Dumbbell nan Kiro Moteru / First Impressions

「先生もダイエットする?」 (Sensei mo Diet Suru?)
“Sensei’s on a Diet Too?”

Our third episode of Dumbbell brings Hibiki’s teacher Tachibana Satomi to Silverman Gym. As she is introduced to Machio, she finds herself exercising alongside her students, begrudgingly thwarting her best efforts to keep work at work. Her worries, however, grow tenfold when she finds herself constantly trying to hide her hobby of cosplaying, culminating when she has to avoid her students at a convention she’s cosplaying for.

But first off, let’s dive into some of the instructions we get in this episode. This time around, we get highly valuable tips on molding fitness into a sustainable lifestyle. For instance, we learn to be able to alternate workouts and reps based on specific sections of the body. This is previously explored with the “chicken legs” comment in the first episode, but this time around, they tackle a very relatable problem with parts of your body getting sore after your first efforts exercising after a period of inactivity. For those who irregularly get a rigorous workout, it is imperative to focus on different exercises if you notice your body has wear, tear, and strain from your last activity. Work with your legs if your arms are sore or vice versa. They also address a key component of a healthy diet by pacing out a series of nutritious meals. Rather than honing in on one massive meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with nothing in between, it would be beneficial to eat small quantities of food in-between. The anime says protein products since Akemi is talking about the bodybuilder’s diet, but I like to go with more natural snacks like nuts and fruit between meals. Regardless, the idea isn’t to torture yourself with nothing but healthy food, but instead to eat a rational diet that is valuable for your body and your soul. Finally, composure is an important element to lifting techniques as proper posture can mean the difference between pain and gain. And don’t forget to lift up to your standards. Otherwise, the strain will do more to harm than help.

It was nice to see Ayaka start to hang out more with Akemi and Hibiki, involving herself in Akemi’s advice for getting Hibiki on a more productive diet. However, the shining star of this episode was Satomi-sensei, whose efforts to slim down for her cosplay hobby make up a bulk of the episode’s narrative content. As Satomi copes with the idea of working out where her students do after being equally captivated by Machio’s charm, she comes to realize that her biggest hurdle is having her side hobby exposed. Although no one would have figured out her hobby based on the tanline on her belly, it poses a larger problem for her when Hibiki and Akemi show up to to the same convention she is dressing up at. Throughout the episode, Satomi’s desperation to keep her hobby a secret provides many of this episode’s laughs, but the most hilarious moment comes from Satomi finding an opening to avoid the attention of her students when Machio dresses up like a fitness-centric version of Kenshiro that gathers the eyes and adoration of many of the con-goers with his muscular physique and his dedication to the character. Hibiki tends to get the goofier expressions, but Satomi’s looks of horror and wrath were a riot to see in action. Times when Satomi is relieved that the girls interpreted her secret as a completely different yet shameful activity, like going to a con for lewd doujinshi instead of cosplay, were also very funny. As with Ayaka’s incorporation into Hibiki’s adventure to slim down, Satomi is a wonderful and welcome addition to the series, and it’ll be exciting to see where the anime goes with her character.

Omake:

14 Comments

  2. https://randomc.net/image/Danberu%20nan%20Kiro%20Moteru/Danberu%20nan%20Kiro%20Moteru%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Danberu%20nan%20Kiro%20Moteru/Danberu%20nan%20Kiro%20Moteru%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    Machio: “You are already buff.”
    Satomi: “NANI?!” *Hidebu*

    https://randomc.net/image/Danberu%20nan%20Kiro%20Moteru/Danberu%20nan%20Kiro%20Moteru%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
    Love Satomi’s “not-Shimakaze” outfit though.

    Incognito
    Reply

  4. I kinda like this anime. Its interesting, good looking, funny and educational. It’s not gonna blow the box-office, but I could definitely do with more anime’s like this. ^^

    Cruiser
    Reply

  6. This Muscle guy (episode 1) reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger time as Bodybuilding…
    he vent undercover into some Muscle studio and played the Trainer and such and looked at this Pictures at the Wall, too…

    I think i saw some TV stuff of this..

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

    1. and, i have nothing against this Anime. Just they should not forget his Skeleton or Bones do not grow like his Muscles. They also should check his “shoulder length” while animating him

      or it turns out like this (Shirobako ruin anime meme!)

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

      1. I think he’s supposed to be unnaturally huge because he was born just inhumanly strong. Also taking place in the same universe as Kengan Ashura by the same mangaka.

        TheVoid
        Reply

  10. Wow, this series is quickly turning into my favorite of the season. It strikes a nice balance between the humor, characters and workout education. I’ve actually adding some of the exercises from this anime back into my exercise regimen.

    One tiny gripe I had was the frequent small meals dieting model that Akemi talked about. Eating small meals frequently vs eating large meals infrequently do not make a difference in weight loss if the caloric intake is the same between the two regimens (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/increased-meal-frequency-does-not-promote-greater-weight-loss-in-subjects-who-were-prescribed-an-8week-equienergetic-energyrestricted-diet/2CF0DB15A695D6C9F837FB24E16DA3D7). The only advantage to eating small, frequent meals is reducing the chance of binge eating and exceeding caloric intake above weight-loss targets because one becomes overly hungry, which was what Hibiki was doing. In other words, it’s still all about caloric balance. In fact, intermittent fasting does have some advantages if performed correctly and there’s some evidence to show some additional health benefits beyond weight loss (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27569118).

    However, I do agree that if you restrict caloric intake too much, you may end up lowering your basal metabolism and end up gaining back a lot of fat. I found it interesting that a way to counter act that was by keeping a diet cheat day. First time I’ve heard of that suggestion, so it’s time to do a bit more research into it. As usual, educational animes are awesome.

    Lastly, kudos to the Fist of the North Star parody, loved it.

    Aoihoshikage
    Reply

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