If it’s not yet pretty obvious how martial arts improves your health and wellbeing, here are ten helpful reminders - and might just be the push you need to take up a class now!
Improved respiratory health
If you think H.I.I.T (High-Intensity Interval Training) makes it hard to catch your breath, wait till you try martial arts training. Regardless of the type of class you take, martial arts improves your oxygen consumption which contributes to better blood pressure and heart rate.
An hour of a session can burn up to 500 calories which is why it’s great for weight loss and improves fitness.
Low Blood Pressure and Heart Rate
Studies have shown that martial artists have lower blood pressure and heart rate.
Different techniques and especially sparring sessions improve the cardiovascular system. As the body requires more oxygen, these activities strengthen the heart, which then results in lower blood pressure and slower heart rate.
Muscles Building
Martial art is a high-aerobic workout that uses every muscle group in your body. It can increase muscle mass and build muscle tone.
Muscle mass and metabolism are associated with each other, which means that you can burn more calories even while at rest!
Strength and Power
As martial arts builds muscles, it improves a person’s strength and power.
One of the main goals of martial arts training is to make your attack more powerful. This can increase your body strength over time.
Flexibility
Dodging, high kicks and other repetitive movements will require you to stretch and extend yourself, therefore flexibility and dexterity help you from incurring injuries.
Flexibility also improves your posture and balance, reduces muscle pain and tension, and even positively impacts your state of mind.
Weight Loss
Losing weight can be a tricky task, but with martial arts, you get to enjoy training while having the benefit of reducing weight by burning calories even when the body is at rest.
It is a great form of exercise regardless of your age or gender. The amount of energy you release from training can be similar to the amount of energy you release during H.I.I.T. Practicing at least 2-3 times per week can be a great start to reduce body fat and burn calories.
Reflex and Coordination
Our reflexes and coordination play a big role in our daily tasks. Through martial arts training, we enhance our coordination and move more freely and efficiently every day by practicing coordination drills. We also improve our movements through sparring which trains us to a faster reflex and better body coordination.
Better Mood
There’s nothing better than waking up in a good mood and going home after training feeling all productive and relaxed.
Martial arts training improves our mood by releasing endorphins that will trigger a positive feeling in our body. The endorphins released during the exercise will last up to 4 hours after you train.
Stress relief
As martial arts activates your body to release endorphins, it also relieves our stress and helps us to be more focused. Being more focused and confident allows us to clear our thoughts and remove the stressors away from our minds.
Mental Health
Overall, there’s no reason for you to dislike martial arts. With all the benefits it comes along when training, martial arts will leave you more mentally focused and healthy.
Understanding your purpose and the values it teaches you will make you appreciate the better things in life and what the world has to offer. As you work your way to the black belt, you won’t only earn good mental and physical health but will also boost your confidence.
Now that you’ve read the benefits of martial arts to your health, make the decision and start to change your life for the better!