Itsuka Kendo Workout: Train like My Hero Academia’s Battle Fist!

We’re bringing back some life to our My Hero Academia Inspired Workouts!

Our MHA mini database is full of TONS of workouts, but we haven’t had a new one in quite a bit, so I decided to bring Itsuka to the top of the list being that she was the MHA character with the most requests at the moment.

She also made it onto our list of runner ups among our Most Powerful Female My Hero Academia characters – which likely brought in some more requests.

Itsuka may not be a “main” character, but she is the class rep of Class 1-B, and definitely a fan favorite among our female characters.

She’ll be making herself right at home within our My Hero Academia Workout Placement Quizzes.

Itsuka Kendo Stats:

Real Name: Itsuka Kendo

Height: 5’5 3/4

Weight: N/A

Anime: My Hero Academia

Powers: Yes

We already know My Hero Academia never really provides weight stats, but we always get a very precise height.

And, Itsuka comes in right around the average height among female anime characters, celebrities and superheroes.

Supergirl and Erza Scarlet were our shortest at 5’5 before Wasp came in at 5’4 and Kale, Anna and Nina Williams matching her there. BUT, now we have Caulifla at 4’8 and Sailor Moon at 4’11!  Katana is just behind her at 5’2.

We had Wonder Woman come in standing 6’0 tall, Mockingbird and Hawkgirl at 5’9, Mystique, Miss Martian, and Sonya Blade at 5’10, and Storm 5’11.

But the average height for female celebrities on the site is generally more-so ranging from 5’4-5’6 – and our Black Widow is just above that at 5’7 with Spider-Gwen, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy at 5’8.

And, the tallest we’d seen before She-Hulk was Starfire at 6’4!

But don’t worry, either way.

Not only are these routines for all shapes and sizes – they also work for both men and women – regardless of the gender of the hero.

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Itsuka Kendo Diet and Nutrition

**Keep in mind: this section will be nearly identical for each hero.**

Every hero needs to still have a good diet.

Unfortunately we can train like them, but I don’t think any of us are suddenly getting their powers, or the ability to magically stop caring about nutrition.

You can’t out train your diet, so I want to still give some pillars for nutrition.

You can start by checking out The Nutrition Pillars on the site, but I’ll break down some more information for you guys as well.

Guys like Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart incorporate 80/20 dieting with big weekly cheat meals, Hugh Jackman, Tom Hopper, Benedict Cumberbatch and Terry Crews utilize intermittent fasting (something I use daily as well), Ariana Grande, Mustafa Shakir and Madelaine Petsch are vegans, Brandon Routh and Frank Grillo opt for paleo, and tons of others utilize their own variations as well.

It’s all about sustainability.

AND, there are a thousand different ways to reach your goals, so finding the most sustainable way is what’s important.

Which is why our Academy utilizes multiple different Nutrition Classes (Greek Gods, Vikings, Spartans, Hunter Gatherers, Monks, Samurais, Minimalists, SuperHumans) to allow people to choose what is right for YOU!

Curious where over a hundred celebs fall in their dietary choices ranging from High Protein and Keto to Vegetarian, Vegan and Intermittent Fasting? Want exclusive celeb meal plans? Check this out.

Need Help Choosing The Best My Hero Academia Inspired Workout?
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Itsuka Kendo Workout Routine Research

We’ve made it to “the fun part”.

And, if you don’t know by now, I say that every single time we get to the workout routine research section for character workouts.

To learn more about Itsuka, AKA Battle Fist, I’ll be pulling right from her Wiki Fandom page, starting with a very brief bio just so we know who we’re working with here:

Itsuka Kendo, also known as Battle Fist, is the class representative of Class 1-B at U.A. High School and is training there to become a Pro Hero.

Nothing we didn’t already know, but always nice to start with a refresher with all the information in one place so anyone new here can have it to come back to.

From there we can move into her abilities (and eventually her Quirk), starting with a ton of information they tell us about her overall abilities:

Overall Abilities: Itsuka has proven herself to be a highly formidable combatant, as her skills earned her 5th place in the U.A. Entrance Exam. She also has a great handle on her Quirk, Big Fist, which is primarily used during close-range and melee combat. Itsuka has enough power to break through most defenses. The sudden expansion of her hands can be used to surprise foes, assuming that they’re not aware of how her Quirk functions, or to increase the power of her attacks through the momentum of the expansion. Itsuka’s enlarged hands are useful not only for combat but as a method of transporting others and restraining opponents as well, making it convenient for rescues and criminal escorting. Someone wrapped by Itsuka’s giant hands will become protected from certain airborne hazards such as poisonous gas, albeit just temporarily.

She demonstrated her mettle when she held her own against the villain Mustard, a member of the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad, while fighting alongside Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. Itsuka not only parried the gas-producing villain with her Quirk, but was able to use the strength increasing capabilities of her Quirk to generate enough wind to dispel the toxic gas that the villain created, and give Tetsutetsu an opening to defeat Mustard. Itsuka has shown to be quite capable at hand-to-hand combat, as she could incapacitate Neito Monoma with a karate chop. Her melee combat skills were further showcased during the Joint Training Battle, where she battled Momo Yaoyorozu, a recommended student. By using her combat prowess in conjunction with the increased strength that her Quirk provides, Itsuka was able to overwhelm Momo and smash her way through the latter’s defenses. While Momo was able to temporarily blindside her with a cannon, Itsuka was still more than capable of incapacitating the Everything Hero with her “Double Jumbo Fist” technique, although the recommended student did manage to tie herself to Itsuka before losing consciousness.

Right off the bat we know we’re going to be building this workout routine around an extremely strong character.

But before we even get into her Quirk I want to discuss at least a little bit about her intellect as well (they give us A LOT of information, but I’ll share a sliver of it):

Keen Intellect: Itsuka is shown to be extremely intelligent and tactical, demonstrated when she theorized the location of Mustard and the pattern of his Quirk, Gas, and being able to figure out how to quickly dispel the villain’s fumes. She has excellent analytical skills and a high sense of perceptiveness, and as she’s ranked A-class in her official intelligence stat, her capacities in this regard are overall redoubtable. Tetsutetsu has even commented on Itsuka’s quick wit, her level head in situations, and her ability to make the right decisions on the fly.

The intellect is going to be on you. There won’t be any brain workouts here.

That brings us into her actual Quirk, though – which is where it becomes even more fun to build out this workout.

Here’s how they break down her Quirk: Big Fist:

Big Fist : Itsuka’s Quirk grants her the ability to enlarge both of her hands to a gigantic size. With the increased size comes enhanced striking power and gripping capabilities.

Enhanced Strength: Itsuka appears to have strength greater than the average human since she can carry people and lift her enlarged hands without a problem, as seen in her fight against Mustard. Her enlarged hands grant her proportionally increased chopping and gripping strength. During Round Two of the Joint Training Battle, she proved to be strong enough to easily crush Momo Yaoyorozu’s shields made of tungsten, the strongest metal on earth.

Originally I was going to build this workout using weight training to replicate the enhanced strength that comes from Big Fist, but I think we are actually better off using calisthenics to get stronger while also achieving her physique and other abilities (and hero training).

That said, we’ll be using bodyweight training mixed with endurance work and some intensity training to replicate the U.A. High School style – but don’t be afraid to scale down as needed, or even start with our Beginner Ninja Workout.

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Itsuka Kendo Workout Routine

Training Volume:

4-5+ days per week

Explanation:

For this one we’ll be working with a lower-upper body split so that we hit each 2 times a week and then also have enough time in our daily workouts for some hero endurance. I’ll also be including a fun Battle Fist Circuit Test you can complete weekly, biweekly or even monthly as you’d like.

Want To Upgrade This Workout?

The Superhero Academy now comes with an Upgrade Your Workout Tool that allows Academy members to turn any SHJ workout into a 4-8 week fully planned regime detailing exact weights to lift and including reverse & traditional pyramid training, straight sets, super sets, progressive overload and more.

Itsuka Kendo Workout: Sample Workout Schedule

Monday: Upper Body Calisthenics and Endurance A

Tuesday: Lower Body Calisthenics and Endurance A

Wednesday: Battle Fist Circuit Test

Thursday: Upper Body Calisthenics and Endurance B

Friday: Lower Body Calisthenics and Endurance B

Saturday: Active Rest (Or Optional Bonus Resources)

Sunday: Rest Day

Itsuka Kendo Workout: Upper Body Calisthenics and Endurance A

Warm Up: 

25 High Knees

25 Mountain Climbers

25 Jumping Jacks

Workout: 

Push Ups

3×20-30

Sit Ups

3×15-20

Lying Leg Raises

3×15-20

Plank to Push Ups

3×10-15

Bodyweight Rows (or Pull Ups)

3×5-12

Hero Endurance:

Complete 15-60 Minutes of Varied Cardio

See Bonus Resources below for more options.

Itsuka Kendo Workout: Lower Body Calisthenics and Endurance A

Warm Up: 

25 High Knees

25 Mountain Climbers

25 Jumping Jacks

Workout: 

Air Squats

3×20-30

Bicycle Crunches

3×20-30

Hanging Leg (or Knee) Raises

3×15-20

Lunges

3×10-15 each leg

Box Jumps

3×5-12

Hero Endurance:

Complete 15-60 Minutes of Varied Cardio

See Bonus Resources below for more options.

Itsuka Kendo Workout Routine: Battle Fist Circuit Test

In a perfect world our Academy members or 90 Day System members will use this day to work in our Benchmark Workouts to continue testing and improving scores and tracking them against other members; especially our SHJ Core Benchmarks (although our Hero Benchmarks are just as awesome).

If you are not an Academy member or you don’t have access to a 90 Day System, you can also sub in different circuits here from some of the HIIT resources I provide.

(Another note: You should continue coming back and re-trying to workout every so often to see how much you can improve your score!)

Battle Fist Circuit Test: Complete 4 Rounds for Time

Run 400M

20 Jump Squats

15 Incline Push Ups

10 Sit Ups

5 Burpees

Itsuka Kendo Workout: Upper Body Calisthenics and Endurance B

Warm Up: 

25 High Knees

25 Mountain Climbers

25 Jumping Jacks

Workout: 

Wide to Close Push Ups

3×20-30

V-Ups

3×15-20

Russian Twists

3×15-20

Dips

3×10-15

Chin Ups

3×5-12

Hero Endurance:

Complete 15-60 Minutes of Varied Cardio

See Bonus Resources below for more options.

Itsuka Kendo Workout: Lower Body Calisthenics and Endurance B

Warm Up: 

25 High Knees

25 Mountain Climbers

25 Jumping Jacks

Workout: 

Wide to Close Squats

3×20-30

Toe Taps

3×20-30

Lying Leg Raises with Hip Thrust

3×15-20

Bulgarian Split Squats

3×10-15 each leg

Skater Lunges

3×8-12 each leg

Hero Endurance:

Complete 15-60 Minutes of Varied Cardio

See Bonus Resources below for more options.

Itsuka Kendo Workout: Optional Hero Endurance Work

For your endurance, HIIT or MMA/Parkour days you have quite a few options.
You can utilize enforced endurance training that I will program for you based on your fitness level like we do with other workouts here at SHJ…OR you can do 45-60+ minutes of varied cardio (bike, treadmill, elliptical, stairs, row, swim, etc.)…OR you can even use the HIIT resources I’ll provide.

I’ll break it down in that order:

Option One – Run Based on Overall Fitness Level:

Beginner: 1-3 Miles

Intermediate: 3-5 Miles

Advanced: 5+ Miles

Endurance Work Resources:

• Constance Wu Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Ewan McGregor Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Kid Flash Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Grant Gustin Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• How To Continue Training After Your First 5K (Workout Included)

Option Two – Varied Cardio for 45-60 Minutes:

Split your cardio up however you’d like but complete 45-60+ minutes using:

• Treadmill Walk/Run
• Rower Machine
• StairMaster
• Elliptical
• Swim
• Bike

Option Three – Complete HIIT Training Using SHJ Resources:

• The Best HIIT Workouts
• Jump Rope Workout Database
• Academy Members: Insert a Benchmark Hero Workout (Circuit) or SHJ Core Circuit Test

Itsuka Kendo Workout: Optional Additional Training Resources

Parkour Training Resources:

• The Nightrunner Parkour Workout Routine
• The Assassin’s Creed Parkour Workout Routine
• The Robbie Amell Parkour Workout Routine

Main MMA Training Resources

• Anna Diop Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Ryan Potter Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Frank Grillo Boxing Workout

Other MMA Training Resources:

• Deathstroke Workout Routine
• Daredevil Workout Routine
• Moon Knight Workout Routine
• Sagat Workout Routine

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