Mixed martial arts is a combination of various disciplines, ranging from boxing to kick-boxing and even karate. With the growing rage for the sport, it’s difficult not to get involved. MMA has various benefits, both for your physical as well as mental fitness. Its training involves high intensity workouts which is one reason why all MMA fighters have the most envious physiques ever!
Here are five reasons you should totally try MMA for fitness:
1) Total Body Workout
MMA is a sport which involves your whole body as opposed to other sports, which focus on only one muscle group. The training is such that it engages every muscle of your body, be it your upper body, lower body or even abdominal muscles. As mentioned, the sport is a combination of various other disciplines, making use of your whole body. As you kick with your legs, they become stronger, while punching with your arms strengthen them.
MMA workouts are designed to build muscle. When sprawling is being practiced, you not just learn to defend yourself but also build up your back and shoulder muscles. Moreover, with power kicks you not just master the technique but are also strengthening your legs as well. In addition to that, MMA also improves flexibility. Grappling is a move in MMA which helps with the flexibility of joint, muscles, and ligaments.
2) More Calories Are Burnt
If you’re looking to burn more calories and eventually, lose weight, a regular gym is not the answer. The options at a gym are limited and no machine can compare to the speed at which MMA training burns those calories. 590 calories are burnt in a single 45 minute striking class. Similarly, in a 45 minutes session of grappling you can burn up to 620 calories, whereas, only 400 calories are burnt in the same time on a treadmill.
MMA classes, which involve grappling and striking, put more muscles to work than what treadmill and cycling or even elliptical does. With that, your core is engaged all through the workouts as well. With MMA, your workouts are time efficient.
3) No-Contact Fight Training
MMA is a full body contact sport, but its trainings mustn’t be like that. With that being said, you can totally workout like a fighter without getting kicked. Various MMA fitness training and conditioning programs provide a safe, non-contact environment. They are taught by professional MMA trainers who make use of the updated setup to simulate fighting situations without anyone getting hurt. This means that you can get the exposure of skills, conditioning and fitness training of elite fighters without the worry of fighting with someone, getting punched or being kicked. MMA is even provided in colleges for those who want to study along with MMA.
4) Learn Self-Defense and Confidence
Needless to say, MMA is one of the best sports to learn self defense. It combines not just stand-up fighting but also ground fighting and even takedowns, which come handy if you feel the need to defend yourself in a real life situation.
Nothing boosts ones confidence more than knowing that you can defend yourself and your loved ones in any given situation. MMA training provides you with utmost confidence which aids other aspects of life as well.
MMA training is a great start for children as well. Since it not just makes you physically strong but also more confident and mentally strong. It’s an advantage to have these great qualities at such an early age.
5) Teaches Discipline and Builds Character
Like any other sport, MMA helps with being disciplined. It requires serious commitment, which teaches you discipline of both the mind as well as the body. It enables you to eat right, sleep well and train properly.
In addition to that, it also builds character. This combat sport makes you more patient and resilient by making you get up each time you fall and fight back. Normally, people just give up quickly and stop what they’re doing. It also helps you be more humble in terms of strengthening your positive self-image.
Another, undeniable quality MMA provides to make you stronger is that of the ability to focus. According to various sports psychologists, an average untrained person has a limited attention span. Unlike normal people, an MMA fighter focuses on the present. When greater focus and attention span combines with being prepared for the unexpected, an MMA fighter works like magic under pressure and does not get into survival mode, which eventually results in making hasty decisions. Rather, they are calm and collected and so, is successful in accomplishing what they set out to do.
Various celebrities have gotten in incredible shape using MMA training. Few worth mentioning are:
- Hillary Swank
- Mark Wahlberg
- Demi Lovato
