A failed fish farmer in China who found inspiration in the Japanese manga ‘One Punch Man’ managed to turn his life around after 1,000 days of grueling physical training.
Born in a poor rural family in Shandong province, Li Shuangyong never had the easiest life, but he hit rock bottom in 2021 when his fish farming business collapsed. His marriage collapsed shortly after, and he was left to shoulder the debt he had accumulated over the years. Looking back, Li describes his old self as a “life loser” who spent his days lost and wandering aimlessly. It was around this time that he came across “One Punch Man”, the popular Japanese manga whose protagonist, Saitama, starts out as a broke average Joe struggling to pay the rent for his shabby apartment, only to become the world’s strongest man after training religiously for three years.
Li Shuangyong was so inspired by Saitama’s training – 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and a 10-kilometre run every day – and his transformation that he adopted it as a life-changing model.
“I had to save myself. I could not keep living like that. It could not get any worse,” Li recently said.
Li found out first-hand that trying to imitate a manga character in real life was easier said than done, especially for someone with no physical training and no money. He would sweat profusely and his arms would start shaking after just a few push-ups, and running a couple of kilometers felt exhausting. Still, he posted videos of his daily workouts on social media as a way of documenting his progress.
Most of his early videos didn’t get many views because they were pretty much the same every day. Most people thought he was crazy and that he would eventually give up on this daily torture, but as time went by and his physical transformation became noticeable, people started paying more attention to this Chinese real-life Saitama.
Running 10km was becoming easier and easier for him, so much so that on certain days, he would do multiple runs just for the hell of it. He even filmed himself running 100km (60 miles), which won him thousands of new online fans. People started seeking him out to train with him, and a fan group in Taiwan even live-streamed his runs on a campus screen and trained with him remotely. All of a sudden, he was an inspirational star.
Last month, Li Shuangyong celebrated 1,000 days of physical training by showing off his toned physique and paying homage to the manga that inspired his incredible transformation by shaving his head and posing in One Punch Man’s iconic superhero costume. he told his fans that during the last 1,000 days, he had run over 20,000 km and performed several physical exercises millions of times.
But Li’s inspirational story is far from over. After making a name for himself as the real One Punch Man, the 39-year-old man wants to set a new Guinness World Record by running a marathon every day for a whole year. He did, however, warn fans not to blindly follow his example, as his training regimen is not for everyone and can have serious consequences.
Li’s 1,000-day transformational journey even reached One Punch Man’s creator, who honored him on X (Twitter), writing, “Your willpower is incredible! Congratulations.”
