Kickboxing For Flexibility

Two areas of fitness that aren’t give the respect they deserve are balance and flexibility. Sure you admire it in the gymnast or dancer, but when you go for a workout, unless it’s yoga, more focus is on strength and endurance. You may get questions on how far you ran and how fast or impress people with the amount of weight you can lift, but nobody asks how your range of motion is. Flexibility and balance are both important. Kickboxing for flexibility and balance training is exceptional.

Good flexibility and balance not only helps you move gracefully, it plays other important roles in your fitness.

If you want healthy joints and muscle, work on your flexibility. It’s particularly important for anyone working on strength building. Good flexibility improves the range of motion and increase the elasticity of the connective tissue and muscles that are around the joints. That improved elasticity means fewer strains and pulls whether working out or just doing every day activities. It helps maintain posture and aids the body in proper functioning. Good balance helps prevent falls that lead to injury.

Unlike Tai Chi or Yoga, you aren’t really focusing on flexibility, but you are improving it.

The difference between yoga, Tai Chi and kickboxing is all about focus and goal. In one, the first two, you’re working on flexibility for the sake of the movement itself. You’re focused on the movement. In kickboxing, those high kicks and flexibility come as a result of training to fight and win. Which one is better? The one you enjoy most and do regularly.

Kickboxing is even recommended for older people because of its ability to improve agility and balance.

You might not think that the power that kickboxing promotes has anything to do with balance. You notice, I said power, not strength. Power is a combination of speed and force, not just brute strength. It’s a good indicator of how susceptible one is to falls. It’s been noted that of all the sports available, non promotes power, balance and agility like kickboxing. It’s a sport for all ages that keeps you thinking while you’re making power moves with one leg raised and the other planted firmly. That sounds like a test for flexibility and balance to me.

• Just watching people kickboxing shows the embodiment of HIIT training. There’s top speed motion, followed by moderate recovery movements and back to top speed. It’s no wonder it burns so many calories.
• Kickboxing has been used to help people with MS, which leads to impaired communication between the brain and muscles. It’s been shown to strengthen and improve neuromuscular control. It improves balance and mobility.
• The flexibility and balance developed in kickboxing helps people of all ages. It’s especially important the older you get and is one reason many rehabilitation experts and neurology specialists recommend kickboxing, even for the elderly.
• Many times, people take up kickboxing and then seek ways to get even better. They often look to additional flexibility training to help them in a match.