It’s a common complaint that cardio is boring. But it doesn’t have to be.
By now it’s almost common knowledge that to lose weight one must expend more calories than they consume. To ensure that the weight lost is fat and not lean body mass (LBM) a balanced diet is required with sufficient protein and preferably some form of resistance training to minimise loss of muscle tissue. And one of the most effective ways to expend calories is doing cardio.
Cardio is often associated with Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) exercise, E.G. light jogging or cycling. Many find these type of exercises, particularly in a gym on a bike or treadmill, to be mundane and not the most mental stimulating of physical activities.
Enter Muay Thai, or Thai Boxing. In Muay Thai, you’ll be training to strike with punches, kicks, knees and elbows, in addition to clinch (which may remind you of grappling or wrestling) and defense work such as parrying punches and catching kicks.
Muay Thai is a well-rounded Martial Art with focus on form, balance and agility. It is a skill sport at its finest.
The great thing about practising Muay Thai is that there is absolutely no doubt you’ll expend as many calories as you would in an hour as you would on a treadmill, but because your focus is absolutely on perfecting your footwork, kicks, punches and not getting hit, you’ll practically forget you’re doing cardio. It is isn’t until the end of the session when you’re soaked through in sweat and you ache from head to toe that you realise just how much of a workout you’ve had.
Once you have mastered your technique you can practice at home or local gym with on a bag. Grab yourself a pair of decent Muay Thai gloves (wraps are recommended to for additional wrist and hand protection), and you’re all set.
There are a number of Muay Thai gyms around the UK and, being schools of one of the most physically demanding and disciplined sports on the planet, many are run by very humble trainers that are very welcome to beginners so you should have no worries about being a novice.
