A ten-minute Karate workout burns more calories than 60 minutes of Aerobics.
Find out how
Fact: Karate and Tae Kwon Do workouts can, Boost your metabolism and increase your testosterone to burn calories up to 14 hours after you’ve finished exercising.
In late July, I got interested in, exactly, how martial arts workouts impacted the body and decided to do some research to find out.
Unfortunately, I could not find anything written by anyone in authority to explain how or why people who trained in Martial arts Classes, specifically Karate and Tae Kwon Do, can lose weight.
Although I was not able to find any information about how Karate worked, I was able to find information in a comparable sports activity “Sprinting”. Before I convey my findings to you let me first make a point very clear that although sprinting is typically associated with very fast running, actually sprinting is any physical activity that causes your cardiovascular system to exceed 80% demand for oxygen thereby throwing the body into oxygen debt.
The scientific term for what sprinting does to the body is called anaerobic or anabolic; The scientific term for what jogging does to the body is called aerobic or catabolic. There are many sports that have a form of sprinting: running when you run fast; swimming, when you swim fast; biking, when you bike fast etc..
In a Karate or Tae Kwon Do class sprinting is done when you do rapid-fire punches, kicks, or patterns. Unlike aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercises can only be done for short periods, between 30 seconds and one minute.
Before we get into what I have discovered about running let's discuss the different way that a catabolic/aerobic workout affect the body from an anabolic/anaerobic workout.
In an August 2019 story in Healthline entitled Catabolism vs. Anabolism: What’s the Difference, Ashley Marcin writes:
Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS — Written by Ashley Marcin — Updated on August 6, 2019
Overview
Your metabolism involves a set of processes that all living things use to maintain their bodies. These processes include both anabolism and catabolism. Both help organize molecules by freeing and capturing energy to keep the body running strong. These phases of metabolism happen simultaneously.
Anabolism centers around growth and building — the organization of molecules. In this process, small, simple molecules are built up into larger, more complex ones. An example of anabolism is gluconeogenesis. This is when the liver and kidneys produce glucose from noncarbohydrate sources.
Catabolism is what happens when you digest food and the molecules break down in the body for use as energy. Large, complex molecules in the body are broken down into smaller, simple ones. An example of catabolism is glycolysis. This process is almost the reverse of gluconeogenesis.
Understanding anabolism and catabolism can help you train more effectively to lose fat and gain muscle. Rest is also a part of the equation. Your metabolism is at work even when you’re sleeping.
Hormones involved in catabolism and anabolism
Your hormones play an important role in these processes. Different hormones in the body are associated with either anabolism and catabolism.
Anabolism involves the hormones:
Estrogen
Insulin
Growth hormone
Testosterone
Catabolism involves the hormones:
Adrenaline
Cortisol
Cytokines
Glucagon
On the face of it, the clear distinction between Catabolism and Anabolism is catabolism break molecules down, anabolism builds molecules up, but there is more! If you look at the hormones involved in anabolism you’ll see the hormones used to build molecules up (testosterone and growth hormone) are important building blocks in the development of muscle which is an active body part and burns calories simply by existing. As an added benefit the increase in “estrogen” could improve libido.
Ms. Marcin also writes:
If you do a lot of anabolic workouts, you’ll tend to shed fat and maintain or even gain muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, so your body weight and body mass index may stay higher despite a leaner physique.
Catabolic workouts, on the other hand, may help you shed pounds by working off both fat and muscle. You’ll weigh less, but you’ll also have far less critical muscle mass.
Continuing my research, I found an article in “The Nest” a magazine for women entitled “Jogging Vs. Sprinting and Metabolism” by Andrea Chrysanthou she writes:
Calories Burned During Exercise
Minute by minute, you’ll burn more calories sprinting than you will be jogging. A 140-pound person will burn 9 calories running at a pace of 5 mph and 24 calories sprinting at a pace of 12 mph. But while it’s obvious that in that minute you’ll elevate your metabolism and burn more calories sprinting, this calculation is deceiving. Most people can only sprint for very short periods, while they can sometimes jog for hours. Depending on how long you jog, you’ll keep your metabolism increased and burn more calories while jogging than while sprinting.
EPOC
When considering which exercise is a better option, you have to look at how it affects your metabolism after your workout ends. Because sprinting is so intense, your body develops an oxygen deficit during the exercise. Your metabolism then has to stay raised after the exercise is over to restore the oxygen to your bloodstream. This is referred to as EPOC or "excess post-exercise oxygen consumption." This so-called after-burn is minimal after exercises with lower intensities such as jogging but becomes significant with exercises of high intensity.
EPOC And Calories
EPOC is what makes sprinting the clear winner in the metabolism-boosting race. A 2012 study conducted at Colorado State University found that just 2.5 minutes of sprinting raised subjects' metabolism and burned an extra 200 calories after the exercise ended. Another study published in the September 2011 edition of the journal "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" found that EPOC can keep your metabolism raised for 14 hours. Considering the after-burn after longer periods of jogging is minimal, sprinting emerge as the long-term better option for boosting your metabolism.
Armed with this information I hypothesized that because of EPOC sprinting seems to be a much more efficient way to boost your metabolism and increase muscle while losing weight. The metabolism-boosting part became particularly interesting to me because as a man in my 60’s I have noticed that (due to my metabolism slowing) my body doesn’t shed weight as easily as it did when I was in my 20’s and I find myself having to work two to three times as hard to get the weight off. Additionally, I’ve been suffering burnout from being inundated with mandatory kickboxing since my early 20’s and was looking for a fresh way to lose weight and not have to spend hours working out doing it. It occurred to me that because Karate is a full-body workout of precise moves, a Karate workout should be at the upper level of the EPOC burn of approximately 14 hours after the workout. This I found to be extremely appealing: 14 hours of caloric burn for about 10 minutes work!
People who know me know that I am a big believer in stimulating muscles with light weights before and during a workout so that they can assist in the burning of calories in my kickboxing workout. Being consistent with this theme I did two things: devised an anaerobic all Karate workout that capitalizes on the EPOC concept and I modified my Fighting Fit Kickboxing program to make a combination of aerobic and anaerobic so that my aerobics students can have the benefit of the EPOC after-burn.
During August I used the 10-minute Karate workout to lose weight; I lost 15 pounds in six weeks and am on my way to losing 30 in twelve. I must say for the record that I also modified my diet, but, again, the exciting thing is that I have only been working out for a little over 10 minutes a day.
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