In recent years, personal training and fitness have become more popular than ever. It seems that gen z and the younger side of the millennial generation are becoming more and more interested in fitness, sports, lifting, and martial arts. In fact, the rate of which gyms are visited has drastically increased in the past decade, and jobs in personal training instruction have increased by 24% in the same decade.
Martial arts, and fitness often times go hand-in-hand. Both train the body, as well as the mind. It has been shown that people who engage in some sort of fitness-based activity have a higher degree of mental discipline, patience, and show a greater degree of hard work than those who don’t. The same has been said for martial artists. So in this article we will take a look at a way to merge the two, and discover what the best martial arts are for getting fit.
Boxing
Boxing is one of the oldest, if not the oldest combat sport, with earliest depictions of the sport coming from Sumer, though many believe it has been around far longer. Boxing is a stand-up striking sport, which only allows for striking with one’s arms. In boxing training, headgear, and protective gloves are used to minimize the damage that the trainees take.
The training routine of a boxer is difficult and oriented towards strength-building, which makes professional boxers the best punchers in the world. Though largely focused on throwing punches, a boxer’s workout is not solely punching. A usual routine for people who are looking to get into boxing includes a lot of strength based training, running, and jumping jacks. Boxing is the perfect sport to look into for people who want to build on their strength and stamina.
A benefit of getting into boxing, apart from fitness is that Boxing is also one of the most popular combat sports to bet on among online betting stores, like sport.netbet.com. Getting into boxing, even on the amateur or personal level, will likely help you keep up, and better understand the professionals, which will lead to making better bets, and getting better returns on said bets.
Wrestling
Another on the list of oldest sports, wrestling, or grappling has its roots in Ancient Egypt, and really gained prominence in Ancient Greece, as it was prominently featured in the Olympics, where it still remains to this day.
A wrestler relies on speed, endurance, and strength, which means they must train their whole body. Many of the exercises associated with wrestling are strength and stamina building exercises which can be seen in pretty much any gym. Stuff like barbell squats, dumbbell lounges, and deadlifts.
On top of that, as the main point of wrestling is to use the strength of the opponent against them, it is also an excellent combat sport to get into if you are looking to get into self-defense training. Wrestling incorporates takedowns, and grapples to incapacitate opponents, rather than attempting to knock-them out with pure strikes, which is what makes it so great for self-defense.
Tai Chi
Tai Chi is a martial art originating in China. It is what is called an internal martial art, or neijia, which means the martial art deals with not only physical aspects, but mental, and spiritual aspects as well. Though its origins were as a martial art, practiced for competitive wrestling, it has today become far more famous around the world as an art which improves health, longevity and spiritual therapy.
Tai Chi is not as physically demanding as the aforementioned martial arts, and often times it is practiced as an extended warm up before training, as it focuses on balance, both mental and physical, and gently straining and strengthening muscles. The gentleness and minimal stress also means that anyone from any age group can practice the art, for an easy, low stress exercise.