With his signature shouts of “Power!” and “Yaa!” and his famously muscular physique in a white tank top, Nakayama Kinnikun is one of Japan’s most recognizable muscle personalities.
But his story goes far beyond a comedy character. Over the years, he has built a career around muscle that spans comedy, sports, education, bodybuilding, YouTube, product development and health-related public outreach.
He made his debut in 2000 after graduating from the 22nd class of NSC Osaka. He became widely known through Yoshimoto Shinkigeki and sports variety shows, and in 2006 he achieved four consecutive victories on Sportsman No.1 Ketteisen.
That same year, he began what he famously called his “muscle study abroad” in Los Angeles. He enrolled at Santa Monica College and studied subjects including exercise physiology, anatomy and nutrition in English. According to his official profile, he completed coursework that would usually take around two and a half years in about a year and a half, graduating with a GPA of 3.34.
After returning to Japan, he continued his entertainment career while also seriously pursuing bodybuilding. In 2021, he won the over-75 kg category at the Tokyo Novice Bodybuilding Championships, and in 2022 he won the Men’s Masters 40+ division at the Muscle Beach International Classic in the United States.
At the end of 2021, he left Yoshimoto Kogyo and became independent. Today, he works as a comedian, bodybuilder and YouTube creator while also expanding into online fitness, protein and food products, apparel and television drama.
What makes his approach to fitness especially interesting is that he connects training with food, sleep, rest, work scheduling and even skincare. For him, physical condition is shaped by the whole day rather than the time spent in the gym alone.
As of 2026, he is 48 years old. Nearly 30 years after beginning strength training in high school, he still trains frequently and continues to believe there is room for his body to change.
From his workout split, bodybuilding and body maintenance to chicken breast, eggs, protein, sleep, recovery, skincare, his Los Angeles years and the mindset that has helped him continue training for nearly three decades, here is a comprehensive look at Nakayama Kinnikun’s fitness and wellness lifestyle.
Nakayama Kinnikun Profile
Date of birth: September 17, 1978
Birthplace: Fukuoka, Japan
Profession: Comedian, bodybuilder and YouTube creator
Debut: 2000, after joining NSC Osaka’s 22nd class
Main activities: Television, YouTube channel “The Kinnikun TV,” online fitness, bodybuilding, protein, food and apparel development
Major competition and career achievements: ABC Comedy Newcomer Grand Prix Special Jury Award in 2003; four consecutive victories on Sportsman No.1 Ketteisen in 2006; winner of the over-75 kg category at the 2021 Tokyo Novice Bodybuilding Championships; winner of the Men’s Masters 40+ division at the 2022 Muscle Beach International Classic; 6th place in the Japan Masters Men’s Bodybuilding 40+ category
U.S. study period: Lived in Los Angeles from 2006 to 2011 and studied exercise physiology, anatomy and nutrition at Santa Monica College
Independent career: Left Yoshimoto Kogyo at the end of 2021
Signature catchphrases: “Power!” and “Yaa!”
Acting: Stars in the drama series Kintore Salaryman Nakayama Kintaro
Current activities: Fitness and wellness content, television, YouTube, bodybuilding, food and protein development, online fitness and more
Nakayama Kinnikun’s Story: From Starting Training at 17 to Comedy, U.S. Study and Bodybuilding Wins
Nakayama Kinnikun’s connection with muscle began before he became a comedian.
In middle school, he played basketball.
After retiring from school sports during his final year of high school, he did not want to suddenly stop exercising. So he began riding his bicycle about 30 minutes to a bodybuilding gym in the next town.
At first, his goal was simple: he thought having a little more muscle might look good.
Then he discovered something that became addictive in the best way.
A weight he could not lift one week might move the next.
He could see small changes that reflected the work he had put in, and that sense of progress made strength training increasingly enjoyable.
💡 At first, he thought: “I don’t want to get that muscular”
The first gym he joined was a serious bodybuilding gym. Looking at posters of bodybuilders on the walls, he remembers thinking that he did not want to become quite that muscular. Nearly 30 years later, he is now one of Japan’s best-known muscle personalities.
His interest in food and health began in childhood
Even before strength training, he was unusually interested in food and health.
According to his official profile, when he was in the lower grades of elementary school, he regularly asked his mother whether there were vegetables with dinner.
Around age 10, a home economics class sparked his interest in food labels, and he began checking the backs of food packages.
By middle school, he was buying green juice with his own money and drinking it regularly. He also tried protein powder with friends around the same time.
💡 Reading food labels in elementary school, green juice and protein in middle school
His current eating habits did not suddenly appear after entering entertainment. His interest in vegetables, food and nutrition began much earlier, and he was already buying his own green juice as a teenager.
At NSC: shorts, tank top and protein in his bag
After high school, he moved to Osaka to pursue comedy and entered NSC Osaka’s 22nd class.
Surrounded by large numbers of aspiring comedians, he thought carefully about how people would remember him.
He attended classes in shorts and a tank top and carried protein in his bag.
He also worked at a gym, learned about exercise instruction and, according to his official profile, at one point spent roughly two-thirds of his pay on protein.
That unusual combination caught the attention of senior comedians and helped lead to event and television appearances.
💡 His signature look existed before he was famous
Shorts, a tank top and protein were already part of his daily life during his NSC years. The image later associated with Nakayama Kinnikun grew naturally out of his real interest in training.
After his debut in 2000, muscle-based comedy and sports television brought him increasing attention.
In 2006, he achieved four consecutive victories on Sportsman No.1 Ketteisen.
While his entertainment career was expanding, he made a major decision: going to the United States for what he called a “muscle study abroad.”
Los Angeles, bodybuilding culture and studying muscle at college
He had admired American bodybuilding culture since beginning strength training at 17.
He also dreamed of appearing in Hollywood productions, so in 2006 he moved to Los Angeles.
He attended auditions and says he even passed some of them, but because he was staying on a student visa, he enrolled at Santa Monica College.
There he studied subjects such as exercise physiology, anatomy and nutrition.
Classes and textbooks were in English. He has recalled that, at first, reading a single textbook page could take around an hour.
He studied late into the night and woke early for school, eventually completing coursework that normally takes around two and a half years in about a year and a half. His official profile lists his graduating GPA as 3.34.
💡 He went on a “muscle study abroad” and came back smaller
College life in English demanded so much time and energy that he studied late into the night and returned to Japan leaner than before, prompting jokes about losing muscle during a muscle study trip. The education he gained in exercise physiology, anatomy and nutrition later became part of his fitness content and product development.
After returning to Japan, he resumed entertainment work while also taking bodybuilding competition more seriously.
After entering the Tokyo Novice Bodybuilding Championships from 2015 onward, he finally won the over-75 kg category in 2021.
The following year, he returned to Muscle Beach in Venice, California, a place he had admired since his teenage training years.
He won the Men’s Masters 40+ division at the Muscle Beach International Classic, marking another major milestone in his long relationship with bodybuilding.
Nakayama Kinnikun’s Workout Routine and Body Maintenance: Training 6–7 Days a Week for Nearly 30 Years
The heart of Nakayama Kinnikun’s lifestyle is his nearly three-decade training habit.
In a 2025 interview, he said that he still goes to the gym around six to seven times a week and performs roughly 90 minutes of weight training per session.
He generally divides his training by body part, working areas such as chest, back, legs, arms and shoulders on different days.
That structure allows him to train frequently while giving individual muscle groups time between sessions.
He even chooses different gym locations depending on the workout
In previous interviews, he has explained that different branches of a gym may have different machines, so he sometimes chooses a location according to the exercises he wants to perform that day.
He may cycle 20 to 30 minutes to the gym, using the journey as part of his physical preparation.
Once there, he may perform dynamic stretching before beginning his main weight-training session.
💡 “Chest day means this gym”
Nakayama Kinnikun considers the machines available and how well they suit his body, sometimes choosing a specific gym location based on the body part he plans to train. After decades of experience, he has learned which environments feel best for different sessions.
He values form, range of motion and movement speed alongside weight
On his official website, he has said that one of his most important training priorities is avoiding injury as much as possible.
His reason is simple.
He wants to keep training into his seventies and eighties.
For that reason, he pays attention to controlled form, range of motion, slower movement during the stretching phase of an exercise and brief pauses in the fully contracted position.
He also introduces small changes to his training rather than keeping every session exactly the same, while paying attention to how his body feels.
💡 His goal is to keep lifting in his seventies and eighties
At 48, Nakayama Kinnikun is already thinking decades ahead. Because he wants strength training to remain part of his life for the long term, technique and avoiding injury matter just as much as how much weight he can lift.
Why he has continued for nearly 30 years: small changes are still exciting
Since high school, one of the things he has enjoyed most is being able to notice progress.
A weight that did not move before starts moving.
A movement becomes more stable.
He understands a muscle better than he did before.
He sets one goal, works toward it, reaches it and then moves on to the next.
That pattern is one reason he describes strength training as a “textbook for life.”
The habits of setting goals, continuing steadily and appreciating small accomplishments have also influenced the way he approaches work and new challenges.
💡 For him, strength training is a “textbook for life”
Nearly 30 years of training have taught him more than exercise technique. He has also learned to set goals, notice small changes, complete one challenge and move on to another—and he says that mindset carries into his work as well.
For general audiences, he also emphasizes approachable ways to begin
Although his own routine is highly advanced and frequent, his YouTube content includes short home workouts, seated exercises and beginner-friendly routines.
His content ranges from serious muscle-building workouts to simple ways for people to begin moving their bodies.
Nakayama Kinnikun’s Diet and Protein: A 14-Year Breakfast Routine, 70% Structure and 30% Flexibility
Nakayama Kinnikun’s eating habits are just as consistent as his training.
In June 2026, he said that around 70% of his meals throughout the year are largely the same.
During preparation for a bodybuilding competition, that may rise to around 90–95%.
He also said that, with small variations, his breakfast has remained almost the same for around 14 years.
Breakfast: chicken breast, vegetables and fruit
A typical breakfast includes boiled chicken breast and vegetables.
His vegetables may include okra, bitter melon, asparagus and carrots, depending on the season, and he may also add fruit.
He has described seasoning the meal with salt and vinegars such as grape, blueberry or apple vinegar.
His official website has also listed foods such as chicken breast, okra, broccoli, tomatoes, bitter melon and asparagus among his regular choices.
💡 His breakfast has stayed almost the same for around 14 years
Nakayama Kinnikun has continued eating foods that fit his lifestyle for many years. In 2026, he said he had eaten his usual breakfast that very morning, showing just how established the routine has become.
He often eats about every three hours, and some days include five boiled eggs
In 2026, he also said that he often becomes hungry and may eat roughly every three hours.
He sometimes eats boiled eggs after breakfast, with the total reaching around five eggs in a day.
Lunch may include foods such as salmon sashimi, natto and mekabu seaweed.
He also includes foods such as rice and soba, combining chicken, fish, eggs and soy-based foods across his meals.
About 70% is structured, while the remaining 30% leaves room for enjoyment
While around 70% of his yearly diet follows his regular pattern, the remaining portion may include eating out, food he receives from others, pasta, fried chicken or tonkatsu.
He keeps a strong everyday structure while still making room to enjoy food with other people and eat things he likes.
That flexibility is one of the more interesting parts of a diet he has been able to continue over the long term.
The man who develops protein products still puts food first
Nakayama Kinnikun has developed his own protein products.
Yet in interviews, he has also emphasized thinking first about whether supplementation is actually needed.
His foundation is everyday food.
Protein powder is then one option to use according to his own eating pattern and goals.
💡 Even though he develops protein products, his starting point is still food
Nakayama Kinnikun has used protein for many years, but his dietary foundation remains regular meals. His approach is to look at his overall diet and lifestyle first, then use supplements when appropriate for his own needs.
His training volume, muscle mass and competitive goals are very different from those of most people.
His chicken portions, number of eggs, meal frequency and protein intake are best understood as habits tailored to his own bodybuilding lifestyle.
Sleep, Recovery and Daily Rhythm: How Training, Food and Rest Fit Together
Nakayama Kinnikun has long viewed training, food and recovery as connected parts of the same lifestyle.
His physical routine includes not only what happens in the gym, but also what he eats, when he rests and how he structures the rest of the day.
One published schedule showed midnight to 7 a.m. sleep
A daily schedule published in 2024 showed him sleeping from around midnight until 7 a.m.
After waking, he had food and protein, took a walk and joined staff meetings in the morning.
He then moved into around two hours of training, followed by lunch, YouTube filming and editing, product meetings, television recording, interviews, online fitness work, wardrobe fittings and other commitments before returning home at around 10 p.m. and going to bed around midnight.
Since becoming independent, training now sits alongside production work, business meetings and product development within the same day.
Five simple daily habits he values today
In a 2025 interview, he listed five simple habits he tries to keep in daily life: chewing thoroughly, keeping the body warm, sleeping well, exercising and managing stress.
After nearly 30 years of training and formal study in exercise physiology, anatomy and nutrition, many of the habits he now emphasizes are basic ones that can be repeated every day.
Advanced weight training sits alongside ordinary routines involving food, sleep, movement and emotional wellbeing.
Short sleep during his U.S. study years gave way to a stronger focus on recovery
During his time in the United States, there were periods when he studied until around 3 a.m. and woke at 6 a.m. for school.
He later recalled that his body became smaller while so much of his energy went into studying.
Today, rest is treated as one part of a long-term training lifestyle alongside exercise and food.
His unusual stress-relief habit: watching old videos of himself
One of his more unusual recent relaxation habits involves watching his own YouTube videos from two or three years earlier.
He may remember the title but not exactly what he said in the video.
So he watches while guessing what his past self is going to say next or when a familiar joke is about to appear.
When his prediction turns out to be right, he says it gives him a small sense of satisfaction.
It is a wonderfully specific way of turning his own past content into a kind of personal quiz.
Even during a quiet period in his career, training gave structure to the day
After returning from Los Angeles, he went through a period when his body was smaller than before and his entertainment work declined sharply.
He has joked that one Golden Week gave him 17 consecutive days off.
He still continued training.
Being able to end the day thinking, “I did my training today,” gave him a sense of having completed something for himself.
💡 Even during a 17-day Golden Week break, training remained part of his routine
When work became scarce after his return to Japan, strength training still gave structure to his days. Finishing a session gave him a sense that he had done something meaningful for himself.
Experiences like this also help explain why he describes strength training as a textbook for life.
Training has become a source of routine, personal commitment and momentum for future challenges.
Nakayama Kinnikun’s Skincare and Sun Care: Lotion, Moisturizer and UV Protection
Although muscle and diet receive most of the attention, Nakayama Kinnikun has also spoken about how he cares for his skin.
His approach focuses on simple daily care around dryness, sun exposure and friction.
In 2021, he said that he used facial lotion after washing his face and also used hats and UV cream during the summer.
In a 2025 interview, he also mentioned using basic skincare such as lotion and moisturizer.
Like his food and exercise habits, skincare is something he has integrated into everyday life in a straightforward way.
Could years of shouting “Power!” have trained his facial expressions too?
A 2025 Tarzan interview also included a very Nakayama Kinnikun-style conversation about how expressive his face is.
For decades, his comedy has involved exaggerated facial expressions alongside shouts such as “Power!” and “Ha!”
He jokingly reflected that perhaps he had simply spent many years using his facial muscles a lot.
He did not present it as a beauty technique—it is simply a funny connection between his long-running comedy style and his expressive face.
Daily UV protection and bodybuilding tanning serve different purposes
In ordinary life, he has said that he uses hats and UV cream.
For bodybuilding competition, however, he may tan his skin as part of stage preparation so that muscular definition and contours appear more clearly under competition lighting.
His skincare therefore changes according to context, with everyday sun protection serving a different purpose from competition preparation.
💡 The tank-top image is strong, but he still uses UV care in everyday life
Nakayama Kinnikun is famous for showing a lot of skin, yet he has also talked about using hats and UV cream in daily life. Competition tanning and everyday skincare are treated as separate parts of his routine.
For Nakayama Kinnikun, the body itself is part of both his work and competition presentation.
Muscle size, silhouette, posing and skin appearance all contribute to how that physique is presented, making skincare another part of his broader approach to physical condition.
Nakayama Kinnikun Today: Independence, YouTube, Product Development and Health Outreach
At the end of 2021, Nakayama Kinnikun left Yoshimoto Kogyo after many years and began working independently.
Since then, he has expanded the “muscle” theme that defined his career into a much broader personal platform.
On his YouTube channel, “The Kinnikun TV,” he shares everything from serious weight-training content to short beginner-friendly exercises.
According to his official profile, he even attended editing classes to learn more about video production and has been involved in planning, filming and editing his own content.
He has also used his years of training, food habits and academic study to develop protein and food products that reflect what he personally wants to consume.
His activities have expanded further into online fitness and apparel.
In fiscal 2025, he also took part in a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare health campaign
In fiscal 2025, Nakayama Kinnikun served as an official ambassador for Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Smart Life Project.”
The project promotes information around everyday health habits including exercise, diet, sleep, smoking cessation and health checkups.
A muscle character that began in comedy eventually grew into decades of training and public communication that also connected with national health-promotion activities.
His muscle obsession even became the premise of a television drama
Since 2023, he has starred in the drama series Kintore Salaryman Nakayama Kintaro.
He plays office worker Kintaro Nakayama, a man who thinks constantly about training and struggles to secure time for the gym around his job.
The irony is that filming the drama itself sometimes made it difficult for Nakayama Kinnikun to follow his usual training and meal schedule.
He has said that the frustration he genuinely felt during production helped him connect with his character’s feelings.
He also adjusted his physique for the series so that his muscular silhouette would still read clearly beneath a business suit.
💡 He used the frustration of missing workouts as acting material
In Kintore Salaryman Nakayama Kintaro, the character struggles to balance work and training. Nakayama Kinnikun experienced something very similar during filming and used that real frustration to inform the performance.
A high school workout habit eventually became a life’s work
The strength training he began in his final year of high school became the characteristic that helped people remember him as a comedian.
It later became the reason he studied in the United States, a goal in bodybuilding competition, a subject for YouTube and the foundation for products and fitness services.
As of 2026, he continues to train frequently while also structuring his food, recovery, skincare and work around the lifestyle he has built over decades.
The central theme running through Nakayama Kinnikun’s fitness and wellness habits is the strength of continuing what can be sustained.
He has kept a similar breakfast for around 14 years and trained for nearly 30, yet he still enjoys small improvements and new goals.
He is already thinking about continuing strength training into his seventies and eighties.
That ability to take muscle and expand it into comedy, education, competition, food, recovery, skincare, business and public health communication is what makes Nakayama Kinnikun’s story so much more interesting than a simple fitness routine.
References
・Nakayama Kinnikun Official Website | Profile, U.S. Study and Competition History
・Newsweek Japan | Current Training, Consistency and Life Philosophy
・Nakayama Kinnikun Official Website | Training Form and Injury-Avoidance Approach
・Nikkan Sports | 2026 Diet and His Long-Term Breakfast Routine
・ViVi | Diet, Protein and Training
・Nakayama Kinnikun Official Website | Daily Foods, Chicken Breast and Vegetables
・Tarzan Web | Food, Exercise, Sleep, Stress Management and Skincare
・Earth Corporation | Daily Skin Care, Dryness, Sun Exposure and Friction
・FineToday | Facial Lotion, Hats and UV Care
・Bunshun Online | Los Angeles Study and Santa Monica College
・Bunshun Online | Career Challenges After Returning to Japan
・Daily Sports | Daily Schedule, Sleep and Training
・Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare | FY2025 Smart Life Project Official Ambassador
・Yomiuri TV | Kintore Salaryman Nakayama Kintaro and Role Preparation
・TV LIFE | Filming and Training Schedule
・ORICON NEWS | Muscle Beach International Classic Win
・Yoshimoto Kogyo | End of Management Contract in 2021
・Nakayama Kinnikun Official Website | Current Activities, Food and Apparel
