Guts Workout: Train Like GUTS From Berserk

If you’re just looking for the workout, you can get the PDF HERE.

For a while now, you guys have been requesting a workout based on Guts from Berserk. I was a little reluctant, knowing nothing about the character… but eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I realised it was perfect for this treatment. Turns out you guys have a good eye for this stuff!

So, I bought this gigantic faux leather omnibus of the manga, watched some excellent videos by Super Eyepatch Wolf, and dove in.

I have a pretty good job.

What I found was an awesome action epic, with some insanely cool art and really interesting characters. I don’t normally read stories that get quite this dark, but I’ve really been enjoying the kind of Eldrich horror element and it’s clear to see how it’s inspired things like Dark Souls in the years since.

And Guts is, in many ways, an ideal example of funcional strength. He doesn’t look like bodybuilder, but he has a thick, powerful build on his tall frame. He doesn’t sport a V-taper or a narrow little waist – but has the torso of an old-time strongman. This is what allows him to swing that infamous, massive sword – The Dragon Slayer – around his head. And I love examples like this where the artist intuitively understands the kind of physique that would be necessary for their character.

The reason old-time strongmen had thicker waists is because they trained their obliques more than modern bodybuilders; without access to the cushy equipment we have at the gym today, they instead needed to heave heavy objects of the ground with unusual angles. There was literally a lift called the “anyhow lift!” They were constantly twisting, bending laterally, and generally moving in the frontal and rotational plane.

This DOES build a thick waist, which is something that modern bodybuilders actively avoid. It’s so strange that male beauty standards seem to prefer the comparatively frail look of that itty. Bitty. Waist.

You want to look and move like a powerful warrior – like Guts – you need a thick waist to go with it.

Progressive Overload With a Massive Sword

So, how did Guts get all that power in his core? Simple: by swinging that massive sword since he was a kid. In the story, he was adopted by a mercenary called Gambino when he was a kid.

The sword has character significance; Gambino didn’t bother getting him a sword his own size, so Guts had to adapt and develop the strength necessary to wield it. And, seeing as that’s all he ever knew, fighting with giant swords became his unique style.

Thanks to Super Eyepatch Wolf’s video for spotting that cool bit of character building! I also like how this whole concept turns the idea of the master and apprentice on its head, subverting the trope.

But what Guts maybe didn’t appreciate at the time, was that he was observing smart training principles. The first being progressive overload: instead of “growing into” his sword, it just kept getting bigger and bigger. Like Milo of Croton, carrying the calf everyday until it grew into a cow.

Rotate to Devastate

The other principle, of course, is specificity. If you want to get better at swinging a sword, you need to train by swinging a sword. This training would have developed incredible grip strength, core strength, rotational strength, and more.

This is what is missing from modern training, so often. Powerlifting and bodybuilding are immensely good for you. They’ll build a ton of strength, strengthen your bones, improve mobility and more. But, if you’re only doing the big lifts or training the classic mirror muscles, then you’ll not only miss out on the opportunity to strengthen those swinging and rotating muscles that are used in fighting, labour, sports, and more… you’ll actually start to become stiff and rigid over time.

I know this because it happened to me. It’s why my punches looked so awkward and it contributed to my lower back pain.

This is a topic that Nsima Inyang has been talking about a lot lately. Nsima comes from a powerlifting background but he, too, found that his movement was stiffer and more rigid than he wanted. In one video he shows a clip of a massive bodybuilder walking down the street with almost zero hip and core movement. People who have dedicated their lives to one type of training push back against this but it’s simple: if you don’t practice moving in a certain way, you lose it. And if you practice moving in only one way over and over again, you will become imbalanced.

Nsima didn’t stop weightlifting, he just started to add in other practices: Rope Flow, kettlebell flows, and more. And if you watch him now, it’s like poetry in motion.

For my own part, adding these rotational movements has made me feel so much more powerful and fluid.

And it’s not just about mobility and power in the transverse plane. It’s also about leverage, stability, and supporting muscles. Staying in flow and moving gracefully against weight is about learning to create opportunities in your body: finding the leverage points, creating structure, stabilising your core.

Without practice, these awkward movements can be difficult even for someone very strong. Swinging a kettlebell, a club, or a giant sword prepares you for resistance at almost any angle. And, as a result, it translates even better to the real world and real tests of strength.

Just swinging that massive sword around would be enough to turn Guts into an absolute monster. Especially given the frequency and intensity – and given that he did it from a very young age.

In fact, Jax Blade actually has a “real” Dragon Slayer sword – in that it was made for him and is genuinely very heavy. Mine is made of foam or something… perhaps you can tell. As Jax started heaving that thing about, you could see him working to find leverage at different angles. He even says how it “works muscles he never knew he had.”

And that’s precisely it: you don’t train these positions, you don’t build strength there.

THIS is what functional training is. It’s not claiming that certain types of training “aren’t functional.” It’s not about excluding things. Rather, it’s about creating a well-rounded training profile. It’s about adding the things that otherwise get overlooked.

The Endurance… To ENDURE

And likewise, to look and move like Guts, you’re going to need a ton of endurance. Being able to swing a massive club or sword around over your head is an immense demonstration of power and poise. But, to be useful, you need to be able to do it for more than a couple of minutes!

Not only that, but Guts walks around carrying the thing all the time! Not to mention wearing giant armour – including the Berserker Armour (more on that in a moment).

Loaded carries are perfect for this. Again, you have the specificify there: carrying something really heavy around is exactly what Guts does! Grab a kettlebell or a club and go for a walk. Your traps, core, and grip will be screaming by the end. And if you train one side at a time (with a suitcase carry) you’ll also be strengthening that anti-lateral flexion.

Putting it Together

The good news, is that we can also train all of these things with kettlebell training, clubbell training, or mace (gada) training. These tools are perfect for strength endurance AND the rotational power we’ve been talking about.

The kettlebell is a heavy metal ball with a handle, the club bell is a large metal or wooden club that is heavily weighted towards one end, and the mace bell is a long stick with the weight on the end. All of them place the weight some distance from the hand, creating leverage and momentum as you swing – and drastically increasing the subjective resistance you experience.

What’s more, though, is that they lend themselves to swinging or circling around the head or infront of the body. Movements that you might use with a sword, that have you moving in the rotational and frontal planes, that WILL build bigger obliques and create that thick-but-jacked look that Guts has.

AND movements that will develop the kind of movement intelligence, power, and stamina that you need to really fight. Look into the “cast” family of movements, like the gama cast, shield cast, and kettlebell halo. I’ve been using these a lot lately and I love the way they stretch the lats, open up the shoulders, and strengthen the triceps, lats, and core, all at the same time. You need to brace the core to prevent yourself from bending back and flaring the ribs.

I highly recommend Mark Wildman’s channel, where you can find a ton of great information on these movements.

What’s more, is that these movements teach you that swinging/throwing/serape movement that is so important for functional performance AND they teach you to perform those movements on both sides. If you only ever throw or punch or swing on one side of the body, this can lead to serious imbalances. It’s a nuanced topic, though, given that some preference for one side of the body is normal – due to the fact that we are heavier on one side, among other things! This is called “functional asymmetry” and I go into it in a little more depth in my video on training the psoas.

Finally, these circular and repetitive motions perfectly lend themselves to developing the kind of strength endurance that Guts would need. You can combine this with other endurance exercises like med ball slams, battle ropes, and the like. Trail running is also a great option, as are various agility drills (Grant made a great video on this on this channel a while ago). Swordfighting actually requires a lot of footwork to get into those advantageous positions and outmanoeuvre the opponent.

Combine these movements with the afforementioned weighted carries and with more standard forms of heavy lifting (the big three) to build tree trunk legs and pushing and pulling power… and you have an incredible workout for looking AND moving like Guts. Oh, and I also recommend training for strength and mobility in the wrists.

Of course, for the best results, you should also combine this with some kind of actual weapon training – whether HEMA or something else. I actually did fencing for for a few months when I was much younger and it was a ton of fun.

The Psychology of Guts: Going Berserk

Finally, a note on the mental aspect. Because, despite having pretty much the worst luck in fiction, Guts is a character who keeps going and doesn’t give up. Eventually, he receives the Berserker Armour which unlocks his true strength and power by removing the psychological barriers that otherwise prevent someone from accessing their true potential. These barriers are somewhat based on real physiology; our bodies do, in fact, prevent us from accessing 100% of our muscle fibre in order to conserver energy and prevent injury.

The Berserker Armour induces a mad bloodlust in its user and forces them to push past their limits – even pinning together injured limbs and broken bones to allow them to continue past the point where they would otherwise be too damaged to continue. This, of course, exerts a huge toll on a fighter and is extremely risky to use.

What’s interesting about this is that it is based on real legends of Nordic Warriors entering a state known as “Berserkgang” which would allegedly give them access to insane strength and power, alongside a frenzied rage. Berserkers were said to become so enraged that their faces would appear red and disfigured. They would bite into their own shields, would howl like animals, and fight shirtless. Since then, we’ve heard similar urban legends of mothers tapping into insane strength to lift cars off of their trapped children. The general consensus is that this is the result of a massive surge in testosterone that allows for greater muscle fibre recruitment, pain tolerance, and focus. And, in the case of Nordic warriors, this might have been achieved with the help of rituals or naturally occurring psychoactive substances.

How can we apply this to our own, real-world training? For one, it does show just how mental strength and performance really is. Many athletes today use caffeine and even smelling salts to achieve a similar boost in strength at the gym – allowing for bigger lifts and tougher workouts.

But I would caution against this. I would remind you that Guts, while cool, is not an aspirational character in this sense. He is a deeply broken and wounded man, who has not a lot to live for.

Forcing ourselves to perform beyond our limits using large doses of caffeine is actually potentially harmful in the long run – making us more tense and prone to injury. Making us increasingly dependent. Potentially causing other issues like elevated heart rate, stress, and insomnia.

The true art is not to tap into insane Berserker strength at all, but rather to learn to pick and choose the mental state you want to achieve. To achieve the kind of mastery that lets you feel calm and collected when resting, but locked in and amped up when necessary.

And maybe that’s a video for another time.

Meanwhile, let me know what I missed. How would you approach training like Guts from Berserk? Are you a fan of club or mace training?

Of course, if you like the idea of training for functional movement and performance, I recommend my premium training program and ebook: SuperFunctional Training 2.0. It’s designed to build the kind of strength in combination with explosiveness, proprioception, mobility, and endurance that you would actually need to move like any of these anime heroes. It comes with a full program that can be adapted to any level and doesn’t require any specialist equipment; plus over 2 hours of instructional video and an 80+ page ebook!

SuperFunctional Training 2.0

SuperFunctional Training 2.0: The Protean Performance System. This is a comprehensive book, video course, and more that aims to improve every aspect of human performance.

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Either way guys, thanks so much for reading this one… and bye for now!

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One Comment

1. Alex says:

   July 8, 2025 at 4:14 am

   I had a Viking sword, which is very blade heavy, and it bumped up my forearm strength A LOT when I used it every day on a target.

   I’d love to see your experience with rice bucket training since your already a beast when it comes to muscle strength- 30 days would tell us peons if it works for forearm strength and size.

   Btw I love your format- you are the ideal for normies trying to find the best way to increase gains for minimal effort

   Reply