A Real-Life Record of a 30-Something Office Worker Who Was Told He Was 'Too Thin' by a Doctor and Transformed His Body Without a Gym, Using Only Home Workouts

"Both of you are so thin and underweight that if you want to have children, you should eat more and try doing some muscle training."

Around the time I turned 30, my wife and I were given that advice by a doctor during our first visit to an OB-GYN for fertility treatment.

Little did I know at the time that this single remark would become the catalyst that would drastically change my life.

I have always had an incredibly thin build.
To give you an idea, my breakfast as a college student was just two pieces of alphabet chocolate.
I would get by with just a Calorie Mate for lunch.

Honestly, I truly wished that I didn't have an appetite at all.

My chest was thin, and in terms of skeletal structure, I had a condition called"pectus excavatum," where the center of the chest is sunken.I still remember being the only friend in elementary school who could slip through the narrow gaps in the school fence.

After becoming an adult, I barely exercised, got hooked on alcohol, and developed a pretty terrible drinking habit of consuming alcohol more than 350 days a year despite eating very little.

My body at the time was truly best described by the word "skinny."

That was when I started muscle training because of the OB-GYN's words, and I was able to transform my body entirely through home workouts without ever going to a gym.

By sharing the record of how my body changed just as it was, I would be incredibly happy if I could even slightly boost the motivation for body building for everyone who reads this article.

Please, stay with me until the end.

When I got home from the OB-GYN, I reached for a canned beer as usual. At that moment, I saw a surprising sight in the corner of my vision.

My wife had already started doing squats silently next to the table.

It was the first time I had ever seen my wife training. Like me, she had always been naturally too thin, ate very little, and barely exercised.

Seeing her exhausted after just 10 squats made me feel disgusted with my own incompetence.

"Why am I drinking alcohol as usual at a time like this!"

I thought. However, since I didn't want to waste the 350ml can of beer in my hand, I finished it first, then went next to my wife and tried doing squats.

"Th-this is tough...!"
I got tired after just 10 reps. I did 30 that day and finished.

However, this day became the memorable first day of muscle training that changed my life significantly.

Everything is thanks to my wife, who took the first step.

Even after hearing what the OB-GYN said, I couldn't take action. But my wife was different.
Thanks to my wife, I have the muscular body I have now. I cannot thank her enough.

Since that day, we started a routine where we would do squats, push-ups, and sit-ups together as a couple after coming home from work.

Looking back now, we weren't doing the most important thing: "improving our diet" at that time.

We really should have increased the amount of rice we ate, but I was still drinking alcohol, and the change was just adding a tiny bit of muscle training to our lives.

I did push-ups for the first time in over 10 years.
—To my surprise, I could only do 5. I was appalled at myself.

Since standard push-ups are too much of a burden for someone as skinny as me, I decided to start with "wall push-ups," where you put your hands on a wall and lean your body forward.

When I look online, I often see people saying, "Buy heavy dumbbells because you'll use them eventually even if you're a beginner!" but from the perspective of someone as skinny as me, that was way too over-spec, and I couldn't imagine buying them at all.

Even so, as I continued for about a week, the feeling of it being "tough" gradually changed toa feeling of "my mind and body feeling refreshed and good."

I didn't feel like I was building any muscle at all, but I could feel a sense of exhilaration from exercising, and it gradually started to become fun.

At this time, I didn't have any training equipment. My training menu back then was simple, consisting of just the following four exercises.

• Wall push-ups (pectorals, triceps)

• Bodyweight squats (quadriceps)

• Pike push-ups (deltoids)

• Crunches (abdominals)

I could do quite a few crunches, but I couldn't do a single push-up.
My chest was so thin that my ribs were clearly visible, to the point where I suspected I had zero pectoral muscles.

I desperately wanted to get rid of the complex I had about having a thin chest.

And so, I set a big goal for myself.

“Work out for 100 consecutive days”
…I’ve forgotten the original purpose of fertility treatment, haven't I?

By the way, the fertility treatment had its ups and downs after that, but thanks to various technologies, we were able to conceive successfully.
My wife became pregnant, so I took a break from working out to take care of my body.

I chose to continue working out steadily on my own to overcome my complex.

For this 100-day consecutive workout challenge, I set the bar for success quite low.

I made a rule that doing just one set of one exercise was enough, so I could do it even after having a beer if I really wanted to.
Even if I came home late from overtime, I’d do one set of crunches. Even while traveling, I’d do squats in my hotel room.

In any case, I made continuing every day my top priority.

And then, when 100 days had finally passed!
I was surprised.

“My body hasn't really changed…!?”

That’s right, I had completely neglected my diet. I didn't really pay attention to how much I was eating, just feeling like I might have increased it a little bit.

*Note: Thanks to my wife's pregnancy, I was able to quit my long-standing habit of drinking alcohol. This was a major step forward.

After that, as I studied strength training through books and YouTube, I learned that the low intensity of my workouts was a major reason why my body wasn't changing.

My recent training had become nothing more than 'exercise' with the goal of just 'getting it done,' rather than actual strength training.

To increase the intensity of my workouts… is going to the gym the best option?

I thought so, but my wife was pregnant. And once the baby was born, I would be with them all the time.

If I were to say, 'I'm leaving my wife and child to go to the gym!', that would be the worst choice, completely contrary to the 'family' that was the reason I started working out in the first place.

I decided without hesitation to build muscle at home.

“Even without going to the gym, I won't let anyone call me skinny ever again!”
With that in mind, I searched for dumbbells online and first bought a pair of screw-on adjustable dumbbells up to 10kg.

At this time, I was 30 years old.
Looking back now, I regret not buying slightly better training equipment at this point.

For those of you who are about to start strength training, once your intensity hits a plateau with bodyweight exercises, I recommend taking the plunge and buying adjustable dumbbells in the 20kg range as your next step.

※I am convinced after 8 years of strength training that the best home training equipment that completely transformed my body is summarized with great enthusiasm in this article. Please take a look👇

Back then, 10kg dumbbells felt incredibly heavy to me, so I genuinely thought, 'If I can build a body that 10kg dumbbells can create, I'll surely have a great physique.'

With dumbbells, I was doing side raises, rear raises, arm curls, dumbbell squats, and so on.

However, I couldn't train my all-important pectorals. I didn't have a bench. Just as I was at a loss for what to do, an idea popped into my head.

I stuffed a backpack I didn't use with a ton of magazines, tied more magazines to the outside of the bag, made a 'homemade dumbbell backpack' totaling over 10kg, and decided to do weighted push-ups while wearing it!

I was able to gradually increase the weight for push-ups, even though I could only do 5 with my own body weight before.
After that, I purchased a 20kg weighted vest and started doing push-ups with a total of 30kg of added weight.

I thought that if I did this much, my pectorals would surely have grown, but when I looked in the mirror... I was stunned.
“My pectorals are still totally flat...!”

This was because my strength training technique was clearly lacking.

I had been doing push-ups mainly with my triceps, and wasn't able to effectively target my all-important pectorals.

Because I naturally have a wide-shouldered frame, my chest is thin to begin with.
It seems that depending on your skeletal structure, some areas are easier to target than others; I had the problem where my lateral deltoids and triceps would develop, but my pectorals just wouldn't.

When wearing clothes, my outline looked fairly solid, but when I turned to the side, I was still flat.

I wasn't doing pull-ups either, so my back remained thin too. 'I want thickness in my body!' I felt that strongly.

At that moment, I remembered that my wife had a stretch pole she bought a long time ago.

“This might be useful!”
That's right, I decided to use the stretch pole as a substitute for a training bench.

By this time, I had upgraded my dumbbells to 20kg adjustable ones, so I was excited that I could now do proper chest training.

The point to be careful about when using a stretch pole as a bench is ensuring stability. Since it was cylindrical rather than semi-circular, it would slip if I didn't lie down on it just right.

It was quite difficult at first to get into the starting position while holding heavy dumbbells and trying to balance.

However, once I could get on it properly, the curve of the circle fit my shoulder blades perfectly, allowing me to puff out my chest nicely.
Thanks to that, I started to understand the sensation of puffing out my chest to make the exercise effective.

Moreover, unlike a training bench, it was light, easy to carry, and allowed me to do dumbbell presses easily in any open space—it was actually quite convenient.

I also made significant changes to my diet.

First, I started gradually increasing the amount of carbohydrates I ate, such as white rice and bread.

During my 100 days of continuous strength training, I didn't get very hungry, perhaps because the intensity was low, but once I started using the 20kg dumbbells, my hunger became stronger than before, and my food intake gradually increased.

I believe this is because the intensity of my strength training was higher and my anaerobic exercise had increased.

You often see advice online saying, 'Force yourself to eat tons of rice!'

I tried setting aside a period to force myself to eat a lot during this time, but it didn't go well because of my naturally low digestive capacity and the heavy burden it placed on my body after meals.
The method of eating tons of food might be fine for teenagers or people in their 20s, but it's tough for me in my 30s.

So, I incorporated powdered candy (maltodextrin) into my life.
It's an excellent product that allows you to consume calories without putting a burden on your digestive system just by mixing it into protein shakes or drinks.
It is a magic powder that digests and absorbs quickly, allowing you to 'drink your calories'.

By utilizing maltodextrin and protein, and gradually increasing my food intake at my own pace, my weight increased from 55kg to 60kg.

*The best ways to use powdered candy (maltodextrin) are summarized in detail in this article. Please be sure to read this as well👇

At this point, both my muscle mass and fat mass had increased, and my abs were slightly visible.

By the way, by this time my child had been born safely, and amidst a life of waking up many times in the middle of the night, I found spare time to continue my muscle training little by little.

A year after I started muscle training, my body had changed enough that even I could clearly tell.

I began to have confidence in my own body.
People I met for the first time would ask, "Do you play any sports?" or say, "Your arms are thick."

Receiving words I had never been told in my life, I felt as if the way I saw the world had changed.

"I'm not skinny anymore," I thought, and I became even more dedicated to my daily muscle training.

This might have been the time in my muscle training life when I had the most confidence.

However, little did I know at the time that my confidence would be shattered later on.

Around this time, I was exclusively watching muscle training-related videos on YouTube and staring intently at muscular people on Instagram.
When I looked at their bodies, I was simply captivated by their high level of perfection.

On the other hand, what about my own body?
People around me might say it's amazing, but compared to thesepeople in the world of social media, I don't even come close.
"A frog in a well does not know the great ocean" is exactly what this is.

They do heavy bench presses and squats at the gym, and work hard at muscle training for hours every day.

Meanwhile, I commute to the office every day, and do muscle training with limited equipment in between childcare after returning home...
I felt that no matter what, I had hit a ceiling.

"Do I have no choice but to go to the gym...?"

That's what I thought.
However, even though I had become so obsessed with muscle training, spending time with my family is my greatest happiness.
If I go to the gym, the limited time I have with my family on weekdays would become almost zero.

But I want to make my body bigger!
I have to!

Caught in a major dilemma, I became mentally very unstable during this period.

Then, in my second year of muscle training, I decided to take the plunge and try to gain weight. I thought that by increasing the absolute amount of body weight, I could also raise my muscle mass.

I covered my low digestive capacity by eating small, frequent meals and utilizing powdered candy (maltodextrin), Ebios tablets, and Ohta's Isan.

300g of rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, two rice cakes before and after training, and udon or ramen before bed. I lived a life of bringing sliced bread to work and eating it separately from my bento.

By consuming carbohydrates every day, my weight reached 67kg in two and a half months. I successfully gained 7kg.

And so, I decided to challenge myself to lose weight from here.
If I only lose fat from this point, I should be able to keep the muscle and get a shredded body.

But,my first weight loss attempt was not that easy.

I tried a recording diet using a meal management app to track what I ate, but it didn't go very well.

While it is very good for knowing the calories in what you eat and serves as a guide to prevent overeating,deciding what to eat while in a state of hunger is very exhausting.

While worrying about what to eat every day, I would start wanting this and that, and end up eating junk food without thinking...

My weight also dropped smoothly at first, but it stalled halfway through and didn't go down well, so I stopped the weight loss and my weight returned to what it was.

During this period, I was exploring various weight loss methods that suited me.

And since I like making schedules and following rules I set for myself, I arrived at a certain method.

It is a 'reservation-style' recording diet where you record tomorrow's meals in advance.

This method had a dramatic effect. I succeeded in losing weight from 67kg to 60kg in two months.
I will post images of the actual weight loss before and after.

I have summarized the reservation-style recording diet in this article. It should be helpful for you if you are aiming to lose weight👇

When I finished losing weight, I realized that my values had changed significantly from the past self that used to compare myself to the superhumans on social media.

The sense of fulfillment in having the best body of my life, despite being in my late 30s.

I understood this vividly and realized that there is no point in comparing myself to others.

From here on, strength training became a 'life work' for me, along with my job and family.

And,convinced that 'I will definitely move forward as much as I put in the effort', I work hard at strength training every day.

As more time passed, I was able to buy a detached house, even though it's in the countryside. My wish came true, and I decided to turn a corner of an empty room into a space for strength training.

Using my bonus as an excuse,I bought a pull-up bar, a training bench, and adjustable dumbbells up to 40kg.
'With this, I can get even bigger!'
I was enthusiastic about training my back and chest to add thickness to my body, and I worked hard at strength training every day.

I didn't install an air conditioner in this empty room, and since it's on the second floor, it turns into a hellish sauna room that reaches over 40 degrees in the summer.

I would wrap ice packs around my neck, bathe in the hot air of a fan, and work out while sweating like a waterfall. This experience greatly developed my power of endurance.

It's strange, but if I use my arms and shoulders to lift recklessly, I can lift 35kg per hand for dumbbell presses, but when I try to lift by engaging my pectoralis major, I reach my limit at 25kg.

I still didn't have much confidence, but driven by the goal of 'getting even bigger,' I trained at home almost every day.

Several more years have passed since then.
I still don't go to the gym, and I spend my days quietly doing home workouts after my family has gone to sleep.

There were times when I had to interrupt my strength training due to illness or injury. But by 'starting again,' I have been able to continue for eight years.

Now, I don't think, 'I have to go to the gym.'
'I can keep going precisely because it's home training' I am convinced of that.

I will continue to work hard so that I can stay youthful and muscular even when I turn 40.

For those who cannot go to a gym and are interested in strength training but find it hard to get started.

You can build muscle with home workouts alone.I am the proof of that.
Please, give it a try yourself.

As a fellow home trainee, I am rooting for you with all my heart!

Thank you so much for reading until the end!

✳️ Recommended articles for home workouts

For those who want to start home workouts.
In home workouts, how easy it is to continue depends greatly on 'what you choose first'.

I myself took quite a long detour in choosing equipment and training methods. That is precisely why I only introduce items below that I believe are 'the best choices to start with'.the best choices to start withthat I believe are

The two things you should get first

Push-ups changed from 'just being tough' to 'an exercise that effectively targets the chest.' Here are my recommendations for push-up bars, which I want beginners to use even more.

If you want to 'get six-pack abs' or 'strengthen your core,' you must incorporate an ab roller. Here is the one I have actually been using for 8 years.

For those who want to level up their home workouts

You can create an environment to build serious muscle even at home.
I introduce recommended adjustable dumbbells that I arrived at through 8 years of strength training experience.

I also explain in detail how to choose a training bench that won't let you down, which will greatly expand the range of your home workouts.

Nutrition needed for strength training

Here is the recommended protein powder that I felt I 'always end up coming back to' after actually drinking it.

A reliable partner for bulking up that helped me when I 'couldn't gain weight even though I ate...' Details on powdered candy (maltodextrin) are here.

If you are unsure, start with this

This is my comprehensive home workout item summary article that compiles my essential items. I hope it serves as a reference for those who are wondering, 'I don't know what I should buy...'

For those who don't want to take detours

For those who want to know more systematically about equipment, diet, and the mindset for consistency, I have also created an article that summarizes what I learned in 8 years of home training in over 50,000 characters.
If you want to continue home workouts without taking detours, please refer to this as well.

※ This article contains Amazon Associate links. As an Amazon Associate, Torimune earns income from qualifying purchases. The products introduced are those I have actually used myself or those I truly feel are recommended after many years of home training. 🙏