Yes, I am a professional fitness trainer and I absolutely endorse Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru? because...

The first thing I noticed about Nan Kilo as a fitness professional was the accuracy of not only the girls’ life situations, but the explanation of exercises and proper form. Personal trainer Machio has a special section in each episode where he explains how and why we do an exercise a certain way and even pinpoints things to remember and offers modifications for the more difficult moves. I can tell you for a fact that Machio knows his stuff! As opposed to exercise loli-ecchi Anitore, the exercises are modern—unlike the dated Jane Fonda moves the little girls use in Anitore—and the information is accurate and based on recent findings—again, unlike Anitore.

Nothing against Anitore but that show is mainly aimed towards lolicons who should probably get in shape for their health’s sake but the ecchiness makes it so that women will likely not be interested in it (not that they should be, the exercises there are so light, they’d hardly have any impact) and the guys watching it have a million things on their mind that are NOT exercising by the time the short episodes are over. Dumbell Nan Kilo Moteru?, however, isn’t all about awkward ecchi poses, panting, and moaning. Nan Kilo uses sexiness and ecchi in a tasteful way, focuses more on learning exercises, form, and about fitness, and has both fit and attractive males as well as females! Men may watch it and learn because of the pretty girls working out, but women will enjoy learning all the moves from these girls they identify with and Machio IS pretty adorable… most of the time.

Nan Kilo is a full 24 minutes long, which is wonderful and shows how interested the creators were about having enough time to properly present each exercise and wellness tip of the week. What’s so wonderful about it, besides de technical accuracy, is that it presents realistic high school characters with realistic lifestyles and concerns. Many of us have thought and said many of the things the characters do when trying to figure out where that extra fluff came from and they react just as we would when learning about the work and sacrifices that go into becoming healthier and more fit.

While some of the girls’ motivation may be a bit questionable—Sakura wants a boyfriend and her friend Ayaka tells her she’ll never get one if she keeps gaining weight—, watching their process of discovery is a treat and it shows that we are not alone in our journey to a better version of ourselves. Besides, truly understanding how diet and exercise work and affect our body composition is the first step towards a fitter lifestyle. Nan Kilo has all the basics I usually cover with my clients and it speaks our otaku language! And the fact that it’s in anime form and speaks otaku is the… cherry on top! (cherries are healthier than frosting…)

Each episode showcases at least one exercise which is then reinforced at the end. Sometimes, Machio will even give us a bonus move! After the credits, it’s the audience’s turn to try. Machio and the girls model a full set of however many repetitions are recommended and they even count with you! If you were to start doing each exercise 3 times per week as the series progresses and were to add each new exercise each week, by the end, it’s likely you’ll have a nice full-body workout to help you look even better in your next cosplay.