Working out can help you lose weight but different exercises can have different effects. Find out how good kickboxing is for this purpose.
First of all, kickboxing can help you lose weight by increasing the amount of energy you use up. If this amount exceeds the energy coming in from food, your body starts using energy stores like body fat.
That being said, this principle applies to every type of exercise. You likely also want to know how kickboxing compares to other options.
There is a more detailed list below but it is fair to say that kickboxing can burn a lot of calories per minute compared to many other exercises.
In turn, you can definitely say that kickboxing can be good for weight loss. Especially if you enjoy doing it.
Can kickboxing help you lose weight?
The first thing to note is that kickboxing (and basically any other form of exercise) can help you lose weight. At the same time, moving more is also no guarantee for seeing results.
If you want to lose weight, you need to make it so your body requires more energy to function than is coming in from food. At this point, you will start using energy stores like body fat to get the remaining energy needs.
Cardiovascular workouts like kickboxing help this weight loss process by increasing how much energy (measured in calories) you use.
This is because more intense movements typically require more energy from your body.
That being said, increasing how much energy you use is not necessarily a guarantee for getting weight loss results.
Your habits in other lifestyle areas like nutrition still need to be good enough to get into the situation mentioned above
Additionally, if you are looking for a form of exercise to help you get in shape, you not only care about whether or not kickboxing can help with this.
Since you have limited time, you likely also care about how effective kickboxing is for weight loss compared to other options.
Calories burned kickboxing vs workout alternatives
To make this comparison you can look at the estimations about how many calories different types of workouts will burn.
Something to note first is that these estimations are inevitably not perfect.
Two people of the same body weight can burn different amounts of calories with kickboxing because of differences in muscle mass, intensity, hormone levels, etc.
That aside, these numbers do still give you somewhat of an idea about how kickboxing compares to other options for losing weight.
The calorie-burning estimations below are for a 155-pound (70 kg) person doing the activities for 30 minutes (1).
- Kickboxing: 372 calories
- Water Aerobics: 149 calories
- Stretching (Hatha Yoga): 186 calories
- Rowing, Stationary (moderate): 260 calories
- Bicycling, Stationary (moderate): 260 calories
- Elliptical Trainer (general): 335 calories
- Running 5.2 mph: 335 calories
- Jumping rope: 372 calories
- Swimming (breaststroke): 372 calories
The intensity at which you do these activities will still influence the details a lot.
However, it becomes clear that kickboxing can burn a large number of calories per minute compared to many other workouts. In turn, you can definitely say this activity is relatively good for weight loss.
Can you lose belly fat by doing kickboxing?
There is a common belief that you have to do certain activities or eat certain foods to lose belly fat or fat from other specific areas.
Unfortunately, targeting fat loss in significant amounts is typically not possible.
If you want to lose fat around your stomach you want to lose enough weight overall. As you do this, you will gradually use more and more fat from this area.
In simpler words, you can lose belly fat by doing kickboxing but doing this activity is no guarantee for burning belly fat either.
Your lifestyle habits still need to be good enough to lose weight. And even then, your body may mostly use fat from other areas first.
How fast can you lose weight with kickboxing?
With the calorie-burning estimations from above, you can predict how fast you can get the weight loss results kickboxing offers.
This can motivate you to stay consistent with your workouts and figure out whether you are doing something suboptimal in other areas.
Assume that there is a 185-pound (83 kg) person with a routine that keeps him/her at the same weight. The only change this individual will make is implementing more kickboxing workouts.
In that case, this person can lose 1 pound (0.45 kg) of body fat by doing 237 minutes (about 4 hours) of kickboxing.
These weight loss results can be noticeable as fast as right after the workout since your body uses these calories in the moment to fuel your movements.
One important thing to note is that as you lose weight, the same kickboxing workouts will start to burn fewer calories. To keep seeing results you will have to implement more positive changes.
How many times a week should you do kickboxing to lose weight?
You may wonder how often you should do kickboxing workouts to achieve your weight loss goals.
Unfortunately, there is no single answer that applies to everyone.
The first reason for this is that your exact kickboxing weight loss results will depend a lot on your other lifestyle habits.
Some people will lose weight without doing any kickboxing. Others can do kickboxing 3 times a week and more without any results.
Secondly, different people of different ages, fitness levels, and genes can vary a lot in terms of what their bodies can deal with.
Some people are able to do kickboxing every day of the week without issues. Others can get injured if they don’t implement enough rest days.
You can start with something like one to three kickboxing sessions a week. After that, you can adjust how many times a week you train depending on how your body reacts and your weight loss results.
What is happening if you are kickboxing but not losing weight?
It is possible that you sweat in the kickboxing gym for many hours, take many punches to the face, and get completely out of breath multiple times but still not lose any weight.
For most people, the main reason for this is suboptimal habits in other lifestyle habits like nutrition.
If you are kickboxing but still not losing weight, you likely need to pay more attention to these other areas of your health and/or make even more positive changes in your kickboxing and workout routine.
Should you do kickboxing for weight loss?
Helping weight loss is definitely one of the benefits kickboxing offers. The main reason for this is that this activity can help you burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time.
Another benefit of this activity is that many people enjoy doing it. In turn, this can improve how consistent you are with your exercise routine.
You may burn a few extra calories by running at a high speed but if you don’t enjoy this, kickboxing could be the better choice.
If your main goal is to lose weight, it can also be helpful to implement a few muscle-building workouts a week.
These can help you weigh more in a healthy way and in turn, help you burn more calories throughout the day. Including during your kickboxing workouts.
Lastly, keep in mind that other habits like what you eat still influence a lot. You can have a great workout plan with a lot of kickboxing and still gain weight with suboptimal habits in these other areas.
FAQ
How often should you do kickboxing to lose weight?
There is no single answer to how often you should kickbox to lose weight due to differences in lifestyle habits and capacities. That being said, a 155-pound (70 kg) person could burn an extra 1116 calories per week with 3 kickboxing sessions of 30 minutes.
How long does it take to lose weight with kickboxing?
How long it takes to lose weight with kickboxing depends a lot on your habits in areas like your diet. That being said, a 155-pound person would have to kickbox for about 283 minutes to burn the number of calories in one pound (0.45 kg) of body fat.
