Archive for March, 2010
Martial Arts and Weight Loss
March 19th, 2010 >> Weight Loss
Perhaps one of the more rewarding aspects of martial arts such as BJJ (Brazilian Jujitsu) or Karate is not only the ability to have more graceful form of self-defense, but it also allows you to lose weight without boring yourself to death with weights. You see, martial arts conditions you not only to be strong, but also versatile with your movements…hence it can lead to weight loss due to it’s cardiovascular training regime.
You see, calories are your fuel to do everyday activities. When you do a lot of work, you use up more energy in order to properly exert the workload; if you don’t but continuously pump yourself with calories, you’ll end up storing them in your body, which then leads to fat. Fortunately enough, there are two ways you can burn fat:
- It Burns Fat. Exercise is heavy work and it can sometimes push you way beyond your limit, causing your body to feed you with all the energy it has in order to execute your exercises. Naturally this would cause any excess calories to be burned, thus causing you to lose weight.
- It Uses Up More Calories. Growing muscles isn’t simply there for show. While you will eventually grow stronger as you continue your workout routine, this also means that it takes up more energy to use your muscles. The larger the muscles, the more energy it takes to fully use them. So in essence the more you build up muscle, the less likely it is for you to gain weight.
All martial arts have conditioning in their diet. This means that it will punish your body into a proper shape that allows it to flex without much difficulty. And thanks to its competitive yet cooperative nature, you’ll be driven to improve while having fun!
Martial Arts vs. Other Sports
So you might be asking, what makes martial arts so different from other sports like baseball or swimming? Easy, the fact that it’s an incredibly draining form of sport that you can play that uses both your brain and your brawn in order to succeed. It’s also an applicable form of self-defense, so you won’t only be getting fit, but you’ll also be learning how to defend yourself!
Although each martial art has specialties, the sparring element is common practice. It’s so you could apply everything you’ve learned against a fellow student so you can be more effective in the art and build a sweat in the process. It’s not about losing or winning a sparring match that really matters, all that matters is that it teaches you how to effectively use your strength with your brains.
Another perk that makes martial arts fun is that like team sports, it encourages you to push harder without having to alienate your fellow students in your growth. Communication is not only integral in learning how to better move your body, but it helps you not give up on the whole thing.
The important thing is to see the whole thing as proving ground instead of another exercise routine. If you’re having fun, it’s hardly exercise!