If you want to do something more exciting than jogging on a treadmill to keep fit, perhaps you should consider adding some kickboxing classes to your fitness routine. New or prospective students at Perth’s Premier Martial Arts and Fitness Academy often ask questions like “Is kickboxing good for weight loss?” or “How much weight can I lose with kickboxing?” or “Is kickboxing better for my fitness than going to the gym” or “Will kickboxing classes teach me to defend myself?”. This article will help you answer these questions and more!
But first – what is kickboxing? Kickboxing was designed so that different martial arts styles such as Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu and Muay Thai could compete against each other under the same rules. Kicks and punches are used during kickboxing, and it is a popular professional sport, similar to MMA or boxing. Many suburbs, towns, and cities have martial arts schools that offer specialized classes in kickboxing, like Perth’s Premier Martial Arts and Fitness Academy in Clarkson, Western Australia. However, with its high energy vibe kickboxing classes are quite popular with the general public as well. Many gyms offer non-contact kickboxing classes as a form of aerobic exercise and for good reason. Kickboxing training is high intensity and classes usually lasts for at least an hour. It burns the maximum number of kilojoules or calories per workout and is great for anyone who wants to lose weight and lose it fast.
If you are considering adding kickboxing to your workout schedule, here are the top ten benefits of training in kickboxing classes.
- Kickboxing is a fun way to lose weight
Losing weight comes down to simple mathematics – burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight. The average person can burn anywhere from 500 – 900 calories per kickboxing class, which is between one quarter and one third the average daily calories consumed for an adult. The combination of kickboxing with a good diet will help you to lose weight and keep the weight off! By focussing on eating good food in moderation and doing 2-3 training sessions a week you can expect to kickbox those extra kilograms away! The combination of martial arts techniques and heart-pumping cardio that make up the Freestyle Kickboxing taught at Premier Academy creates a high-energy workout that is an effective way to burn fat, especially stubborn belly fat, burning an average of 67 percent more calories than resistance training alone. Kickboxing also jumpstarts your metabolism and keeps it going for hours after a session. This means you continue to burn calories long after your workout at Premier Academy has finished.
- Kickboxing classes can be better than the gym
Kickboxing exercises and drills improve cardiovascular fitness and endurance, as well as building strength and improving flexibility, so they are perfect for improving overall fitness. It also tones and builds muscles through resistance exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Many gyms offer “kickboxing” style fitness classes where people punch a focus mitt 50 times a session with a personal trainer and think they know how to defend themselves if they need to. Most personal trainers and gym instructors will not be able to correct your punching and kicking technique as they lack the necessary martial arts training. Remember, while great at what they do, these trainers are more like aerobics instructors than specifically qualified kickboxing instructors. Your martial arts instructor will make sure you have correct punching and kicking technique, as well as push you to improve. One of the biggest benefits of training in kickboxing at a martial arts school like Perth’s Premier Academy is that it provides you with the fitness, strength, skill, and techniques necessary to protect yourself if the need arises. Like an insurance policy, we hope you never have to defend yourself, but it’s great to have this protection just in case.
- Kickboxing classes will help you achieve your fitness goals!
If you want a form of exercise to keep you motivated by being more exciting and mindful than jogging on a treadmill, you should consider kickboxing. Many people have the misinformed opinion that kickboxing classes are full of professional fighters learning how to beat people up. Nothing could be further from the truth. Kickboxing classes at Perth’s Premier Academy are typically full of people like you and me who want to get fitter and stronger, lose weight and make new friends. These new friendships will help you to keep on track to achieve your fitness goals and keep you motivated to train hard.
- Kickboxing tones your entire body
A typical kickboxing class at Premier Academy combines punching and kicking with drills, circuit training and core exercises for a total-body workout that will leave you feeling sore for days afterward. Kickboxing classes force you to engage all the muscle groups in your body. Front, side and roundhouse kicks work your legs and glutes while punching and jabbing tones the upper arms, shoulders, and chest. Meanwhile, all of these movements, as well as shuffling, ducking and side bends will engage your core for the entire workout. Engaging your abs will also ultimately improve co-ordination, while the constant movement in kickboxing improves flexibility and reflexes.
- Kickboxing will boost your confidence
As with any form of exercise, increased strength and performance increases confidence. This is even more true for kickboxing, since learning a form of self-defense will help prove to yourself that you can hold your own and give you a well-deserved confidence boost. Additionally, a rigorous kickboxing session releases endorphins, a natural mood booster that will also improve your self-esteem. AS you start to master the basic techniques taught in your kickboxing class at schools like Perth’s Premier Martial Arts and Fitness Academy, your instructor will challenge you with more advanced skills and movements. Confidence is a valuable side benefit of the mastery of these new techniques.
- Kickboxing improves your coordination
People who suffer from poor hand and eye co-ordination and general movement stability should certainly practice kickboxing. Even if you consider yourself well-coordinated, kickboxing classes at a leading school like Perth’s Premier Martial Arts and Fitness will strengthen your core and improve your reflexes. Everyone who trains diligently will see a drastic improvement in their balance and sense of stability. The quick kicks and punches in each combination make you focus your energy with precision in each movement, and also help to strengthen connections between the two hemispheres of your brain.
- Kickboxing teaches self-discipline
Within kickboxing lie the fundamentals of every martial art which is based on self-discipline. Following instructions, mastering set movements and learning specific stances and positions requires determination and self-discipline. As you learn to excel in the routine and techniques, subconsciously you’ll begin to apply the elements of self-discipline to your daily life and manage your everyday tasks with greater ease. At Perth’s Premier Academy they have kept the traditional values of the martial arts while creating a modern freestyle martial arts system, enabling their students to have the best of both worlds.
- Kickboxing classes are a great way to de-stress
Kickboxing classes are the perfect way to relieve the mental stress of everyday life as they provide a positive way to release all those pent up frustrations via a high-energy kicking and punching combinations. Also, considering the high intensity of the sport you will see that your concentration levels will gradually improve enabling you to focus on stressing less! Training in Kickboxing at a good school like Perth’s Premier Academy will help teach you to live in the moment, which is the perfect way to beat stress before it even starts!
- Boost your energy levels through kickboxing
Completing a high-intensity kickboxing class at Premier Martial Arts and Fitness Academy might seem like something that would tire you out, but many people find that the opposite is true. Kickboxing classes often give people an energy boost, not just because of the natural endorphins (though that, of course, plays a role!) but also due to the empowering nature of the workout. This gives your physical and mental energy levels a boost. After your workout, suitable refueling and a rest period, your body will feel refreshed and full of energy.
- Learn how to defend yourself in kickboxing classes
Kickboxing classes teach you many martial arts basics, especially when it comes to striking with your hands and feet. Learning how to punch and kick hard is one of the best things to know in terms of self-defense. Nobody wants to be bullied in school, or even worse, in adulthood, and nobody wants to be robbed or mugged on the street, and nobody wants to be confronted in a dark alleyway without the means to defend themselves. Taking kickboxing classes at a leading martial arts school like Perth’s Premier Academy will give you the confidence and the ability to defend yourself should the need arise.
Why not give kickboxing a try?
With so many different benefits of kickboxing classes, you should definitely give it a try. Kickboxing is a fantastic martial art and a great form of exercise in general, one that teaches you self defense and confidence, not to mention that it makes you stronger, it makes you look better, and it works wonders for your cardiovascular health, plus a whole lot more too. We recommend that you try kickboxing at least once at a leading institute of martial arts like Premier Academy in Western Australia because once you do you will never quit!
