Benefits of Muay Thai for Weight Loss
Thanksgiving is just over with the year-end Christmas and New Year celebrations just around the corner. Feasting is a big part of the festive seasons and it’s easy to overindulge in the culinary delights. The high-calorie diet and excessive eating during this period could also extend further beyond the festive season leading to more undesirable weight gain. If you want to get in shape, then an effective workout regime is what you need.
Enter Muay Thai: a complete martial art style that consists of boxing, kicking, as well as elbow and knee striking techniques. The combat sport is known for its tough, intense and high adrenaline action in the ring. However, Muay Thai is an increasingly popular fitness regime around the world as more people become aware of its benefits as an exercise.
Whether you are trying to lose that post-festive weight gain, get into the best shape of your life, Muay Thai is one of the best options around. Here are some reasons why you should train Muay Thai for weight loss:
Intensive Cardio Workout
Cardiovascular exercises are great for burning calories so if you want a heart-pumping experience, then Muay Thai will get your heart racing. Each Muay Thai training session will typically include running or rope jumping along with a myriad of conditioning drills to work that cardiovascular endurance.
HIIT
High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a form of workout with short intense bursts. In Muay Thai, training is often broken up into 2- to 3-minute rounds of exercises including heavy bag drills and padwork. These are high in intensity and forces your body to use fat for energy, resulting in better results. Additionally, HIIT increases metabolic rate for up to 24 hours after training which burns more fats even while you are at rest.
Muscle Building
When you build more muscles, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be. This is key in burning more calories and fat even at rest which results in more effective weight loss. Strength training is a key component in Muay Thai which helps to improve overall fitness and gain muscle mass.
Better Sleep Quality
Studies have found that poor quality of sleep is associated with weight gain. Moderate to vigorous exercise helps to reduce sleep onset and increase the time in deep sleep leading to better sleep quality.
Fun Activity
If you are bored of the same old cardio or gym workouts, Muay Thai offers lots of fun in its training. You will be learning different techniques and combos, as well as the opportunity to pick up practical self-defense skills. As they say, “variety is the spice of life”. Muay Thai training offers enough variety to keep training fun to keep you motivated.
