When thinking about martial arts, most people associate it with self-defense and Bruce Lee movies. This might be true, but at the same time, martial arts can also help lose weight. You just have to know what types of martial arts are more suitable for you, how often do you want to practice, and how much effort you’re willing to put in.
Martial arts focus on different types of techniques that raise your heartbeat and warm up your body. As a result, your body responds by sweating and burning more calories. Do this frequently enough and you’ll see fat layers melting in just a couple of weeks or months. Here is how the process works.
Burn a Lot of Calories with Cardio Exercises
Cardio exercises work by making the heart beat faster. Your legs feature some of the largest muscle groups in the body. Working them puts a high demand on the heart as it needs to pump blood faster to deliver oxygen and nutrients to these muscles. Cardio exercises such as jumping, running, or swimming also bring a lot of heat to the body and this will help you burn more calories. Burning just several hundred more calories every week can have a profound effect on your waistline later on.
Increase Metabolism with Strength and Conditioning
On top of cardio exercises, a lot of martial arts also incorporate strength and conditioning routines. This involves exercises that increase muscle mass and explosive power. Such exercises will definitely ramp up your metabolism and make you lose more fat. A few strength and conditioning sessions per week can help you burn hundreds more calories and the results will be visible in just a few weeks.
Also, keep in mind that the body of a woman develops differently than the one of a man. Therefore, if you’re a woman, strength and conditioning will not make you excessively muscular and have broad shoulders. It will tone your body and add definition to make you look more attractive.
Increase Muscle Mass to Stay Lean
As mentioned earlier, different types of martial arts emphasize strength and conditioning to build muscle mass and tone the body. Although you’ll not look like a professional bodybuilder, you will definitely see some impressive results next time you look in the mirror. Best of all, more muscle mass naturally burns more calories.
This is the advantage of having a more muscular body and staying lean. Your muscles need more nutrients for self-preservation and this means that you will burn more calories even when you’re sedentary. Therefore, practicing mixed martial arts can go a long way when it comes to helping you lose weight and achieve your ideal body.
At Corporate Krav Maga, we go the extra mile to help our clients become more confident, learn proven self-defense techniques, and even lose extra fat through physical training. Different types of martial arts can help you burn more calories and this means that you’ll get rid of unnecessary layers of fat quickly. Contact one of our instructors today to learn more about the benefits of martial arts for people of all ages.
