Muay Thai, as a fitness option, is becoming one of the most popular in the world, beyond the four walls of the traditional gym.

“The Art of Eight Limbs”, as a martial art, offers a wealth of physical and mental benefits that will greatly improve your life. Using eight points of contact in the body to deal destructive blows, utilizing the entire body as a weapon, also makes it an effective self-defense martial art.

It should come as no surprise then that people gravitate towards Muay Thai training once they give it a try.

Besides the health benefits it offers, Muay Thai’s engaging nature makes training extremely enjoyable for both casual practitioners and serious competitors. More Muay Thai gyms are opening up shop as a result of the discipline’s increasing popularity.

There is a myriad of reasons why Muay Thai is a great idea in 2021. The new year comes with new beginnings, and we are on the precipice of a new era. Right now is the perfect time to try Muay Thai, if you’re looking for a new way to restart your fitness journey.

Contemplating booking a trial class? These five points should steer you closer to that decision. Today, Evolve University shares five reasons why 2021 is the year you need to start training in Muay Thai.

1) Muay Thai training is becoming more popular

You can burn up to 1,000 calories in a one-hour Muay Thai class.

The rising popularity of Muay Thai as a fitness option can be directly attributed to the numerous benefits it offers. Training generally involves explosive movements, strengthening all the major muscle groups in the upper and lower body, as well as the core. So you can imagine just how effective it is with getting people in shape.

Simply put, Muay Thai training is a total body experience. It can grant you the results you crave, that toned physique you yearn for, which is one of the biggest reasons people want to try it. New Muay Thai gyms dedicated to the discipline are opening up due to excessive demand.

Of course, it’s not just fitness fans who love the martial art. Hardcore enthusiasts have championed the sport for years. The sport’s growing popularity has seen names such as ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Gaiyanghadao from the Evolve Fight Team come to prominence internationally, as well as ONE Strawweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao.

2) Lose weight fast

As an option for weight loss, Muay Thai has no equal. If you’re looking to shed excess weight and trim the fat off your belly, Muay Thai is no doubt the way to go. Muay Thai can burn up to 1,000 calories per hour, depending on the intensity of your training.

It involves an intense training regimen that makes use of all the body’s muscle groups. Its muscle strengthening and toning properties, especially focused on the core, give you those six-pack abs you’ve always wanted.

Furthermore, performing punching and kicking drills then leans out your arms and legs. You’ll also find yourself panting and sweating like crazy when going through the different workouts, increasing your lung capacity.

Muscles are the engine to the fuel that is calories. As you build muscle, you will also burn more calories in the long run, both during exercise and during rest. Secondly, you excrete a lot of salt when you sweat, and where salt goes, water follows, greatly reducing water retention and bloating.

You’ll see the beginning of your body transformation in as little as four weeks, and even sooner if you adhere to a diet.

3) The ultimate self-defense martial art

Singapore has established a reputation for being one of the safest cities in the world, but there’s no harm in learning how to defend yourself, regardless. Enroll yourself in a Muay Thai gym to learn one of the best martial arts for self-defense, which is great for anyone regardless of age or gender.

Muay Thai is the best discipline to train to build power and explosive strength, and it can become your most valuable asset in dire situations. The best to stay safe is to escape to safety, and you must try your best not to engage.

Of course, escape is not always possible, in which case you must be capable of defending yourself physically. It’s an essential life skill.

Muay Thai teaches you how to use your body to strike fast and strike hard, giving you the ability to end physical conflict in the quickest, most effective way possible. Its techniques all center around incapacitating a foe explosively and abruptly, neutralizing any threat as you retreat to safety.

Even more, you gain the ability to protect not only yourself, but also your loved ones and the people around you.

4) Improve Your Athleticism

Muay Thai is a full-body workout.

There are many benefits to improved overall athleticism, which can extend beyond the gym and permeate into our personal lives.

Regular visits to the Muay Thai gym will greatly improve your quality of life. The intense training and drills help you improve your overall physicality. It also boosts your metabolism, increases the flexibility of your joints and muscles, endows you with speed and agility, which all work to maximize your functional movement.

This, of course, will assist you in any physical task you are faced with.

By improving functional movement, you eliminate or resolve the small problems that plague many in day-to-day living. Mundane things like being able to stand up and sit down, climb a flight of stairs, or do household chores, become easier.

Aside from the obvious physical improvements, you’ll see mental improvements as well. Muay Thai trains your mind just as well as your body. It requires analytical thinking, which is sharpened as you think while moving your body at the same time.

5) It changes your mindset

Muay Thai is just as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one.

Intense workouts like Muay Thai also encourage the body to produce more endorphins, which are also known as the ‘happy hormones.’

As a result of the endorphins released during Muay Thai, you develop a generally positive disposition as you train regularly. This positive disposition spills over to every aspect of your life.

This improved mood affects your relationships. You learn how to deal with difficult characters, especially in the gym, and this also helps in dealing with people outside of it. As you become a student during training, it humbles you and develops your collaborative skills in working with your training partners, and those social skills spill over to your normal life as well.

Lastly, training improves your self-confidence as you feel better about your physique. It helps you believe in yourself more, and helps you feel like you are in full control of your body.

Muay Thai will change the way you look at life, and it will help transform your surroundings as you see the world from a different perspective.

So if you’re looking to unleash your greatness in 2021, give Muay Thai a try!