In this post we look at 6 reasons why muay thai for weight loss is so effective as well as enjoyable.
As a form of physical exercise muay thai is exceptional for burning calories, maintaining body weight and for losing excess weight and burning body fat.
You only need to look at the ripped, strong bodies of professional muay thai boxers to see the physical benefits muay thai for weight loss can bring you.
While adhering to a balanced and healthy eating plan is also a major factor in losing weight, physical exercise is the other major factor for weight loss.
The benefits of physical exercise are numerous for promoting weight loss as well as building a strong and determined mindset.
Something that cannot be fully achieved through dieting alone.
So with the many forms of physical exercise out there promoting their weight loss benefits, how does muay thai differ?
What sets this traditional Thai fighting art apart from other forms of physical training?
And how does muay thai burn fat and promote weight loss so well?
These are 6 reasons why muay thai for weight loss is so incredibly effective.
1. Muay thai burns a ton of calories
The amount of calories burned is one reasons muay thai for weight loss is a great option
A variety of studies conducted on the calorie burning effects of muay thai (3 of which are highlighted below) found that muay thai can burn between 600-1000 calories per hour.
A 2017 article by the UK newspaper, The Independent, found that out of 36 different physical activities and exercises, martial arts such as muay thai burned around 752 calories/hour for an average women and 937 calories/hour for an average man.
According to the health related website Nutristrategy, the average person will burn up to nearly 1000 calories in a typical 1-hour Muay Thai session.
Another website, championsgym.com.au compared the calories burned between running, boxing and muay thai with the following results:
| Running | Boxing | Muay Thai | |
| Calories Burned/Hour | 472 | 531 | 600 |
2. Muay Thai Includes Cardio and Strength Training
Strength training for muscle mass is shown to greatly impact weight loss and fat burning.
As Thai boxing includes cardio and strength training, this is another reason muay thai for weight loss is effective.
Cardiovascular exercise or keeping your heart rate at a sustained elevated level is known to burn fat and keep your heart healthy.
As muay thai requires sustained effort throughout a training session, the fat burning effects can be substantial.
With constant movement, executing strikes, footwork, defending and evading strikes, muay thai will provide you with great cardio benefits which in turn will assist in your weight loss goals tremendously.
As muay thai involves total body movements and resistance training in the form of striking hard objects such as the heavy bag, thai pads and sparring partners, the benefits to your muscular strength and endurance are obvious.
In addition to the striking forms, muay thai sessions almost always include strength and muscle building exercises such as push ups, sit ups, body weight squats and pull ups.
The ability to build and maintain muscle as well as cardio/endurance exercise is the best form of exercise for weight loss and muay thai includes both.
While you wont become muscle bound, you can develop the lean fighters physique through consistent muay thai training.
3. Easier to Stay Consistent
Consistency is one of the most important factors when it comes to weight loss.
As muay thai is fun and brings benefits such as self defense, stress relief and mental clarity, this makes it easier to stick to in the long run.
Yet another reason why muay thai for weight loss is an option you should consider.
If you cant stick to a program for a good amount of time you wont get results.
This is where muay thai can really be a great asset to your weight loss journey.
For me personally I find martial arts and muay thai training a lot more fun and enjoyable than jogging, lifting weights and other exercise forms such as HIIT training.
Don’t get me wrong if these types of exercises are what you enjoy and you are getting results than more power to you.
It’s definitely a good thing to exercise the body and to keep fit for both your physical and mental health.
However there’s something about muay thai training and the stress relief benefits you get from punching, kicking, kneeing and elbowing out your aggression and stress on the heavy bag or thai pads.
In order to reap the weight loss benefits of any physical exercise it’s important that you enjoy it – otherwise you may not consistently stick to it long enough to really get the results you are after.
4. Muay thai requires minimum equipment
Unlike popular weight loss activities such as Bootcamp which require dumbells, kettlebells, box jumps and spinning classes require stationary bikes, muay thai requires very little equipment to get a good workout and promote weight loss.
Being able to get a workout in without the need for using a lot of equipment also makes muay thai for weight loss a powerful option to use.
Here is a post about the most important pieces of muay thai equipment you need to get training.
With no equipment at all muay thai foundational exercises such as shadow boxing, skipping rope, tire jumping as well as pushups and situps are more than enough to challenge your system and get your fat burning furnaces stoked.
With the addition of a heavy bag you can really get the fat burning process going through a full body muay thai workout on the bag.
5. Muay Thai is Total Body Exercise
Muay Thai is the art of 8 limbs and requires you to use your hands and arms for punching, legs for kicking and your elbows and knees as well.
Working the full body with emphasis on utilizing your core and hip/butt to execute strikes, muay thai truly is a total body workout.
Performing powerful strikes such as the roundhouse kick and knees you need to draw power from the ground up and be able to rotate on one leg all while engaging your hips and butt muscles while keeping a strong defensive guards utilizing your back, shoulder and arm muscles.
Now try repeating this 100 times in a single muay thai session and you will soon feel in your body the total body workout benefits of muay thai.
In addition to working out the entire body from head to toe, muay thai also works you brain and mind.
Learning and practicing new skills activates the portion of your brain connected with attention span and creativity.
As a total body form of exercise muay thai for weight loss is proven to be very potent.
6. Muay Thai involves unilateral movements
Unilateral exercises are known to provide great muscle building and fat loss results. Unilateral exercises are those that use one limb at a time.
They are challenging on your core and your nervous system especially when trying to maintain balance and performing them when you are tired and fatigued.
In muay thai you need to be able to perform strong kicks and knees with good technique while balancing one one leg.
This is challenging and further promotes fat burning and weight loss as well as building up your core strength.
Also performing unilateral exercises are more metabolic and require you to recruit total body muscles to perform on both sides.
So if you perform 50 right kicks you also have to perform 50 left kicks. The same with knees.
Thus you get more work in on both sides of the body in a challenging fashion that improves your balance, coordination and core strength.
Summary
After considering the 6 reasons why muay thai for weight loss is an effective option, I hope that you have a better understanding why muay thai can be effective in achieving your weight loss and fitness goals..
You don’t need to be a fighter and you definitely don’t need to fight to get the great benefits from muay thai.
So why not give it a try? Best of luck and happy training!
