Martial arts training focuses on explosive power directed toward a specific target. While this focus can help you develop fast-twitch muscles, burn fat and improve your muscular endurance, you'll have to begin a weight-training program to build muscles in your legs. Karate and other martial arts can be effective for weight loss and to help you develop your cardiovascular system, but they do little to help gain muscle. If you're looking to burn fat from your thighs and develop lean legs, martial arts could be the right fit. But if you're trying to build thigh muscles, you'll need to go to the gym.
How Muscles Grow
Your muscles grow as a result of microscopic trauma that occurs when you lift weights. When your muscles heal after a workout, they often heal larger and stronger. Over time, this growth can result in visibly larger muscles. The growth also depends on the amount of protein in your system and the growth hormones in your body, according to the University of New Mexico.
Train With Heavy Weights
If your goal is to build muscle, you're going to have to go to the gym and lift heavy weights. The best way to do this is to work out with weights heavy enough that you can only perform four to six repetitions. The exercises should help you work your targeted muscles to exhaustion. This will develop those microscopic tears in your muscles to allow them to repair themselves bigger and stronger than they were before.
Fast-Twitch Muscles
The focus of martial arts is developing the speed and accuracy necessary to deliver explosive power to a small target. Because of this focus, much of your martial arts training will involve reacting quickly to a technique. This helps train your fast-twitch muscle fibers to deliver increased power more quickly than an untrained person could.
Lean Muscle
The martial arts workout often involves extended periods of motion to develop your cardiovascular system. This helps you become more aerobically fit and able to exercise longer at a higher intensity. You will notice that you're burning calories more effectively and losing some of the fat that has been stored in your body. The one thing that you won't see as a result of karate training is the development of big, bulky muscles.
Member Comments