If you've never sparred, you have no idea how strenuous even a short session is. According to fitness resource website NutriStrategy, an average-sized person will burn between 600 and 800 calories per hour from a session of sparring. As a weight-loss method, this has the advantages of being engaging and giving you a high level of caloric burn. The main disadvantage is that you need at least two people to work out with you — which may make it hard to schedule regular sessions.
Step 1
Choose the kind of sparring you want to do. Examples include boxing, karate, wrestling, judo and jiujitsu. All provide a powerful cardiovascular burn, so you're best off choosing a style that you think you'll enjoy — or that is easily available.
Step 2
Enroll in formal training in the style you want to use for sparring. Without training, you'll never achieve the rhythm and skill that allows you to spar long enough to lose weight. Your trainer will let you know when you're ready to spar seriously. This can take several months.
Step 3
Schedule regular meetings with a referee and at least one sparring partner. The partner is there to spar with, and the referee will help you keep things safe and also watch the clock. Your sparring sessions should last between 30 and 60 minutes, and you'll want to meet three or four times per week if this is your only weight-loss exercise.
Step 4
Spar in a round-by-round format. Spar for one or two minutes at a time, with a one-minute rest in between. The rest lets you settle down any anger or frustration you've built up, and helps you carry on for the entire duration of your session. Resting for longer than one minute at a time lets your heart rate lower to the point that you start burning significantly fewer calories.
Step 5
Be alert for injuries throughout your session .Sparring will unavoidably include a few minor "dings," but stop sparring for the day if something hurts for more than a few minutes. Injuries can mean not sparring for several weeks, which will slow your weight-loss progress.
Step 6
Eat after sparring and before you weigh in. Your sparring will help you burn fat, but you'll also sweat out a lot of water weight. If you weigh in immediately after sparring, you'll show a falsely low weight because of the lost body water.
Tips and Warnings
- You'll get the best results from sparring for weight loss if you support your efforts with a calorie-restricted diet and some cardiovascular workouts on days you don't spar.
- Never spar without the supervision of a qualified instructor.
Things You'll Need
- Sparring equipment
- Training area
References
- "You: Losing Weight"; Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz; 2011
- NutriStrategy: Calories Burned during Exercise, Activities, Sports and Work
- "The Art of Expressing the Human Body"; Bruce Lee; 1998
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