Tae Bo is a system of fitness training designed by martial artist and action movie star Billy Blanks and based on the Korean martial art taekwondo. During the 1990s, Blanks released a number of exercise videos and books showcasing his exercise system, which combines martial arts techniques with aerobic and dance moves to provide an effective cardiovascular workout. Popular among home exercisers, Tae Bo is also taught in exercise studios under license from Blanks.
Aerobic Fitness and Health
Tae Bo workouts are predominately aerobic. They elevate your breathing and heart rate and challenge your entire circulatory system. The exercises in Tae Bo use large muscle groups in a rhythmic fashion, which increases your body's demand for oxygen and forces your heart and lungs to respond by working harder. The American College of Sports Medicine states that aerobic fitness is closely associated with cardiovascular health. Being aerobically fit can lower your risks of developing coronary heart disease, hypertension and other cardio-respiratory conditions.
Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or muscle group to work for a long duration against a low resistance without becoming fatigued. Tae Bo uses a lot of repetitive movements which challenge your muscles to perform for extended periods of time. Kicks, blocks and punches are performed over and over. This increases your aerobic fitness and develops your muscular endurance and also increases muscle tone. Muscular endurance is important and prevents you from becoming fatigued when performing repetitive everyday activities such as gardening, manual labor or walking.
Coordination
Coordination is your ability to move multiple limbs at the same time in a synergistic and harmonious fashion. Rubbing your stomach while patting your head is a very rudimentary test of coordination. Tae Bo requires you to move your arms and legs simultaneously, often while moving forward, backward or sideways. Initially, this may prove challenging but as your coordination improves and your body becomes more efficient, you will find that your control over your limbs improves. Coordination, the result of improved nervous system function, can make complex physical tasks easier and will result in smoother, more economical movements.
Flexibility
Tight muscles are more prone to injury than flexible muscles. Tight muscles, often described as being hypertonic, can result in poor posture, limited range of movement and joint pain. Tight hamstrings, for example, can make bending down to touch the floor very difficult. Tae Bo, like most martial arts activities, places an emphasis on stretching, which results in increased flexibility. Techniques such as kicks and lunges develop lower-body flexibility while punches and twists will improve upper-body flexibility.
Weight Management
Tae Bo, like all forms of aerobic exercise, is an effective calorie burner. Aerobic exercise can burn between 400 to 800 calories per hour, depending on your body size and exercise intensity. Aerobic exercise predominately burns fat for fuel and, combined with a calorie restrictive diet, will result in body fat being used for energy. Many people exercise for weight management and Tae Bo provides an effective tool for this purpose.
References
- "The Tae Bo Way"; Billy Blanks; 1999
- "ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2009
- "Essentials of Exercise Physiology"; Frank I. Katch, William D. McArdle and Victor L. Katch; 2000
- TaeBoTraining.com: About Tae Bo
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