Martial Arts & Body Composition

When the topic of combat sports arises in conversation, one might imagine gladiator-type fighting, or perhaps an epic fight between world famous boxers, or more recently, your favorite mixed martial arts (MMA) legend rising to stardom. Possibly, you’re more interested in famous martial artists such as Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, and you enjoy watching their impressive physical feats on the big screen. I say yes to all those things. However, that is not the topic of this post.

While not as exciting to think or talk about as one of “the best martial arts fight scenes,” without a doubt an underestimated benefit of martial arts is the impact that consistent training has on one’s body composition, as shown in a recent systematic review and meta-analysis.

People of all ages are increasingly becoming less active. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in adverse consequences in terms of body composition and physical health. It turns out that practicing martial arts, specifically Taekwondo in this case, is an effective way of alleviating some of these effects.

The global problem of inactivity

To put this in perspective, we need to consider the decline in physical fitness and overall body composition worldwide. In 2016, 81% of all children between the ages of 11 and 17 were deemed “insufficiently physically active.”

You might be tempted to discount that finding as being unique to the United States, where there is a well-known epidemic of obesity; however, this number represents children globally, using data from “298 school-based surveys from 146 countries, territories, and areas including 1.6 million students aged 11–17 years.” Even more surprising, country income groups had very little impact on the outcome, with 84.9% of low-income countries and 79.4% of high-income countries reporting insufficient levels of physical activity in their children.

Just a few consequences of inactivity

• “Fourteen days of reduced step count reduced leg lean mass and increased intra-abdominal fat mass, but not total fat mass in healthy male adults.” Increases in body fat levels have been associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, and 21 major chronic diseases.

• Significant losses in muscle mass have been reported after just a few days of sedentary behavior. This is especially important in older adults, as reduced muscle mass is associated with increased all-cause mortality.

• Long periods of uninterrupted sitting have been shown to result in increased systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure, known risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

How do the martial arts help?

A total of 31 studies were included in this meta-analysis to determine the impact of practicing Taekwondo on overall body composition. The average age was just over 32 years; however, the participants ranged from 7 to 75 years, with a training period lasting from 18-24 months. The documented benefits of practicing Taekwondo included the following:

• Decreased body weight

• Decreased body mass index (BMI)

• Decreased waist circumference

• Decreased % of body fat

• Increased muscle mass and lean mass

Beyond just data

Clearly, the physical health benefits of practicing martial arts are a strong motivating factor for participating in the sport. However, the benefits also include mental and emotional factors. Just do it.