Why Martial Arts Is The Best Long-Term Investment In Your Health

As we grow older, long hours at the desk and daily responsibilities can quietly take a toll on our bodies. A lack of movement often leads to stiff joints, persistent aches, and health issues linked to inactivity. This growing concern has been highlighted in recent health reports and articles around the world. Even in Singapore, studies have shown a steady rise in lifestyle-related conditions tied to low activity levels. With all that in mind, picking up martial arts here in Singapore or at your local gym could be one of the smartest long term decisions you make for your health. It is grounded in science, supported by real results, and built to stay with you for life. Combat sports, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), Muay Thai, Wrestling, and boxing, offer a multifaceted, full-body approach to fitness that outperforms conventional gym workouts.

Investing In Your Long-Term Health With Martial Arts Training

Martial arts training goes far beyond learning fighting techniques. It offers a holistic approach to fitness that strengthens both the mind and the body.

Let’s explore why signing up for martial arts classes is the best investment you can make for your long-term health and quality of life.

1) Strengthens Your Cardiovascular System

Martial arts like Muay Thai, Boxing, and Wrestling combine aerobic and anaerobic training to boost heart health, burn fat, and improve cholesterol—delivering all-in-one cardio and conditioning benefits.

Traditional steady-state exercises like jogging, cycling, and hiking are great for heart health, but martial arts give you all the benefits you get from both aerobic exercises and anaerobic exercise during each class.

Martial arts like Muay Thai, Boxing, and Wrestling mimic high-intensity interval training, as they involve short bursts of intense exercise followed by short rest periods. This is precisely what your body needs to raise your VO2 max and lower your resting heart rate.

Exercises like pad work, heavy bag drills, and sparring provide continuous moderate-intensity exercise that strengthens your heart and lungs. The Singapore Physical Activity Guidelines recommend engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week to maintain heart and body health. Training martial arts two or three times a week easily beats that target.

Engaging in both aerobic and anaerobic exercise through your training helps burn fat from your body while improving your blood lipids. Training raises your high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or good cholesterol) levels while lowering your low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol) levels, helping to clear your arteries and reducing your risk of health events, such as strokes and heart attacks.

2) Enhanced Flexibility And Mobility

Martial arts training improves flexibility by stretching muscles through full ranges of motion, with disciplines like BJJ and Muay Thai boosting mobility, balance, and agility more effectively than conventional workouts.

Martial arts training helps improve flexibility, as many of the techniques you learn, like kicks, takedowns, and throws, stretch your muscles through full ranges of motion. Research shows that older adults who train in martial arts improve their balance, flexibility, and agility more than people who work out conventionally.

Grappling-based martial arts, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), require hip, shoulder, and spine mobility to execute sweeps, reversals, and submissions effectively. Striking-based martial arts like Muay Thai increase flexibility in your hips as you learn techniques like roundhouse kicks and knees.

A typical martial arts class begins with dynamic stretches and warm-ups, demonstrating to students the importance of stretching. The stretching that occurs during class often leads to noticeable improvements in flexibility, which encourages students to start stretching on their own. The increased flexibility training makes everyday movements much easier, allowing you to enjoy a broader range of fun activities due to your improved mobility.

3) Stronger Bones And Joints

Martial arts training delivers the high-impact loading needed to boost bone density, with studies showing it outperforms machine workouts in preventing injuries like fractures and conditions like osteoporosis.

Machine-based workouts don’t give your bones the high-impact loading they need to maintain density or become denser. On the other hand, martial arts training provides a significant amount of bone-loading impact that strengthens your bones, and improving your bone density over time.

One study showed that adolescents who train in martial arts, have significantly higher bone density in their arms, legs, and spine compared to their peers who don’t train.

Systematic reviews conclude that combat sports are among the most effective activities for preventing osteoporosis and osteopenia across all ages.

Research indicates that adult MMA fighters have the highest BMD measurements among all athletes, surpassing those of recreational weightlifters.

4) Unmatched Mental Well-Being

Martial arts training boosts mental health by combining focused movement, social connection, and endorphin-releasing workouts that reduce stress, sharpen focus, and improve mood and self-esteem.

All forms of exercise are beneficial for mental health, but martial arts training offers numerous advantages beyond regular exercise, including improved focus and an expanded social support network.

Training requires you to focus on your drill techniques and anticipate what training partners will do next, which serves as active meditation, lowering cortisol levels and reducing anxiety.

Research shows that martial arts training can significantly reduce stress while boosting self-esteem. Martial arts training also improves cognitive function, as it helps by enhancing memory, improving focus, and sharpening ability to problem-solve under pressure.

The sense of community you build with your training partners creates a feeling of belonging that helps protect you from loneliness, which can often lead to isolation.

The intense exercise you get from martial arts training releases endorphins that help manage your mood. Training also helps free you of obsessive thoughts by forcing you to remain in the present and clearing your thoughts.

5) Easier To Sustain Long-Term

Unlike repetitive gym routines, martial arts training stays exciting with constant learning, partner interaction, and a fun, engaging atmosphere that makes it easy to stick with long-term.

Gym workouts can become stale quickly, as there are only so many effective ways to engage any given muscle. You might be excited at the start of your new gym workout, but it’s only a matter of time before it becomes boring. Only the most disciplined gym-goers can stick to conventional workouts long-term, because they eventually become just another chore to complete.

Martial arts training is easier to stick to in the long term. You’re constantly learning new techniques, interacting with training partners, and to top it off, you’ll have a lot of fun while training! Training will quickly become one of your favorite activities, making it easy to stick to, regardless of what life throws your way. The dojo becomes your happy place, where you can escape the stress and just focus on you.

How Martial Arts Training Stacks Up Against Fitness Fads

Compared to HIIT, cycling, and gym workouts, martial arts offers a full-body, high-calorie burn while building coordination, flexibility, and mental sharpness, making it the best long-term fitness investment.

Now that we’ve gone over how martial arts training is the best investment for your long-term health, let’s compare it to some popular fitness routines:

• HIIT: HIIT burns a lot of calories, but it can also wear your body down if you’re not careful.
• Cycling: Cycling is fantastic for leg endurance, but it neglects your upper body. It also doesn’t burn as many calories as martial arts training or high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
• Traditional Gym Workouts: Traditional gym workouts allow you to isolate muscle groups effectively, but they won’t develop timing, coordination, or combat-specific conditioning. While gym workouts are more effective at sculpting your physique, they won’t improve your problem-solving skills, speed, flexibility, and endurance as much as martial arts training does.

Building A Body (And Mind) That Lasts

Investing time and effort in martial arts training yields numerous health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, increased bone density, enhanced flexibility, increased endurance, and stronger muscles. You also get to meet cool people while learning effective self-defense techniques.

Ready to give martial arts training a try? Evolve MMA offers complimentary classes, where you can experience firsthand what training is like, with no commitment. These classes are led by our experienced instructors and are a great way to see if martial arts is right for you.

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 (Orchard Central)
181 Orchard Road
#06-01 Orchard Central
Singapore 238896
Phone: Evolve MMA (KINEX)
11 Tanjong Katong Road
#02-52 KINEX
Singapore 437157
Phone: Evolve MMA (Star Vista)
1 Vista Exchange Green
#02-26A The Star Vista
Singapore 138617
Phone: (65) 6539 9590