If you are tired of the monotonous weightlifting regimen you’ve been following, or just looking for something to liven up your fitness routine, adding a kickboxing class to your schedule will have plenty of benefits for your health and well-being. Kickboxing combines rigorous martial arts combat with high-intensity cardio, meaning that adding one or two kickboxing classes to your week will work out your entire body and get you in shape in no time. Whether you are a fitness novice or a trained gym-rat, kickboxing will leave you feeling re-energized and ready for whatever life throws at you next. Here are five of the many benefits that a weekly kickboxing class can give you.
- Improved Coordination: Kickboxing can help to strengthen your core if you have poor balance and coordination, as well as improve your reflexes. The quick punches and kicks used in a kickboxing class will require you to focus your energy and weight to certain body parts, allowing you to maintain balance while executing the moves successfully. While stretching is important before and after any physical activity, it is especially critical for your success in kickboxing. The flexibility built between both the stretching and actual act of kickboxing will yield numerous benefits for your physical help, as well as making you less prone to injury.
- Burn Calories Quickly: Kickboxing, on average, can burn 800 calories an hour. The intense workout will also be leaving your body toned and increasing your metabolism. As a whole, kickboxing will help you to lose weight and get you in shape quickly. Between sparring, punching and kicking the weight bag, and the various cardiovascular exercises incorporated into a kickboxing class, kickboxing will help keep your body in shape, and the increased metabolism will allow you to shed off extra calories even when you’re not kickboxing.
- Ideal for Cross-Training: If you need a break from your typical cardio routine, such as running on the treadmill or playing pick-up basketball, kickboxing is a great substitute for your cross-training needs. You can even add resistance by using ankle or wrist weights, as well as boxing gloves. People who only lift weights don’t typically have the best cardio, and those who only do cardio won’t be the strongest around, but a kickboxing class’s combination of lightweight resistance and intense cardio will allow you to increase both aspects of fitness quickly.
- Great Cardiovascular Exercise: As mentioned earlier, kickboxing is one of the best cardiovascular exercises for both aerobic and anaerobic training. In simpler terms, kickboxing works wonders to make both your heart and lungs stronger. All the jumping rope, circuit training, and sprinting that is often involved in a kickboxing class (as well as the actual combat) improves your heart health. Having a healthy heart is important to lower your risk of high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. Stronger lungs give you the increased ability to store and process oxygen throughout your body, meaning that your muscles will work harder for longer and increase your physical performance.
- Relieve Stress: Let’s face it, there are many things in this life that can get us stressed out, and as important as it is to have good physical health, having good mental health is just as critical to your success. While you may think that the stress relief comes from hitting a 250-pound bag, which is admittedly very enjoyable, kickboxing’s ability to relieve stress is due to the heightened intensity of the workout, which releases dopamine and serotonin to your brain. These are the chemicals associated with happiness and positivity in the brain, meaning that kickboxing can help both how you look and how you feel.
There are many more benefits to kickboxing than just the five listed above, but overall, trying kickboxing at least once is a must, regardless of your experience in fitness. Between helping you look in tip-top shape, improving how your heart and lungs transport blood and oxygen throughout your body, and even keeping your mental state in a good place, you’ll quickly become hooked to kickboxing once you start.
If you are looking for great kickboxing training, look no further than any Premier Martial Arts studio, we have over 100 locations across the country, from Knoxville, TN. to Aurora, CO. from Dover, DE. to Sanford, FL. and everywhere in between.
