The Muscles Kickboxing Develops and Why It’s a Total Body Workout

Kickboxing changed my life. Not only did it make me happier, more outgoing, and more confident, it showed me muscles my once flabby body never knew it had. Because kickboxing combines punching, kicking, twisting, lateral, diagonal, and vertical movements, it can strengthen every major muscle group in your body. Here are the details of the muscles that kickboxing works and how each move develops and strengthens those muscles.

Triceps and Biceps (Arms)

Kickboxing gave my thin spaghetti arms shape and definition. This is why:

When you throw a jab or a cross your triceps must engage to move your arm forward. If your punch makes contact with the punching bag or an opponent, your biceps and triceps will activate while absorbing the shock. The biceps are also used in the uppercut and when withdrawing a punch.

Blocking requires keeping your fists up and elbows bent. This enlists an isometric contraction of the biceps. It’s always surprising to me how fatigued my entire arm will get just by holding that defensive kickboxing pose throughout my training. So yes, your arms will get worked for sure, but what about the shoulders?

Deltoids (Shoulders)

In order to correctly throw a cross or a jab you will need to raise your elbow while extending your arm. Raising the elbow requires your deltoids to get involved. When you throw a hook you will again need to raise the elbow, activating the deltoids.

Your shoulders are heavily involved in punching. If you practice kickboxing consistently your shoulders will show the work you put in.

Trapezius (Upper Back)

The blocking action- fists up, elbows bent- also requires the activation of the trapezius often called “traps”. Jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts will engage the traps when absorbing the shock of hitting the bag.

If you’ve ever felt like your posture could use some improvement, this workout can help. These moves will strengthen your back muscles to compel you to stand up proud and tall.

Abdominals (Stomach)

The Abdominal muscles are engaged throughout nearly all aspects of kickboxing. The roundhouse kick and the sidekick require an intense engagement of the obliques (the muscles on each side of the stomach).

The rotation necessary to perform a proper hook punch will fire up the obliques as well. The entire core will be activated when throwing uppercuts, jabs, crosses and when blocking. Because of this, in my opinion, there isn’t a better core/ab workout than kickboxing. If a six pack is what you’re looking for, this is the workout for you.

Glutes (Buttocks)

Who wants a saggy, flabby booty? Most of us would say “no way!” to that. So if you’re looking to tighten and lift your backside, kickboxing can do the trick. Check out how:

A roundhouse kick requires the hip of the kicking leg to rotate toward the target. The glutes then engage in order to generate the force that swings the leg around to perform a powerful kick. Raising and extending the kicking leg sideways triggers the glutes.

In order to maintain balance while delivering a forceful kick, the glutes of the anchored leg will also get a workout. The vertical movements of dodging kicks and punches keep the glutes fired up as well.

Quadriceps (Upper Front of Leg)

Whether you’re a man or a woman, strong, powerful legs are important to a fabulous physique. The muscle definition that kickboxing can produce in your legs is well worth the sweat.

The vertical and lateral bob and weave motion used in kickboxing makes good use of the quadriceps. Sidekicks, roundhouse kicks, and front kicks all work the quads in both the kicking leg and the standing leg.

In the kicking leg, the quads will activate to deliver the power in the kick. In the anchor leg, the quads will engage to maintain stability while absorbing the shock of the kicking leg when it makes contact with the target.

Hamstrings (Upper Back of Leg)

The hamstrings are also involved in maintaining balance when kicking. The rear kick engages the hamstrings, especially when extending the leg outward.

Although we couldn’t kickbox without the hamstrings, of all the muscle groups, these leg muscles are the least utilized.

Gastrocnemius (Calf)

Throwing punches in kickboxing doesn’t start with the fist. The power starts with foot placement, which then causes a chain reaction that moves all the way up through the legs, core, and finally through the shoulder and arm.

Because kickboxers have to constantly shift their weight from right to left to access the power of their entire body, the calf muscles stay engaged throughout. Staying “on your toes” and moving your feet to get the most out of your strike and to avoid injury keeps the calf muscles continually activated.

Can Kickboxing Build Muscle?

Building muscle requires lifting a weight to failure. As our muscles get stronger, the weight and volume required to get to the point of lifting to failure increases.

So although Kickboxing is an excellent cardiovascular workout, it does not incorporate enough increasing resistance to build a substantial amount of muscle. But it will burn calories to help shed fat so that the body will look more toned overall.

That same study done by PubMed quoted previously, also looked at the effects of kickboxing training on body composition. PubMed reports that body composition, therefore muscle mass, did not change in the kickboxing group nor the control group.

When beginning kickboxing you could initially build some muscle because you will be using muscles that you’ve never used before in a way you have never used them. But as your muscles become accustomed to the movements muscle growth will slow.

As you continue to train, you will be burning lots of calories. If you combine this with a diet that keeps your calories in a deficit, you will lose weight.

If your calorie deficit is not too high, the weight you lose will be in the form of fat. If your calorie deficit is too high, you will lose muscle mass.

So if you are hoping to gain or maintain muscle (who wants to lose muscle?) then make sure you track the calories you take in and burn. Use a calorie calculator to determine the calories that your body requires.