Top 10 Stress-Reducing Benefits of Kickboxing

Kickboxing is a total body martial arts workout that involves both punching and kicking. It is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to exercise and offers many positive benefits to students. One of the most impactful aspects of the sport is its ability to reduce stress and its accompanying factors.

Stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness and disease. Common symptoms include muscle tension, mental health issues, feelings of overwhelm, and a lack of ability to focus. Kickboxing is a fun way to help alleviate and reduce stress in those who are struggling. Here are our top ten reasons to train kickboxing as a form of stress relief.

1.)    Promotes Wellbeing

Exercise releases endorphins that trigger a positive feeling in the body. This is optimized during moderate workouts that raise your heart rate and speed up your breathing. Kickboxing is a moderate to intense level of training that is sure to get those happy endorphins pumping through your body and helping you to forget the worries of the day.

2.) Boosts Mental Health

Regular exercise helps to ease symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. For some, it is as effective as taking medication to alleviate and reducing these issues. The best way to keep your training regular is to do something you enjoy and look forward to. Kickboxing and other martial arts, like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, are excellent options because there is always something to learn.

3.) Improves Physical Health

The body is not made for stagnancy. Movement is an essential part of being human, and exercise is a fun way to get our bodies engaged in physical challenges, all while becoming healthier and happier. Kickboxing and other moderate forms of training improve our physical health and reduce the stress that unhealthy habits place on our bodies.

4.) Releases Muscle Tension

Striking classes involve plenty of high-paced punching and kicking as well as stretching segments to improve flexibility. Between these two modalities, muscle tension is released from part of the body where stress may be held.

5.) Uses Pent-up Energy

Frustration is a sign of stress that can cause restlessness and bouts of anger. Adding martial arts, like Kickboxing, Muay Thai, or MMA, helps you release pent-up energy and use it constructively.

6.) Increases Focus

Kickboxing acts as a form of meditation that engages the whole body. Some may find it challenging to sit still and meditate but kicking, and punching require a high level of concentration and focus. It’s difficult to focus on both things that stress you out and the requirements of the class.

7.) Learn Breathwork

Breathing is a crucial tool for releasing pent-up frustration. Kickboxing and other martial arts require the student to learn the basics of controlling the breath while striking. This skill can help reduce stress in other areas of life too.

8.) Visualize Positive Outcomes

Sometimes our minds deceive us, but they have an incredible power to propel us forward. Often the difference is in our mindset and thinking. Martial artists typically use visualization as a part of their training routine. This skill can help students to envision positive outcomes instead of ones that breed stress and anxiety.

9.) Build Self Esteem

Discipline is a pillar of martial arts and teaches us to be respectful, humble, and consistent in our actions. Taking action on things that bother us seriously helps reduce the stress surrounding the situation and builds our self-confidence and self-esteem.

10.) Join a Welcoming Community

A new gym and a new skill also mean a new community. The nature of the sport is interactive, so you will make new connections and have positive interactions with others in a high-energy environment. This helps to reduce loneliness, depression, and anxiety.

If you are considering joining kickboxing or BJJ, we offer classes for children and adults and beginners to experienced in the Bankstown area.