If you want either better muscular endurance, or a little extra lean muscle, I have a challenge for you courtesy of Chad Waterbury. It’s called the 60-day PLP Challenge and it’s really simple, requiring just your body weight and a chin up bar. Are you in?
I must stress this daily challenge is a supplemental workout, done in addition to any other training that you normally do. Just try to leave at least 6-hours between your supplemental PLP workout and your main gym session.
PLP Details
PLP stands for Pull-up, Lunge, Push-up.
If you can perform 10 continuous pull-ups, start day 1 of your challenge with 10 reps of the pull-up, followed with 10 reps of the lunge on each leg, and finally 10 reps of the push-up.
Perform this routine every day, adding one repetition to each exercise until you reach 69 reps of each on day 69.
If you can’t manage 10 pull-ups straight off, begin the challenge with 1-rep of each exercise and build by a rep each day until reach 60 reps of each exercise on day 60.
The aim is to knock out the number of desired reps in as few sets as possible. You’ll reach a point where you can’t complete all the reps in one go. At this point, break the total reps down into multiple sets. You can also spread the sets out over the day if desired, rather than doing them in one workout (although this will kill the muscular endurance benefit).
Feel free to use different variations of the three exercises too, for example: narrow grip to wide grip pull-ups with palms facing or away from you; front, lateral or reverse lunges; wide, narrow or staggered hand position push-ups etc.
As a training routine, it satisfies the basic rules. There’s an upper-body pull (pull-up), an upper-body push (push-up), and a lower body exercise (lunges). There’s even indirect core training (anti-extension) when holding your body straight during the push-up. If you also focus on stabilising your shoulder-blades during the pull-ups and push-ups there’s a whole heap of Thai boxing specific posture correction going on too.
Here’s a summary:
If you can do at least 10 pull-ups
Pull-up (any hand position) for 10 reps
Lunge (any version) for 10 reps with each leg
Push-up (any hand position) for 10 reps
Progression: Add one rep to each exercise every day for 60 days. This results in 2370 reps of each exercise over the course of 60 days.
If you can do less than 10 pull-ups
Pull-up (any hand position) for 1 rep
Lunge (any version) for 1 rep with each leg
Push-up (any hand position) for 1 rep
Progression: Add one rep to each exercise every day for 60 days. This results in 1830 reps of each exercise over the course of 60 days.
Give it a try and let me know how you get on in the comments below.
Further Resources
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Founder of Heatrick Strength and Conditioning
Don Heatrick is a family man from the UK, former mechanical design engineer, European Muay Thai silver medallist, former pro Thai boxer (ranked 4th in UK while aged 40-years), a Muay Thai coach, podcast host, and the go-to expert on Muay Thai performance training with over 25 years of coaching experience.
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[…] Link: A Supplemental Workout Challenge | Heatrick Strength & Conditioning for MuayThai Don Heatrick posted a link to SUPER FIGHT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP's wall: Here we go, a daily challenge for you. 1 more rep of each exercise for 60-days. Are you in? […]
Hi so I am training at home myself now as I have a wedding that is getting more and more costly so until that Is paid I will not be travelling to any gym, however I love homemade gyms and I have a garden with a heavy bag and my own sandbag for conditioning. what is your view on beginners for this routine, I start at 1 on each and work my way up because not only could this benefit my numbers which are sub 10 on all but lunges… I think mentally this is great to have a challenge to stick at something for a set amount of time
Hi James,
Start at a realsitic number of reps for you, if it’s 1 rep, that’s fine. The key is progression.
You also don’t need to be able to do all the reps in one set, just total the desired count in the whole day with as few sets as possible.
And good luck with the wedding! :)
Best regards, Don