27 Apr TWELVE BENEFITS OF KICKBOXING

Benefit 1: Learn How To Defend Yourself

Nobody wants to be bullied in school, or even worse, in adulthood and nobody wants to be robbed in the street.  Nobody also wants to be confronted in a dark alleyway without the means to defend themselves.  Kickboxing is a very versatile martial art that teaches you many basics, especially when it comes to striking with your hands and legs.  Having the ability to protect yourself is a valuable asset and it’s empowering to know that if you were in a dangerous situation, you have the knowledge to help get yourself out of it safely.

Benefit 2: It Is A Social Activity

One of the best parts about kickboxing is that it allows you to meet new people and be a part of a group and a team.

Joining a kickboxing class is not only a great way to stay in shape and learn how to defend yourself, but it is a great way to meet people and make new friends.  There will be many different age groups and cultures in the group, but due to the diversity of the different groups, there is always someone whom you can relate to.

This is especially important for children because there is no better time to make friends than when they are young.  Having friends can be pretty important in life in terms of building a social network.

Benefit 3: Building Stronger Muscles – A Full Body Workout

There is a lot more than just striking when you engage in martial arts like kickboxing. Training for this fantastic martial art means doing many different exercises, like sit ups, push ups, body strength exercises, using skipping ropes and so much more. Kickboxing allows you to become strong very quickly.  All of that striking that you do with your legs and your hands definitely uses your muscles.

Kickboxing is great because the sport itself plus all of the training that you do for it will strengthen, condition and tone up your body.

Kickboxing is especially beneficial for your arms, legs and core, but it is also great for all of your other muscles too. Not only will your muscles be stronger, but they will also be more toned as well, giving you good muscle definition.

Benefit 4: Relieving Stress & Rage

Kickboxing is a great way to relieve anger and stress. Life can be pretty stressful, not to mention that daily events can cause a whole lot of anxiety and depression, but not to worry because those are all things that kickboxing can take care of with ease.  Hitting and kicking a punching bag has now proved to be quite helpful in meeting anger and stress.   What’s more, this technique is far better and a much healthier way to deal with your anger, because, at the end of the day, it’s a form of exercise. So yes, you get to combine physical and mental stress and get rid of it in a healthy way.  Feelings of happiness and relaxation are a big part of exercising on a regular basis.

Benefit 5: Increasing Your Flexibility & Balance

Building flexibility over time is great because it helps you avoid injuries in your everyday life. Another really great thing that kickboxing can do for you is to help increase your flexibility and it is not only what you do during the training, but what you also do before and after the training.   Stretching is very important and it makes you more limber not only for your next kickboxing class, but it also helps keep you flexible in general.

Being more flexible is good for other things too, such as being a better fighter in kickboxing.  There is also the fact that being more flexible also leads to better balance so you are more likely to prevent slips and falls and injuries if you have better balance.

Benefit 6: Kickboxing Is A Great Cardiovascular Exercise – Aerobic & Anaerobic

Yet another fantastic benefit that comes along with practicing kickboxing is that it is a great form of aerobic and anaerobic exercise.  This benefit is true for the act of kickboxing itself, such as when you punch a weighted bag, when you spar with a partner and when you engage in a real kickboxing competition.

All of those things will definitely get your lungs and heart working. This is also true for all of the training that comes along with kickboxing. Things such as skipping, circuit training, jogging and sprinting all come along with kickboxing and they all serve to to improve your cardiovascular health. Having a strong heart is indeed very important for many different reasons.  A strong heart is necessary to avoid things like high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, heart and arterial disease, high cholesterol, and it can help lower your resting heart rate too.

Benefit 7: It’s A Good Form Of Cross Training

Something else that you should be able to appreciate about kickboxing is that it is a good form of cross-training. If you are getting bored of your usual weight training routine or your cardiovascular routine, kickboxing definitely makes a good alternative.  Cross training is great because it gives you some variety and lets you become much more rounded in terms of your fitness.

People who only do weight training probably don’t have the best cardio or endurance and people who only do cardio probably aren’t the strongest people around. Kickboxing is able to incorporate aspects of both cardio and weight training, using both your body weight and free weights, thus making you a fitter and healthier person in every single way.

Benefit 8: Learning Respect

Kickboxing can help to teach respect. When you take a kickboxing class you have to answer to a black belt, the master of the class who will call all of the shots.

There is no better way for both you and especially your children to learn respect than by attending a class that demands respect and discipline.  The teacher will show you respect if you show that same respect as well. On that same note, this is a great way to learn to follow orders and be a team player, both things which are very important for long-term success in life.

Benefit 9: Increasing Focus & Concentration

The next thing that kickboxing can help you with is to improve both your focus and concentration. Kickboxing is of course a martial art, which is something that requires a whole lot of dedication and concentration to master. All of those different kicks, punches, and fighting moves take a lot of time to master, and without the dedication and commitment, it decreases your chance of ever getting better at it, let alone become a master kickboxer as it takes many hours of practice.

Going back night after night to train your kickboxing technique will definitely teach you the focus, concentration, and dedication that you need to get through life. All of those qualities are very important for your everyday life.

Benefit 10: Increasing Endurance & Physical Output

Another great benefit that you get from doing kickboxing is that it can help increase your stamina, endurance, and your overall ability to perform physical activities.

First off, all of the strength training and muscle toning that kickboxing involves will increase your ability to lift heavy things.

More blood circulating to your muscles means that they also receive more nutrients, vitamins and proteins, all things which they need to keep functioning. The more of these things your muscles get, the longer and harder they can function for, which is required for stamina and endurance.

Benefit 11: Losing Weight

Between sparring, fighting, punching the bag, doing weight training, and various cardiovascular exercises you can be sure that kickboxing will let you achieve and maintain a decent body weight and body shape. Another big benefit that you can get from kickboxing is that it will help you burn calories and lose weight.  Of course, if your body does not have enough calories in it to turn into energy, or in other words, if you haven’t eaten that much, your body will use your excess fat stores for energy. Either way, kickboxing can definitely help you lose weight, plus it helps to boost your metabolism too, so even when you aren’t in the middle of kickboxing your body will continue to burn calories several hours after you have finished the workout.

Benefit 12: Gain Confidence

The final benefit we want to talk about that you can get from kickboxing is that it will help increase your confidence.  First of all, being able to defend yourself should definitely make you feel good and will make you feel at least just a little bit safer when you are out walking alone in the evening. It also increases your self-esteem and mastering the art of kickboxing boots your confidence as you venture out of your comfort zone.