There are a multitude of benefits that can be reaped from training Muay Thai. It can help you lose weight, build confidence, and immerse you in a vibrant lifestyle, rich in a culture that is shared amongst a global community of like-minded people. The evidence is so obvious to those who have stepped into a Muay Thai gym that no one would dare challenge them it, what if someone told you that training Muay Thai regularly can also reverse aging?
Believe it or not, science strongly agrees with this statement. Training Muay Thai regularly can get your body back to the shape and fitness level of your twenties or thirties.
In the next few paragraphs, we are going to explore the many ways in which Muay Thai training can make you look and feel younger. But, in order to fully appreciate the benefits that this style of exercise can bring to your life, let’s get a basic understanding of what happens to your body as you age.
What Happens To Your Body As You Age
Ever wonder why the younger people in your life seem so full of energy? Or how they seem to be able to bounce back from late nights and long training sessions without missing a step? That’s because in the first few decades of life, your body is pumped full of hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, growth hormone, and dopamine which aim to help build you into a strong and healthy adult. By the time you hit your third decade of life, you have finished growing and the levels of these hormones begin to decrease.
Lower hormone levels change your physiology, resulting in lower lean muscle mass and a rise in body fat which can make you more susceptible to injury and chronic health conditions such as high cholesterol.
Your body’s health biomarkers will slowly regress alongside the lower hormone levels which can often make it feel like you’ve lost your spark or vigour. Much of this can be traced to the fact that your maximum heart rate decreases by about 1 bpm per year from the age of thirty, resulting in poorer circulation and less oxygenation of your body cells.
The Good News
There have been a multitude of scientific studies done on the health benefits of regular exercise and one that has great implications for reversing the symptoms of aging was a 1966 study known as “The Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study,” which showed that it only took 8 weeks of consistent, moderate exercise to increase lean muscle mass while reducing body fat and blood pressure for younger men. This study was repeated on the same subjects 30 years later and after 6 months of moderate exercise, each man was able to return all of his biomarkers to similar levels they achieved in the original study, proving that exercise can reverse the somatic symptoms of aging.
Why Train Muay Thai To Look And Feel Younger
Training Muay Thai is a great way to improve your health as you age b mn76ecause it’s dynamic, unlike monotonous exercise regimes like running or lifting weights. It provides a full-body workout that builds strength, flexibility, and overall fitness while you are engaged, learning new techniques rather than zoning out while rolling along on a treadmill. The dynamic nature of a Muay Thai class will stimulate the production of the hormones you had in abundance as a teenager whilst also releasing dopamine and serotonin, feel-good endorphins that elevate both mood and energy.
These hormones, combined with the muscle-building, fat-burning nature of a Muay Thai workout can help fight and even reverse some chronic health conditions associated with aging.
Looking at all these benefits, it is easy to see how Muay Thai can make you look younger. Regular training will help you rebuild the muscles that time has drained from you whilst shredding the fat that it has put in its place. The synthesis of hormones and endorphins that this style of training can stimulate in your body will help you to feel younger too. That being said, the real way that Muay Thai training can help you feel younger doesn’t come from the physical act of working out, it comes from the social aspect of training in a friendly, group environment!
As we age, we tend to socialize less. This can be due to many factors such as diminished hormone levels, a busy work life, or bereavement as friends and loved ones pass on. Our social circle shrinks with age and opportunities to meet new people become few and far between. This not only make us less active but also wreaks havoc on mental health.
The social aspect of training Muay Thai amongst other health-conscious individuals can reinvigorate your social life. It provides a platform to make new friends, exposing you to new experiences in and out of the gym, breaking the monotony often experienced with aging, and immersing you in a more youthful frame of mind.
These social benefits are important to note. Simply being around friends, in a social setting has been proven to release both serotonin and dopamine. Therefore, training Muay Thai gives you a double dose of these important vigor-building endorphins, giving you that extra spring in your step to chase all the joys in life!
In Summary
It’s a pretty well-stated fact that regular exercise can help you fight the symptoms of aging. However, not many exercise routines will give you the same results as training Muay Thai.
Muay Thai training is dynamic, allowing you to gain muscle and lose excess body fat. It can also help manage blood pressure, cholesterol, and other chronic issues that tend to get worse as we age. It can also stimulate the release of endorphins and hormones whose levels gradually begin to diminish once we reach our thirties.
Alongside all of these physical benefits, the social nature of Muay Thai training alongside a variety of like-minded people provides key benefits too. It doubles the release of feel-good endorphins while giving you the opportunity to expand your social circle through the relationships you gain by training alongside friends who share your passion for the sport.
Want to begin your journey in feeling and looking younger? Head down now to any of our Evolve MMA outlets and try out our free complimentary classes!
Book your complimentary trial class with our World Champions below!
If you have any other questions regarding Evolve MMA and the programs we offer, you can get in touch with our membership executives at the following locations:
Evolve MMA (Far East Square)
26 China Street
Far East Square #01-01
Singapore 049568
Phone: (65) 6536 4525
Evolve MMA (Orchard Central)
181 Orchard Road
#06-01 Orchard Central
Singapore 238896
Phone: (65) 6536 4556
Evolve MMA (KINEX)
11 Tanjong Katong Road
#02-52 KINEX
Singapore 437157
Phone: (65) 6288 2293
Evolve MMA (Star Vista)
1 Vista Exchange Green
#02-26A The Star Vista
Singapore 138617
Phone: (65) 6539 9590
