Not Poverty, But 'Ultimate Cutting Phase': Fitness Diagnosis Rebranding Financial Hardship as Positive Booms

An app appears that rates malnutrition as “dry conditioning” and shivering without heating as a “metabolism boost”. Claiming “We aren’t poor, we’re just shredded,” debtors have started queuing at the tax office in bodybuilder poses.

At the center of this bizarre social phenomenon is the healthcare app “Ultimate Dry,” released this month. AI analyzes the user’s bank account balance and the contents of their refrigerator, scoring the degree of financial hardship as “physical conditioning.” If the balance drops below 1,000 yen, it declares “Entering Extreme Cutting Phase,” and if the meal consists only of bean sprouts, it praises it as “100% Pure Vegan Loading,” with fanfares ringing on the screen.

The CEO of “Muscle Economics,” the venture company that developed it, says, “Modern poverty, if you change your perspective, is a simulation of the ‘starvation state’ that only elite bodybuilders can reach.” He passionately explained his philosophy: “People who hesitated to apply for welfare until now can maintain their self-esteem by using this app, thinking ‘I’m just in adjustment right before a competition.’ Hunger is not pain; it is a sculpting tool to carve out muscle striations.”

The app’s influence is spreading to the real world. At tax offices in Tokyo, there has been a surge in cases where citizens visiting for tax payment consultations take off their clothes at the counter and strike a “side chest” pose. They show off their emaciated ribs, claiming, “Look at this vascularity. I’m so shredded I don’t have the leeway to pay taxes.” The responding staff are bewildered, saying, “Certainly, the body fat percentage is astonishingly low, but the ability to pay taxes is equally low. Please don’t try to gloss it over with posing.”

Meanwhile, households whose electricity has been cut off call shivering in the dark the “Non-Electric Vibration Method” and share it on SNS as the latest method to train deep muscles. Posts saying “Thanks to no heating, I can hear the sound of brown adipose tissue activating” receive tens of thousands of “likes” and shouts of encouragement like “Nice bulk (mentally)!” and “You’re ripped (the lifeline is)!”

Experts analyze this phenomenon as the “extreme north of collective cognitive restructuring.” Social psychologist Karen Shinonome points out, “By replacing the fear threatening survival with ‘fitness achievement,’ they are preventing mental collapse. This is a kind of ‘psychological doping,’ but ironically, it can also be said to be the ultimate form of ‘self-help’ promoted by the government.” In fact, some politicians are even showing moves to use this as a tailwind for reducing social security costs, claiming “The people’s health consciousness and hungry spirit have increased.”

The boom continues to heat up, but physical limits are surely approaching. Within the app, “fictional protein (image only)” is selling like hotcakes as a paid item, and there is no end to users prioritizing digital fullness over real nutritional intake. Concerns are endless that their shredded bodies will end up posing not at a contest venue but in a hospital bed.

Stakeholder Comments

• Muscle Economics CEO: “No money? That is synonymous with ’no fat.’ Be proud.”
• Defaulter A (Male in 40s): “The night the electricity was stopped, I became the true ‘King of Darkness.’ The fridge stopped too, but there was no food to cool in the first place.”
• Tax Office Staff: “Please stop doing the ‘Most Muscular’ at the counter. Sweat is dripping on the documents.”
• Bodybuilding Federation PR: “Being shredded without muscle is just being skinny. It is regrettable to be lumped together, but we acknowledge the mental toughness.”
• Supermarket Clerk: “Please stop calling the discounted deli section the ‘Stage’ and posing while fighting over items.”
• Nutritionist: “Please, eat something. You cannot build muscle with air and pride.”
• Politician: “The slimming down through the ‘self-help efforts’ of the people is very reliable. We want to slim down the pension in this manner as well.”
• Electric Power Company PR: “Stopping power transmission is not part of training. We are waiting for your payment.”
• App AI: “Warning: Balance has reached zero. Congratulations! You have been promoted to ‘Nirvana Class’!”
• Stomach: “I don’t get it.”

International Expressions

Haiku

• Cold wind blows / On body without fat / Definition shows
• Reminder letter / Opening it ignites / Fighting spirit
• Skipping meals / Abs become defined / Dark night
• Lifeline stops / Resounding in the silence / Trembling with excitement
• Conditioning is / Best ever recorded / pretending to be tough
• At tax office / Striking a pose but / Have no money
• Hunger pangs / Calling it a cut / Waiting for spring
• Bank balance / Zero shines brightly / Before contest
• At the window / Self-help muscles / Showing them off
• Shivering stops / When life’s candle light / Disappears

Kanji / Chinese Characters

• Poverty Denied, Cutting Phase
• Lack of Money Equals Physical Beauty
• Hunger Is Sculpting Knife
• Defaulter Shows Off Ribs
• Many Strange Poses in Tax Office
• No Heating, Shivering, Metabolism Increases
• Psychological Drug Spreads
• National Total Slimming

Emoji

📉💰➡️💪🏆 ❄️🏠🥶➡️🔥🏋️‍♂️ 🧾❌➡️😤✨ 🍽️🚫➡️🥗👼 🏦🛑➡️🤸‍♂️👮‍♂️

Onomatopoeia

• Skinny, Ripped.
• Brrr (cold), Burning (heart’s fire).
• Ping♪ (reminder email), Silence…
• Smug (pose), Scrawny…
• Grumble (stomach sound), Flash! (eye power).

SNS

• #UltimateDryLife
• #TaxOfficeChampionship2026
• #Ripped (Electricity is cut)
• #Huge (Debt is)
• #WantToConnectWithShreddedPeople
• #ForcedCuttingPhase
• #BeanSproutsAreSteroids
• #SurvivalInstinctMAX
• #SelfHelpMuscle
• #PovertyNoCut