day! Of course, since the coronavirus pandemic is causing this scenario to play out in real life, the heroics have to come from us. Everyday people, looking out for each other and making smart, selfless choices is what will deliver our society from COVID-19. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean our favorite characters can’t still help us through our struggles! We could all use a bit of courage, laughter and hope to get through the long weeks stuck at home. With this “Heroes of Isolation” series, our team at Mythic Markets are looking at how our fictional heroes give us inspiration to tackle the everyday challenges of the pandemic.

KEEPING IN SHAPE

Now that most cities have adopted strict measures to enforce shelter-at-home rules, we have all been learning quickly which parts of the outside world we miss the most. For many people, the hardest loss to adapt to has been the gym! Exercise is so much about habit and consistency, and with our fitness routines disrupted it can be hard to keep up the motivation to find new ways of staying in shape without leaving the house. 

Surrounded by stress, cut off from our gym buddies and with full-time access to a pantry of comfort food, it’s very easy to give up on exercising during this time. But heroes don’t give up easily, and our favourite protagonists have some great inspiration to offer us on how we can stay fit, healthy and happy even when we’re stuck at home!

SAIYAN GRAVITY TRAINING - DRAGON BALL Z

A lot of heroic characters are strong, but few stories focus so much on the ideas of personal strength, disciplined training and making gains as DBZ. The long-running shonen franchise was a huge influence on western anime fans when it first aired, and has actually inspired many viewers to pursue their own fitness journeys into adulthood! 

Goku and his musclebound martial arts buddies are shown trying all different sorts of training as they constantly work to become more powerful. While some techniques are hard to replicate (we cannot recommend screaming yourself hoarse as a way to unlock your inner strength, especially if you’re isolating with loved ones), one that especially stands out is Goku’s spaceship workout from the Namek saga.

This clip is from an early part of Dragon Ball Z, when Goku is traveling alone through space to join his friends on the alien planet of Namek. Goku knows that he’s heading towards a fight, and that he barely survived his last big battle, so he spends the trip training under simulated super-gravity. 

Isolated in the tiny shuttle, the heroic saiyan swaps his usual wilderness runs and martial arts sparring for intense body-weight exercises - which is also a perfect idea for those of us trapped indoors by the pandemic! 

There are plenty of personal trainers online who have provided breakdowns of Goku’s calisthenics for you to mimic. If you want to try and simulate the extra gravity, then you can work out while wearing weighted training gear - another DBZ classic!

JEDI SWORD FORM - STAR WARS

Jedi Knights are shown to maintain a high level of fitness and agility in their role as galactic peacekeepers, combining exercise with meditation in a holistic approach to personal training. While heroes like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker are able to use their connection to the Force to “cheat” on some of the most impressive athletic feats we see in the films, there’s no doubt that they’re in great physical condition to keep up in their dramatic, explosive lightsaber battles.

Probably the most iconic form of Jedi training we see throughout the original trilogy and prequels is a sort of force-awareness exercise with a ball-shaped droid. These droids float in front of the jedi and fire non-lethal laser blasts at them from various different angles. The trainee’s goal is to deflect each attack using their lightsaber, typically while wearing a blindfold so they learn to rely on correct lightsaber form and their supernatural Force-senses instead of sight.

It’s a really cool idea for exercise - like energy sword whack-a-mole! But since we don’t have floating laser droids to practice with at home, perhaps it would be more realistic to follow the lightsaber training depicted in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. 

A short sequence from the film shows Jedi apprentice Rey flashing through an elaborate series of strokes with Luke’s famous lightsaber. The idea of exercising by repeating a cycle of forms or attacks is common to all martial arts, and helps to build up muscle memory required to use the techniques effectively. The idea is to move smoothly and consistently rather than to actually strike as you would with a punching bag. This exercise is great because you can make it as intense as you want it to be - using explosive, repeated movements like Rey, or slowing it all the way down to the meditative pace of Tai Chi.

THE SUPERHERO TRANSFORMATION - SUPERMAN

When it comes to raw physical prowess, Superman is generally accepted as the ultimate benchmark among fictional characters. His ability to accomplish almost any feat is the character’s defining trait, with his most famous imagery resembling classical myths - Superman catching a collapsing dam on his back, or dragging a star across the sky. Superman IS strength, and so who better to look to for inspiration with strength training?

Well, the issue is that Superman’s strength doesn’t really come from training. Unlike Goku, whose whole journey as a hero is about constantly improving his limits, Superman’s physical abilities are limitless by definition. He doesn’t really “work out” in any conventional way that we can take direct inspiration from.

However, we do have a more human idea of what a “superman physique” looks like and how to get it, because actors like Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill have to be able to embody the ideal of Superman on the silver screen. According to his trainer, Michael Blevins, the most important part of Cavill’s Superman training was building up shoulders and upper body, to create the classic “upside-down triangle” shape which defines superheroes in comics.

If you want to come out of isolation looking like that, good luck! First you’ll need to bulk up, eating up to 5,000 calories a day if you’re keeping pace with Superman. Then it’s time to cut all that mass down, with targeted, heavy weightlifting to focus each part of the shoulders, back, chest and arms. You’ll want to mix those up with longer sets of bodyweight exercises like tricep dips and roman chair lifts, and some sparring/bagwork as well.

Both Reeve and Cavill had personal trainers guiding their transformation, so make sure you research your workout plan properly. But there’s nothing they did that you can’t do at home in isolation with some basic weights - and you’ll never have as much time to put into it as you do now.

SAITAMA’S SIMPLE ROUTINE - ONE PUNCH MAN

Our last bit of heroic #fitspiration is a more recent one, and makes for a very interesting contrast to Superman. The manga and anime One Punch Man stars an equally-impressive eponymous superhero, who gets his name because he defeats every single opponent… with one punch. One Punch Man is in some ways a deconstruction of Superman, a version of the story which can’t be bothered keeping up dramatic tension about whether the invincible hero will succeed. Instead, it goes for humor and pathos, highlighting the absurdity of the protagonist’s strength by making everything else about him lovably mundane.

Rather than being a genetically perfect alien baby from Krypton, the One Punch Man is an ordinary human guy named Saitama. His journey to superhero status began because he thought it would be fun - although he does care about protecting people. Famously, the series insists Saitama got his unbeatable powers from a simple daily exercise routine! By practicing it without fail for three years, Saitama ascended from average schlub to a physical god. Also, it made his hair fall out.

Of course, the joke is that this routine is actually a fairly realistic and reasonable workout, one which most people could do with enough motivation. Did the author decide on this development to point out that anybody can become a superhero? Or is it just another way to remove the mystique from such superhuman power? The pointlessness of Saitama’s ludicrous strength is the central focus of the story and its humour, so insisting it comes from a blandly average workout like this is the perfect way to drive it home to the audience.

Of course, having a superhero workout routine that’s so… not-super… has inspired a lot of people to actually try and do it! As far as I know, none of them went bald and got super-strength, but there have been great reports of people getting fit and feeling more confident after trying it. And if you substitute some other cardio work for the run (or own a treadmill) then it’s totally isolation-friendly! 

So our brave team at Mythic Markets have decided to take on the Saitama Challenge ourselves. Getting together on digital meetings to run treadmill or sending each other gifs and selfies of our pushups has been a great source of comedy, sure, but also camaraderie. And while we’re all a bit conscious of missing the gym, what better way to keep in trim? Keep an eye on our social media to follow the results of our first month on the One Punch Workout, and maybe you’ll catch some superhero inspiration yourself!