Tired of going to the gym? Bored at the thought of doing the same old workout over and over again? We don’t blame you. Exercise can get monotonous if you don’t mix it up and if you don’t try new things that challenge your body in new ways.
That’s why we like to find new and exciting opportunities, even looking at a workout you may not have considered: Muay Thai. This sport is challenging but will kick your body into shape. It is the national sport of Thailand, and as long as you are using it for fun and to be fit, the risk is minimal.
Here are some of the top benefits you stand to gain by bringing Muay Thai into your workout routine.
Benefits of Muay Thai
1. Improves Cardiovascular Health
Muay Thai is a blend of aerobic and anaerobic exercises, so you can expect to get some great cardio during your workout. It includes jump roping, running, and shadowboxing, which are all aerobic workouts. It also includes punching, kicking, elbowing, and more, which are all anaerobic exercises.
Overall, Muay Thai makes for a great cardio workout.
2. Relieves Stress
Stress feels inevitable in life, but why not turn to Muay Thai to relieve it rather than let it consume you?
It has been scientifically proven that your body’s primary stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) drop when you work out. Simultaneously, your body starts to produce endorphins, which are known to improve your mood.
Thus, incorporating Muay Thai into your life will decrease your stress and increase your positive mood.
3. Builds a Strong Core
So, you want abs but don’t want to do 1000 crunches a day to get them. We don’t blame you, and we are here with an alternative. Muay Thai involves lots of twisting and kicking, which means using your ab muscles in ways you’ve never experienced before. But Muay Thai is also big on situps, so you will still have to do some to get the abs you want.
In addition to that, this workout burns calories, which helps you swap out fat for muscle.
4. Boosts Confidence
When you start to get the moves down in Muay Thai, you will experience newfound confidence. The chances are good that you never imagined yourself doing this type of workout, so when you do it and find that you are capable and good at it, your confidence will skyrocket.
5. Develop Self Defense
As women, we always have to be on the lookout for potential danger and be careful about where we go by ourselves. When you undergo Muay Thai training, you develop self-defense tactics that may come in handy if you ever find yourself in a real-life attack situation. You will learn the moves to protect yourself and to catch your opponent/enemy off-guard.
Now that we’ve covered why Muay Thai is something you should try, it’s time to go over a Muay Thai workout routine that will allow you to reap all of the benefits above.
The Perfect 5-Step Muay Thai Workout Routine
1. Warm Up With a Jump Rope
It’s possible the last time you picked up a jump rope was as a young girl in school. If so, you’re long overdue for bringing it back into your life.
Skipping rope is a fabulous way to warm up your body before more intense exercises. It strengthens your feet and ankles, which helps you be resilient when kicking in your Muay Thai workout.
Additionally, skipping rope helps with concentration. To successfully jump rope, you must be able to move both your hands and feet together, which requires focus.
2. Blocking and Kicking Combos
Once you’ve got the hang of Muay Thai, you can do blocking and kicking combos at home.
To do this, begin with shadowboxing, which simulates blocking right and left kicks. Stand on one foot and put the other one up to block, hold it there for five seconds, and then repeat on the other side.
Then, you want to practice your kicking as if someone catches it. This means you hold your kick for at least 10 seconds and alternate between right and left.
3. Punching and Sprinting
If you’re anything like us, the word “sprinting” exhausts us. However, it’s a part of the Muay Thai exercise routine that will get your body looking and feeling fabulous.
The first round of this exercise involves three minutes of jab-cross punches and interval sprints. If that doesn’t feel long enough, then increase it to five minutes.
Do this for two rounds, and we promise you will feel it.
4. Footwork
Footwork is a very important part of the Muay Thai workout and is one part that isn’t practiced enough. So take the time to perfect your footwork.
Focus on distributing your weight 50/50 on the balls of your feet, keeping your tailbone and your chin tucked under.
Here is a footwork drill you can practice:
- Stand in Muay Thai stance.
- Take one step straight and step back into the same position.
- Do it again, but step right, back, and then left.
- As you perfect this, double the steps and then try it on your opposite stance.
5. Situps for a Strong Core
As mentioned above, Muay Thai is great for your abs. While you can sculpt some of those abs during the Muay Thai routines, you will also have to carve out some time to do situps to really lock in those muscles.
We like to do this in front of our television while watching our favorite show. It feels less monotonous and lets you enjoy the otherwise dreadful act of situps.
As you can see, Muay Thai is a full-body workout that has the potential to build incredible strength in your body and your mind. It is also one of the best ways to learn self-defense, which, in our minds, is priceless.
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