Bruce Lee. Chuck Norris. Jet Li. Steven Seagal. Whether or not you appreciate their acting skills (or lack thereof) you have to admit that their bodies are amazingly fit. You may have stared at them in wonder, thinking that if only you didn’t have to devote a lifetime of study to martial arts, you could have a body like that.
Well, in fact, you can get cut like the martial arts gurus in your favorite films, and you don’t have to spend years in cloistered schools getting beat up to do it, either. To get the cuts you crave, you simply have to emulate their training.
Quick Fix
Don’t get the wrong idea. You won’t find any get-cut-quick schemes here. You are actually going to have to put in the effort to get the results. But it’s not as hard as you think. In fact, there are several alternatives to devoting your life to becoming a martial arts expert. To begin with, though, you could consider martial arts as a place to start. It’s a terribly good way to get in shape, and not just for your body.
While your main goal in selecting a martial arts school is to get a killer body (no pun intended), you may become enamored with the philosophy behind many of their practices (the combination of a focus on exercising your mind and spirit along with your body can bring you benefits you will not find in other types of exercise). But if you want to leave the deep breathing and inner reflection for yoga class, there are certainly other options.
Fighting Fitness
In the last several years, a number of fitness programs have popped up offering exercises that focus more on your shape than the form of your defense. And most of them are styles of kick-boxing, which is a great workout. For one thing, it works your whole body, increasing strength, flexibility, and range of motion.
Those high kicks not only bring definition to your legs, glutes, and abs, they also open your hip flexors (which can get a bit tight if the majority of your daily activity includes sitting or standing. And working through a variety of punches will tone up your arms as expected. In addition, you’re working the core, shoulders, and chest. Bam and pow!
TaeBo to Jeet Kun Do
It’s also a great cardio alternative for those who have outgrown their love of treadmills and elliptical machines. Kick-boxing (or one of its many iterations, from TaeBo to cardio karate to aerobic dance kick-boxing) can really help you to get cut like you’re doing martial arts, because in a way, you are (or at least you’re using the same basic moves).
Of course, cutting, in practice, also requires you to diet in such a way that you are shedding fat, so don’t think you can bulk up at the same time. You really can’t get a lean and defined body on 3,000 calories a day. If you need to gain muscle, try doing it before you attempt to get cut. And don’t be afraid to tackle martial arts.
You might get a lot more out of it than you bargained for (and if you want to master the one-inch-punch, you’re probably going to have to spend a good chunk of time training in Jeet Kune Do). But if you’re just looking to firm up your body, get a six-pack, and engineer the martial arts body you’ve always dreamed of, you can’t go wrong by adding kick-boxing to your roster of daily activities.
Jamie Bentz is a writer for Christmas Songs where you can browse the best selection in holiday music.
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