Protect Your Heart with Martial Arts
Every year, the American Heart Association celebrates Heart Month to raise awareness about heart disease and heart health.
What you may not know is that martial arts are great for the heart. In fact, the cardiac benefits of martial arts give a whole new meaning to the idea of cardiovascular fitness.
With that in mind, here are some ways that taking martial arts classes can protect and strengthen your heart.
Martial Arts Raise the Heart Rate
The first way martial arts helps the heart is by raising your heart rate when you work out. The heart is a muscle and it needs to be worked. When you take a martial arts class, your heart rate is elevated for a sustained stretch of time.
Raising the heart rate oxygenates the blood and promotes calorie burning even after you're done training. People of all ages need to keep their hearts pumping, and martial arts is a great way to do it.
Martial Arts Lower Blood Pressure
A high-intensity martial arts workout can help lower your blood pressure. Hypertension is a leading contributor to heart disease.
When you train, your heart becomes stronger, and a stronger heart pumps blood more efficiently. The less effort your heart has to expend, the lower your blood pressure.
Martial Arts Lower Cholesterol
LDL cholesterol - the so-called "bad" cholesterol - is a contributing factor in heart disease. Regular martial arts training helps you manage weight, which decreases the amount of LDL cholesterol in your blood.
There is also evidence that working out shrinks the proteins that carry cholesterol through the bloodstream, making them less dangerous to the heart. Regular vigorous exercise also helps increase HDL, or "good," cholesterol.
Martial Arts Reduce Stress
One thing that separates martial arts from many other forms of exercise is that it requires mental stillness combined with physical exertion.
That stillness builds mindfulness, a practice that can significantly decrease stress and anxiety in both children and adults. Since stress is directly linked to high blood pressure and related issues, lowering it is a major win for your heart.
Conclusion
On top of the benefits already mentioned, martial arts training improves discipline, builds coordination, and increases self-confidence.
Why not give your heart a boost by adding martial arts to your routine?