Is Aikido a good form of exercise?

Whilst many people turn to martial arts as a form of self-defense, they also offer other life-enhancing traits such as discipline and physical exercise. With this said, Aikido is no different from other martial arts as it can offer a great form of exercise whilst socializing and learning self-defense skills at the same time. Because of this, if you are wanting to lose weight, get a good cardio workout, and have fun at the same time, then Aikido may be an option to consider.

Perhaps the beauty of Aikido is that it can bring different benefits to different students. For instance, if you want to learn the spiritual side of the art and study the history and culture then that is one option. Another option is exercise which is particularly popular with older students of the art. Below we will assess the physical benefits of Aikido and how it can improve your body in various ways. Put simply, Aikido is an unusual way to get into great shape!

Aikido as a cardio workout

Aikido can provide a solid cardio workout. This isn’t always the case, however. Before signing up it’s best to check at the dojo with regards to how they train. As each dojo is different, some will focus on slower techniques and less of a warm-up. If this is not what you’re after then you may want to consider training elsewhere. Luckily, the average city has a few different dojos to choose from. Because of this, it may be worth window shopping before committing to a contract.

Anyway, let’s say you choose to train at a typical Aikido gym. This will involve a lot of cardio, especially during the warm-up section at the beginning of the class. One of the main areas of learning Aikido is movement, so you will use your legs to move your body. Not only this, but Aikido places great emphasis on how to fall properly. As a result, you can expect to drill breakfalls and forward rolls as well as other forms of cardio. Combined with wearing a heavy Aikido gym, you may start sweating during the warmup which is a sign that your heart is being well-worked. As a result, remember to bring water with you to avoid dehydration.

Aikido as a core workout

Aikido is also a good form of improving your core muscles and generally all of your muscles throughout the body. For instance, the movements will push your stomach, legs, and arms as well as muscles you may have not even known that you had. Basically, Aikido is great for this and doesn’t just offer cardio benefits. It’s good to get a healthy, strong core as it will help your muscles as you enter old age. As muscles begin to decay and naturally weaken, it’s a good foundation to build strong muscles whilst younger. Similarly, if you’re already old then it’s even better as you can still tone and enhance your current set of muscles.

The way in which Aikido improves your core is through the movements. For instance, if you get thrown then you will need to roll which involves using your stomach and neck muscles. Further, doing takedowns will also involve leg and arm strength. If you stick around the dojo long enough, over time your muscles in these areas will start to develop and improve. Eventually, you will develop an athletic physique to match this.

The Shikko Ho movement is a great workout

The Shikko Ho is a traditional movement found in Aikido. This involves walking around on your knees and feet. The idea of this move is to build your leg muscles and improve your coordination. Sometimes, you will do this movement and similar forms towards the start or end of the class as a cool-down. This will quickly start to build and burn your quad muscles in the legs.

This movement isn’t for the faint-hearted either. As it’s such an unusual and dynamic movement, it can be hard to pick up for newcomers. Similarly, it can be too tiresome to continue beyond 30 seconds or so. Because of this, the Shikko Ho is a great movement that will help improve your strength and conditioning in your legs. Thankfully, the Shikko Ho is not alone in Aikido.

There are many other core workout drills to choose from to target various parts of your body. Not only this but after enough drilling, you can eventually do these at home or outside the dojo for practice. This means that some of the skills learned in the gym can also be applied elsewhere, giving you skills and workout methods to use anywhere no matter the situation.

Aikido will help strengthen your body against falls

This has been touched upon above with regards to strength and conditioning. In short, Aikido often involves practicing throws and falls. Because of this, you will learn to breakfall properly to avoid injury. If you fall badly and don’t know how to break your fall, you can seriously injure yourself by hitting your head or breaking your arm. Sadly, this happens in various sports as even top athletes don’t know how to fall properly. Aikido will train you to avoid falling badly and minimizing injury. As a result, this exercise will also help your body in another way.

Aikido also offers forms of Yoga

In some dojos, the warm up will also offer forms of Aikido. Before starting any form of exercise, it’s good to stretch your muscles and warm up to avoid injury. Basically, the tighter the muscles, the more chance of injury. However, by loosening the muscles you will lessen the chance of injury. Sometimes you will do similar poses to yoga to begin with.

Again, if you’re looking towards elder age then yoga is a fantastic method of preserving your body. Combined with the above forms of cardio and conditioning that you can gain from training Aikido, flexibility is another benefit. With these three improvements gained from the martial art, it is clear that it offers a good baseline for improving your physical health.

Remember to train at your own pace

If you go to a typical dojo, it may have a number of older students and practitioners. Obviously, these people will not be training at the pace of the younger crowd. This isn’t exclusive to Aikido either, it’s also seen in other martial arts and is completely understandable. Because of this, if you are older then you will not be forced into extreme exercise so don’t worry. This is one of the benefits of Aikido, it can be trained by people of all ages and athletic backgrounds.

As mentioned earlier, it’s best to choose the right gym for you. However, it’s also true that most gyms will let you go at your own pace. Whilst it’s expected that you show a good reputation and at least attempt warm-ups and drills, it’s also completely understandable if you need to go slower, especially to begin with. In brief, no one is expecting you to compete with the youngest, fittest person in the room so if you do need to ease into the exercise side of things then this is fine.

Aikido isn’t as tiresome compared to other martial arts

Other martial arts aren’t as slow-paced when compared to Aikido. In general, it’s fair to say that Aikido has a fairly soft approach which isn’t as aggressive compared to other disciplines. Basically, you may be able to get a workout going by training Aikido – however, it won’t be as tiresome compared to other martial arts. For example, training wrestling is notoriously tough in terms of cardio. Even in terms of muscle use, wrestling can be quite taxing.

Ultimately, it depends on your perspective. If you’re older and don’t want to test yourself too much, then Aikido is a good option. However, if you’re after something more intense then there are plenty of other options available.

Summary

In conclusion, Aikido offers a really good form of physical exercise and can be considered a solid workout. Not only this but there are also other benefits such as self-defense and the joy of learning something completely new. Remember, however, results will not come overnight. Like all good things in life that are worth pursuing, they take time.

You shouldn’t expect to see benefits right away and a real physical translation may take months or even years to accomplish. However, the good thing is that if you are willing to push yourself then you are certain to see results. With this said, Aikido should be a serious consideration to anyone who is wanting to improve their physical self whilst also improving their mental health and other areas of their life too.

Check out this book for more information on Aikido.