Everyone knows the importance of staying in shape, both for your mental and physical well-being. Unfortunately, it may be challenging for some to choose the type of physical activity they can do regularly.
If you can’t decide yet or if you’ve found your current workout routine to be a little repetitive, you may want to look into martial arts. Indeed, practicing martial arts is becoming an increasingly popular way of incorporating physical activity nowadays. One of the reasons for this is that self-defense classes are often taught in a fun and highly engaging manner. As such, it’s easier for people to become motivated to continue and turn their martial arts practice into a healthy habit.
Maybe you’ve seen some friends posting pictures of their Brazilian jiu jitsu Philippines classes on social media, or come across a local gym that is teaching arnis and your interest is piqued. Considering that martial arts present a holistic path to improving your physical health, it’s a good idea to pursue either one. If you need a little more convincing, here are some more reasons why picking up martial arts skills can do your body a lot of good:
It Improves Cardiovascular Health
Learning martial arts is an intensely physical activity, and you will need to undergo regular, rigorous training in order to raise your skill level. In this case, training means doing a lot of cardio or aerobic exercises, which is the most important part of any fitness routine. This type of exercise will get your heart pumping, prompting your lungs to take in more oxygen and blood to circulate quickly throughout your body.
During aerobic exercise, the body is also able to transform stored carbs, proteins, and fat into energy. Moreover, this kind of physical activity can build up your strength and stamina, lower your resting heart rate, increase the amount of good cholesterol in the body, and clear your arteries. Perhaps most importantly, it can reduce your risk for many types of diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke.
It Increases Flexibility and Agility
Flexibility is an important component of physical fitness. Being able to perform a wide range of motion can help you avoid injuries and body pain. It can also improve your posture and balance, increase your strength, as well as enable you to move your body with a greater level of freedom. Fortunately, learning martial arts can help you attain a greater level of flexibility. This is done by carrying out stretching as part of your training. There are also movements like high kicks and deep lunges that will help you build up your flexibility. As you become more flexible, you’ll get better at executing these movements.
Agility is another component of physical fitness that martial arts can help enhance. Agility refers to the ability to move your body quickly and easily and regularly practicing martial arts can greatly reduce your reaction time. It can also positively affect your overall athletic ability, as well as improve how effectively and efficiently you can move while carrying out everyday tasks.
It Helps with Weight Management
As mentioned before, engaging in physical activities such as practicing martial arts can help your body burn calories. This is an especially helpful benefit if you’re aiming to control your weight. Performing a variety of physical activities is a regular part of your martial arts training, and it can increase the number of calories that you burn in a day. Paired with reducing your calorie intake, this can lead to weight loss. At the same time, exercising regularly and adopting healthier eating habits can help you build more muscle mass and increase your strength level.
It Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety
On top of engaging the body, practicing martial arts also focuses on training the mind and being in control of one’s emotions. To gain mastery of a particular movement, you must develop a deeper awareness of your body and the way you move. Training to attain this skill can make you feel more connected with your body and more aware of how your daily experiences affect and change you. In many ways, this can teach you how to live more mindfully and be more intentional with your actions.
Learning how to stay on top of your emotions, even during high-pressure situations, is also an important aspect of martial arts training. The techniques that you can pick up, such as managing your emotions, focusing your mind, and maintaining your calm during training sessions can be used in highly stressful situations outside your gym.
Start Your Journey to Better Health through Martial Arts
Martial arts communities are often portrayed as exclusive or secretive organizations in old movies, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth in real life. While there might be schools that are tight-lipped about their techniques, many other martial arts communities are actively promoting their discipline to the public. As such, you won’t have a hard time finding a welcoming gym where you can learn martial arts skills and enjoy its health benefits. Now is as good a time as any to see if there are instructors and classes near your location that teach the martial arts you are interested in.
