Muay Thai For Boosting Self-Esteem In Adolescents

Being a teenager can be pretty challenging due to the rollercoaster of emotions caused by hormonal changes and external sources of stress like academic pressure. Being a teenager is a lot more complicated today thanks to the popularity of social media and adolescents comparing themselves to strangers who only share the best parts of their lives.

Signing up for Muay Thai classes can do wonders for teenagers’ self-esteem as they navigate all these hurdles on their way to becoming adults. Also known as the art of eight limbs, Muay Thai is more than just a combat sport. It’s a confidence booster that gets you in the best shape you’ve ever been while teaching you the importance of values like discipline, perseverance, and hard work.

Boosting Self-Esteem In Teenagers With Muay Thai Training

Some of the ways learning Muay Thai helps to build up the confidence and self-esteem of teenagers include:

1) Builds a Physique Anyone Can Be Proud Of

Let’s face it: teenagers are under a lot of pressure to fit into certain molds for social acceptance. The cool kids at this age often have the best physiques. Teenagers who aren’t proud of their physical appearance are more likely to battle with self-esteem issues.

Muay Thai will transform anyone’s physique, even if they don’t make any changes to their diet. Each hour you spend at the gym can burn up to 1,000 calories, which reduces the odds of ending up with a caloric surplus.

The formula for a lean physique hasn’t changed since the beginning of time. Eat fewer calories than your body needs daily, and you’ll burn fat. Consume more than your body needs, and it will store the excess calories as fat.

Muay Thai training provides high-intensity interval training, which also helps your cardiovascular health. You’ll get a full-body workout whenever you train, making your muscles more defined and stronger.

Take a glance at what most people look like in a Muay Thai gym, and you’ll notice that they generally have muscular physiques and low body fat. Feeling confident about your appearance is much easier when you know you’re in better shape than most people.

2) Teaches Practical Self-Defense Skills

Muay Thai training equips you with practical techniques for self-defense, while also teaching basic skills for handling challenging situations.

Muay Thai doesn’t have many fancy techniques like other martial arts like Taekwondo. It was developed on the battlefields in the 13th century, so its focus has always been on practical techniques that can quickly bring a fight to an end.

Your training will teach you how to use your punches, kicks, elbows, and knees as weapons. You’ll also learn how to fight in the clinch, including trips and throws. Muay Thai is a well-rounded martial art that is highly effective in self-defense scenarios.

Your skills will grow with each class you attend, and knowing you can protect yourself will help you stand taller and walk more confidently.

3) Provides A Sense of Accomplishment

Muay Thai classes teach a variety of useful techniques, and mastering or applying them in class or sparring brings a sense of accomplishment, reflecting your progress.

Accomplishing things makes us all feel better about ourselves, even if it’s something trivial like finally beating the most challenging level of your favorite video game.

Learning Muay Thai also provides similar feelings of accomplishment, which helps build a teenager’s self-esteem. They get a confidence boost whenever they master a technique or land it for the first time while sparring. Each little victory they score at the gym improves their self-esteem. Your teen will start to see themselves as a capable person who can accomplish anything they set their sights on.

Setting out and achieving goals like being able to throw a perfect spinning backkick teaches essential lessons like the importance of persistence. These accomplishments will remind you that hard work pays off and show that you can tackle any challenges that come your way outside the dojo.

4) Offers Stress Relief

Muay Thai classes provide stress relief through physical activity, releasing endorphins that leave you feeling happier, refreshed, and revitalized after each session.

No other group of people deal with more stress than adolescents. They often worry about school work, relationships, and their changing bodies. They also have to deal with living up to the expectations of their parents, family members, and peers.

Muay Thai classes provide a healthy outlet for teens to release frustration and anxiety. Hitting heavy bags and pads serves as a form of destructive therapy, while the cardiovascular exercise they get leads to the release of endorphins in their brain. These feel-good hormones help to regulate mood and create feelings of relaxation.

Training Muay Thai also requires teenagers to take their minds off things that might bother them as they focus on their instructor breaking down techniques or anticipating what their training partners will do while sparring.

The focus required to train Muay Thai helps clear their minds, so they leave the gym feeling much better than they did when they walked in.

5) Improved Social Skills

The people and coaches you train with will become friends, as you share the same passion and support each other, ultimately building lasting friendships.

Muay Thai classes are usually group activities, so teenagers get to interact with new people who share their interests to learn. These training partners serve as a support system that cheers them on, shares tips, and gives them the occasional high five.

Being part of a community that makes teens feel accepted and supported will improve their self-esteem. Their training partners will serve as a second family, and some will go on to become life-long friends.

6) Teaches a Growth Mindset

It’s normal to feel like you’re falling behind or struggling to master a technique—everyone starts somewhere. Muay Thai training teaches you to be patient with yourself and fosters a growth mindset.

Failure is a part of learning martial arts like Muay Thai. No one walks into a gym and starts doing everything perfectly. Teenagers might struggle with fundamentals like keeping their hands up when they first start training or with the mechanics of some techniques.

Everyone in the gym starts as a beginner, so anyone who trains is encouraged to push past any setbacks and keep training.

With time, the lessons learned from each failure start to add up, and they become competent Muay Thai players. The journey of becoming good at Muay Thai teaches teenagers to persevere. They become confident in their ability to work through any obstacles that they might face in other aspects of their lives.

Signing Up Your Teenager For Muay Thai Classes Is One Of The Best Gifts You Can Give

Muay Thai is more than just a combat sport. Learning Muay Thai is a transformative experience that builds self-esteem, improves social skills, and reduces stress. It also teaches teens the importance of setting achievable goals, perseverance, and how to defend yourself.

Consider signing up your teen for Muay Thai classes if they show signs of low self-esteem, like avoiding challenges, being self-deprecating, or struggling with setting boundaries. Bring your teen to one of Evolve’s complimentary introductory Muay Thai classes to see if it’s right for them.

Book your complimentary trial class with our World Champions below!

If you have any other questions regarding Evolve MMA and the programs we offer, you can get in touch with our membership executives at the following locations:

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