Some Reasons for Considering Martial Arts as the Best Workout

Many people start their fitness routines from some traditional workouts like running, swimming, spinning, weightlifting, or gym class, but they fail to continue because after some time they lose interest in these workouts. They struggle to find something that can engage them with their exercise routine. If that’s the case with you, you should step into a martial arts gym. In martial arts training, you will be able to find something that strikes your fancy. Many people wrongly believe that martial arts are only useful for combat and self-defense and don’t consider its fitness benefits. From strength training to cardio, martial arts training offers you a variety of ways to get in better shape all while breaking from the mundane and gaining self-defense skills in the process. Embarking on your martial arts adventure, besides teaching you how to calmly yet sternly defend yourself, will help you in fitness, fat loss, muscle toning, and just about in everything else.

There are more martial arts disciplines than you can name but we will discuss here a few popular ones with their fitness strengths.

Karate:

Karate is a Japanese word meaning “empty hands”. It is the most common and widely practiced martial art. Karate involves kicking, striking, and defensive blocking with arms and legs. You use hands, ball of the foot, heel, forearm, knee, and elbow while striking and defending in karate. All these parts are toughened by practice blows against padded surfaces or wood. Hence, Karate is a great way to tone and strengthen the upper body.

Tae kwon do:

Tae kwon do is one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts which is closely related to karate, but focuses more on the legs and kicking, and less on the hands and upper body. As it involves kicks and striking above waist height only, it is certainly good for strengthening and toning the lower body. Today, Tae kwon do has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation and stands among the official games in the Olympics.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu:

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a gentle art based mainly on grappling and ground fighting, focusing on the skill of controlling and submitting his or her opponent. It’s an art that teaches how to how to escape from an inferior position into a dominant one to dominate against a bigger opponent. You use throws, takedowns, joint locks, chokes, and refined core body movement to take down your opponent. The sport is continuously growing in popularity and it is a great exercise, useful for self-defense, and an awesome way to challenge and enhance your fitness. You can avail of all these advantages of jiu-jitsu when you have jiu-jitsu Gis to join this martial art. You can also get your child registered in BJJ class after outfitting him/her in proper Gi.

Here are a few reasons why people choose martial arts as their vehicle for health and wellness.

An effective full-body workout:

Martial arts are full-body intense workouts because you simultaneously use your arms and legs in their training. Full-body workouts help you lose weight very rapidly. Hence, practicing martial arts help you tone your upper as well as the lower body more quickly than the traditional workouts.

Make you flexible and agile:

Martial arts moves like flying kicks and double kicks make you very flexible and agile. These practices also improve your balance as when using the lower body you stand on one leg and properly execute a front kick. Furthermore, lifting, and moving another person requires muscle strength. Defending and striking the opponent improve speed and power, so each time you go to class you will be improving each of these areas.

Teach proper posture:

As most of us have a job of sitting at a desk all day long, hunching over a monitor. Obviously, this isn’t good and can eventually lead to symptoms such as shoulder, back, and neck pain. Practicing martial arts will teach you a good posture. Right posture is beneficial for your health and can help to counter the damage caused by sitting down for over eight hours a day, five days a week.

Improve your mental health:

Besides physical benefits and teaching defensive skills, martial arts can improve cognitive and emotional health. As you learn self-defense moves, martial arts can give you greater self-confidence, reduce stress, kill your depression, and help you to concentrate and focus. Martial arts provide a safe outlet for relieving stress and anxiety without hurting anyone but a heavy bag.

The Bottom Line:

All the traditional and non-conventional workouts have some benefits for your physical and mental health but martial arts is capable of giving you a toned body that is beach-ready more quickly. From Karate to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to Tae kwon do, there’s no doubt that martial arts have a great variety to save you from getting bored from your fitness routine.