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Martial arts boost fitness in middle age
Practising martial arts could be a better way for middle-aged people to boost all round fitness than going to the gym, say researchers at the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The authors based their findings on a small study assessing the physical fitness of nine practitioners of a Korean martial art similar to karate, and nine largely sedentary people.
The people taking part in martial arts had to practise for one hour at a time at least twice a week for three years.
The participants, aged between 40 and 60, were assessed for levels of body fat, balance flexibility, muscle and grip strength, endurance and aerobic capacity.
The assessment revealed significant differences between the two groups on all the indicators measured except grip strength.
The sedentary group had 12 per cent more body fat than the martial arts group and could not perform even half the number of sit-ups and press-ups performed by the martial arts group in one minute.
The difference in flexibility between the two groups amounted to 114 per cent.
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