by Don Heatrick
@donheatrick
Are you struggling to fit all the training you want into the week? Well, you’re not alone. And in this episode let’s dig into why you don’t need MORE training time, and how it’s done! There are some better, more productive training strategies you could use to achieve better results while training LESS! Time is not for wasting, and you’re not getting any younger. ;)
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT WITH FURTHER LINKS
Welcome to the Heatrick Heavy Hitters podcast. Muay Thai has become your passion. You want to stop wasting opportunities. You want to leave your mark. You are a… Heavy Hitter.
Together we are the movers and shakers of the Muay Thai community, those challenging themselves on a daily basis to become more. Challenging Muay Thai to become more!
Heavy Hitters are the Thai boxers and coaches of all levels looking for the most efficient and effective Muay Thai performance training-strategies and tactics to level up. I’m Don Heatrick, and my mission is to share with you just that!
Are you struggling to fit all the training you want into the week? Well you’re not alone! And in this episode let’s dig into why you don’t need MORE training time!
You may be a Thai boxer, but you’ve also got a career that pays the bills, and a family that would like some of your time too!
Balancing all this can take up considerable mental bandwidth. Wouldn’t it be easier if you not only knew what you should be doing, but more importantly, what you shouldn’t be doing in your training right now! Time is the most important commodity you have, and wasting it… well that just about everyone’s biggest pet peeve!
Just remind yourself of how frustrated you where last time that video kept buffering, or that online game kept lagging. Even wasted seconds are annoying. And this happens all the time in training; training activities that are going nowhere, extras that are just wasting recovery or worse – cancelling out other productive training activities.
If you want to move forwards, you’ve got to stop seeing your training hours as just a quota of time to be gotten through so you can just burn calories and pat yourself on the back. And start seeing every session as a opportunity make you better and nudge the needle closer to awesome.
This lives in within my core value #3 Work Methodically in an Organised, Structured Way or BE DISCIPLINED! Where I emphasise celebrating success or results, rather than just celebrating activity. Otherwise you’re just like the employee making yourself look busy when the boss comes in. Activity for activities sake – no substance – just wasted “buffering” time.
So first off, you can free up considerable time but cutting out the crap. Strip back to the training that actually makes you better and drop all the filler. And at this point, it’s worth addressing the fact that you may feel you need to do extra work to burn some body fat. You don’t. You need to eat less calories.
The extra exercise you feel you need is to create a calorie deficit. By eating 500 kcals less each day, I’ve just saved you 45-mins of running! Now you can spend that time doing something more productive, something that makes you better.
Now if your aerobic capacity is shocking, then that run may be a good use of the time… but in my experience, usually it isn’t needed, and that time could be much more wisely spent. Now eating 500 kcals less each day requires some discipline (back to core value #3 Be Disciplined again)!
In the last podcast I gave you the five exercise categories that I use in my resistance training sessions, and the order that I program them in. I’ll put a link to that on this episode’s transcript page.
The order is as important as the types of exercises themselves, because they transition without sabotaging each other and wasting the training effect we’re after. And this order is the most effective way to hit all the training elements concurrently in one session.
If you’re too tight for time to hit a complete session, then you can split out exercise sections to work on a different day or a different time. For example, I like to start a full session with soft tissue work using a foam roller, to undo some of the issues building up with continuous training, and to prepare the body to move better for the whole session afterwards.
However, if you’re pushed for time and you need to be back home to look after the kids, then dropping the soft tissue work and heading straight into the activation and movement prep section of training is a good call. You can pick up the missed soft tissue work another time.
Often, I see fighters save all their foam rolling work for one separate session. Kind of like a “care for yourself” session. And that works well if you’ve got another 10–20 minute slot free elsewhere you’d like make super productive. You could even do them at home to save on external gym time if that’s a issue.
Rather than separating out sessions, it may be that you’ve got a 2-hour slot and can pack in two sessions back to back. Now this requires some knowledge to understand which sessions can follow each other, and which ones will cancel out any training benefits, or reduce the effectiveness so much you’ll simply be wasting those 2-hours.
I’ve put together a Heavy Hitters Cheat Sheet that you can download from heatrick.com to help you structure your training week, and I’ll put a link on this episode’s transcript page to point you straight to it… but generally, if both sessions must be trained back to back, train the most important one first. And don’t attempt to lift heavy in a heavily fatigued state.
Personally, if a strength session and a cardio or Muay Thai session must happen back to back, I’ll place the strength session first, to get the best results and reduce the risk of injury. Ideally, I’ll schedule a minimum of 3-hours between neuromuscular training, such as a strength, power or speed session and a more metabolic cardio or Muay Thai session.
So be disciplined to save wasting time, cutting out any training that’s not making you better. Balance your calorie intake to your activity levels. And understand which sessions play nice together, and which ones will cancel out gains. Be flexible, and do the best with the time you have… it doesn’t have to be perfect, but you sure as hell stop wasting the time you do have!
You can grab that free cheat sheet download at Heatrick.com, that’s H E A T R I C K, where you can find ALL the Heavy Hitters resources, articles and videos. Including a transcript of this podcast, and any links I’ve mentioned in this episode too. And there’s a link to that transcript page along with this podcast.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Heatrick Heavy Hitters podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Anchor or wherever you get you podcasts – and you can audio message me on Anchor too so YOU can feature in future episodes.
Heavy Hitters, I challenge you to discover, practice, and become. And I’ll catch you next time.
Don Heatrick
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.
Don helps ambitious fighters and coaches take their game to the next level by bridging the gap between Strength & Conditioning, Performance Science, and Muay Thai.
Follow Don Heatrick on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donheatrick/
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