Begin training at an MMA gym with the correct gear to protect you from injuries and make training more fun.
Whether you’re a beginner or you have some experience in the bag, equipping yourself with the proper gear before joining an MMA gym is an essential step to your fitness and training journey. Training can be fun and self-rewarding, but it is easy to fall back to square one with one bad injury. At the end of the day, this is an investment for your own safety.
If you’re confused about which gears to get, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of the must-have gears to grab before you join an MMA gym.
1. Keep your mouth safe with mouthguards
When you’re learning how to fight, expect to get hit in the face a couple of times. The mouth guard sits on your teeth and your gum to defend your mouth from getting hurt. Just like the rest of your body, any injury to your mouth can be extremely expensive and oftentimes unnecessary when it is easily preventable with a mouthguard of superior quality.
So when you’re shopping for gear, remember to get a good quality mouthguard that fits in your mouth comfortably.
2. Keep your head in the game with headgear
Headgears provide padding around your head while you are fighting. Headgears protect your face from injuries and if the right one is chosen, it will not get in the way of your performance in a match.
When you start shopping for headgear, you will soon find a variety of headgear. The rule of thumb to follow is to get something that fits you perfectly and has sufficient padding. Perfect fitting should not be compromised because your headgear can move during a match and can also obstruct your vision.
While headgear is important for preventing injuries, you should remember that it cannot entirely protect you from serious injuries like a concussion.
3. Protect your skin with compression rash guards
Have you ever looked at people who train and wonder who chooses their wardrobe or why they all wear the same kind of dress? In reality, their clothes serve a functional purpose too.
Compression rash guards are garments designed especially for athletes, to avoid any damage to the skin. This can include damage from fighting, sunburns, and can even help alleviate post-training soreness.
This gear will not only help you prevent injuries to your skin, but it will also help to improve your performance for the next day.
4. Boxing gloves to hit harder
Boxing gloves are the best way for you to learn how to strengthen your hits and protect your hands, that is why they are important for MMA training.
Boxing gloves can also help reduce the blow of your hit on your opponent, so it is not only important for your safety but also the safety of your opponent. If you are fortunate, you will not have to splurge on boxing gloves as your gym might have a few spare ones lying around.
However, if you’re looking to buy a pair for yourself, and you’re looking for one that will last you in the long run, spend a little extra and get a pair of leather gloves.
5. Train your hands with MMA gloves
MMA gloves are another essential for MMA training. The interesting thing about them is that besides protecting your hands, they can allow you to deliver harder blows. The difference between the MMA glove and boxing gloves is that MMA gloves have exposed fingers.
This design will help you during training as you will be able to practice more moves and hits, it will give you a better grip as well. On the other hand, gripping is not much of an option with boxing gloves and your options for moves narrow down.
Furthermore, when you’re out choosing MMA gloves, make sure to choose something a larger size, so you can wear hand wraps underneath as well.
6. Keep kicking with shin guards
Arguably, one of your greatest strengths while MMA training is your legs. While training your whole body and keeping it safe is important, an injury to your legs could put you behind on your training.
Shinguards are basically padding that protects your shins and your feet while training. There are different types of shinguards you can choose from for MMA training, however, look for something that provides you with good protection and is lightweight as well.
Having a lightweight shinguard can help you kick at ease, without worrying about the extra weight on your legs.
7. Complete the Look with MMA Shorts
If you are familiar with martial arts, then you will understand the need for shorts or pants that provide you as much freedom as possible while kicking. More often than not, the wrong pants can hold you back while fighting, and it affects your performance more than you will realize. Imagine being in a fight and your pants are what cost you the match!
MMA shorts are the ultimate solution to this problem. It is mainly designed to give you the freedom of kicking and moving as much as you want while fighting. However, remember to use these shorts in conjunction with more gear to protect your legs as they aren’t enough to prevent injury.
The best part about MMA shorts is that while all the other gears might look clunky and unappealing, you can still make MMA training look fashionable with the shorts.
With that in mind, make sure of the quality and fitting of the MMA shorts if you’re going to invest in something that helps you move better, but if the quality and fittings are not good, it kind of deviates from the purpose.
8. Complete the gear with a groin guard
Alongside MMA shorts and shinguards, complete the protection of your lower body with a groin guard. If you’re a guy, then you understand the fear of getting hurt around your groin while fighting. The solution to this is to get a groin guard and forget about your worries while training!
Wrapping Up
Joining an MMA gym is not your final step when you decide to start training your body, taking your safety and health into consideration is equally important. Don’t wait any longer, invest in good training gear, and start training!
