Does Krav Maga Build Muscle? According to a study


muscle

Training in various martial arts is a suitable way to get in shape quickly. Its training works on many muscle groups in your body, thus burning more calories and fatiguing them. As a result, seeing a better physical condition as the effect of martial arts training is typical. 

Krav Maga will build muscle and burn many calories because the training involves using plenty of muscle groups in the body. As a result, you’ll burn more calories and encourage hypertrophy in the muscles, thus promoting muscle growth. For that reason, you’ll feel fatigue post-workout.

In this article, I’ll show that Krav Maga is an intense workout that can promote muscle growth and assist you in losing weight. Today, achieving that is highly desirable. As a result, if you can train in a fighting style you enjoy doing while bettering your physical condition, wouldn’t you jump on this opportunity?

According to a study conducted in April of 2019, Krav Maga is an intense workout suitable for weight loss and building muscle. (ACE)

 As a result, if one of your goals is to better your physical shape with martial arts training, Krav Maga is highly effective for that purpose. 

Additionally, in an average Krav Maga one-hour session, the participants burned 616 calories. In comparison to other sports, that’s a fantastic rate. Furthermore, that average is with the warmup and cool-down, which means its peak work time is higher. 

Activity Calories (Per hour)
Krav Maga616
Running590 – 931
Sprinting270-400
Weight lifting200-400
Boxingup to 800
Crossfit480
Walking210-360

From the table I’ve made, you see and understand that Krav Maga’s hour-long session isn’t a joke. It’s a complete workout that’ll encourage muscle growth and weight loss. As a result, if you want to achieve that, martial art is a suitable route to take.

What muscles does Krav Maga work?

To answer that question, we must understand what a Krav Maga session consists of in the session. That way, we’ll be able to analyze the distinct muscle groups you’ll work on while training in it. 

Krav Maga works on most muscle groups in the body, including the shoulders, arms, quads, hamstrings, back, and chest. While punching and kicking, you’re primarily using the shoulders, arms, abs, and chest. Furthermore, while ground fighting, you’re utilizing your legs and back. 

Because of that, we can interpret that it’s a fantastic full-body workout. Understand that for muscle growth, lifting weights will be more effective. However, you’re burning more calories and improving your aerobic and anaerobic shape in Krav Maga. 

I assure you that after a single session, you’ll be fatigued for the next couple of days, especially if you have the right mentality. Training in Krav Maga is an intense workout everyone should do to better their physical shape. 

If you want to read more about whether martial arts are a reliable way to get in shape, I wrote an article on that topic, and I highly encourage you to check it out.  

When going to the gym to do a full-body workout, the muscles you’re going to work on are the same as the ones that work in Krav Maga. With proper nutrition, you’ll notice muscle growth with dedication and consistency. 

I’m no dietician. Because of that, I highly encourage you to check out this article by everyoneactive.com to read about proper nutrition for muscle growth.

How often should you train Krav Maga to build muscle?

Knowing the frequency of your martial arts training is crucial to seeing results. Because of that, before you begin attending classes, consult with the instructor to ensure you’re capable of adapting to the workload. 

As a general rule, training between once to twice a week will ensure you maximize physical results. Because to notice muscle growth, you must let your body recover for at least 72 hours. As a result, training twice a week will maximize hypertrophy; hence you’ll build muscle the fastest.

Yet, adapting to the session is crucial. Every instructor is different. Because of that, feeling your body and knowing when to take a rest day; is vital for seeing progress. Because of that, I highly encourage you to consult the instructor on the frequency of the sessions you’ll get. 

From personal experience, training once a week for an hour was the golden number. Consequently, I maximized my physical condition while in my special forces training. Therefore, I let my body rest and built itself up from the fatigue. 

Will Krav Maga help you lose weight?

According to the study I mentioned earlier, Krav Maga is a fantastic way to get in shape. If your goal is to better your physical condition from martial arts, doing it is suitable for your cause. 

Krav Maga will help you lose weight because, in an hour session, you burn 616 calories. You use many muscle groups; thus, you burn more calories than the average workout. As a result, you’ll better your physical condition and lose weight in the process of training your favorite martial art. 

Because of the number of calories you burn, losing weight becomes effortless. From personal experience, I was able to get in shape quickly using martial arts training. I knew that with proper nutrition, I would decrease my body fat. 

I highly encourage you to try training in Krav Maga. With a well-trained instructor, you’ll notice that you’re out of breath constantly. That’s a sign that you’re using your whole body all the time. Consequently, you’ll burn more calories which means a decrease in body fat. Hence Krav Maga assists the trainee in weight loss. 

Does Krav Maga improve physical condition?

One of the earlier benefits of martial arts training is better physical condition. In today’s world, it’s highly desirable to better your physical state. As a result, if you can train your favorite martial art while improving your condition, I think it’s a win-win situation. 

Krav Maga improves physical condition because its training is intense. As a result, you’ll burn more calories and improve your aerobic and anaerobic shape. Thus Krav Maga trainees will notice an improvement in their physical shape after the first session. 

When I first began my training, I immediately noticed I was fatigued two days post-workout. As a result, I understood that it was because of the session’s intensity that I was feeling like that. 

Can I lift weights and do Krav Maga?

Incorporating a few types of exercises is crucial to see physical progress. Whether your goal is to lose weight or build muscle, lifting weights can highly assist your results.

Lifting weights and doing Krav Maga is more valuable than doing one exercise alone. Because you’ll maximize hypertrophy by doing both, they go hand-in-hand. For instance, a trainee who does both Krav Maga and weightlifting will improve the aerobic shape and maximize muscle growth.

As a whole, knowing what your body is capable of doing is crucial to not injuring yourself. If you’re going to go full-on workouts and fatigue your muscles to a level they won’t grow, you’re not achieving anything. 

However, if you’re incorporating both movements to ensure you maximize the increase in physical condition, you’ll see the best results. 

I wrote an article where I go in-depth on whether martial arts are better than the gym, or should you do both? I highly encourage you to read it if you’re interested in this topic. 

Conclusion

As you may have realized, I love Krav Maga. It’s one of my favorite workouts because of the benefits and the enjoyment it grants me. Not only am I able to improve my physical condition, but I’m also having fun, which is vital. 

Overall, Krav Maga does build muscles and assist in losing body fat. As a result, if your goal is one of them, I encourage you to look into joining a Krav Maga class, as it’ll change your life.

Levi

I've served in the military as a special forces operator for 4-years. In that period, I've trained in many martial arts, including karate, MMA, BJJ, boxing, and even Krav Maga. I want to share my passion with you, so here it is!

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