Have your let your physical fitness slip? Do you feel tired and weak all the time? Do you want to get more active, but don’t enjoy the monotony of the gym? If you want to get in shape and start getting healthy, karate may hold the key. Here are some of the great fitness benefits associated with karate:
Heart Health
Your heart is at the centre of your cardiovascular system. When you don’t take care of it, you can experience weakness, fatigue, and shortness of breath. In severe cases, you might even have a heart attack. Take care of your heart, and it will take care of you. Karate gets your heart pumping and improves your cardiovascular health. Karate can help keep your heart rate elevated for the 30 minutes required every day to keep your heart healthy.
Weight Loss
Has your waistline been expanding over the years? If you aren’t happy with your weight, karate can help get you back to the way you want to look. In order to lose weight, you need to expend more energy (calories) than you take in. An hour of karate can burn between 400 to 1,000 calories depending on your weight. In combination with an improved diet, this added exercise can help you lose weight – and keep it off.
Muscle Mass
Who doesn’t want their body to look more toned? Muscle mass doesn’t just help your body look better, it also helps you burn more calories by increasing your metabolic demands. The domino effects continue, as burning more calories helps to prevent obesity. Even better, as you build your muscles it becomes even easier to execute complex karate moves.
Reflexes
The best martial artists have fast reflexes. You can hone your reflexes through karate, which pays dividends in the rest of your life. Especially as you age and your reflexes begin to slow a bit, karate can give you the boost you need to stay sharp in every day life. Karate helps you stay agile.
Mood
The stresses of daily life can make you feel sad or angry. Physical exercise helps relieve stress and improve happiness. Karate gets the endorphins pumping, and they stay active in your body for hours after your session finishes. Karate can provide an effective outlet and help keep your life on a positive track.
There’s no time like the present to make a change and take advantage of the many fitness benefits of karate.
