Harry, an experienced, old-school Nak Muay messaged me today – it went like this... “A lot of the greats of the current day have lost big. Nuegelek not only knocked out Kulabdam with a kick to the head… but a couple of weeks later, he knocks out Muangthai with an elbow over a [...]
I’m often asked "What other exercises should I use for the Optimal Fight Camp Blueprint?" So let’s get straight into it... VIDEO TRANSCRIPT WITH FURTHER LINKS As I’ve laid it out, the Optimal Fight Camp Blueprint highlights the principles of training – the underlying truths of effective training. Fail [...]
Following on from the last Heavy Hitters Podcast (looking at post fight reviewing and goal setting), this video explains my logic for selecting what your next S&C goals should be... and it's simpler than you think!! VIDEO TRANSCRIPT & LINKS! After my last podcast on post fight reviews and goal [...]
by Don Heatrick @donheatrick Who wouldn't want to teep like Buakaw?! There are many ways to throw a teep in Muay Thai, with different tactical objectives. But my favourite version is the aggressive teep, designed to stamp your opponent off balance! And it happens to be one of Buakaw’s favourites too, so we’ll use [...]
This week, three Muay Thai strength and conditioning questions answered! Standing or sitting between rounds? Weightlifting belts (for fighters), yay or nay? MAS cardio sessions? Plus a bonus game changer to help focus your efforts! Is sitting between rounds best for recovery, or is it better to remain standing instead? How about fighters using [...]
Muay Thai strength training is a recurring question, so let’s take the opportunity to clear things up a little. We’ll look at how to build strength in the first place, and how to get stronger when strength gains dry up! We’ll look at this from both the novice strength training end of the spectrum [...]
“If I have to do my Muay Thai and strength and conditioning sessions both one after the other, which should I do first? And If I can leave a gap, how long between sessions is best?” I’m asked this a lot, and in this video I briefly share my thoughts on this while driving [...]
Sure, you could try to improve your Muay Thai balance by simply practising your technique over and over until it gets better. But there are some shortcuts you may be missing, because you've glossed over the personal limitations you may have, but are unaware of. In this podcast, I explore this a little deeper, [...]
"What Muay Thai strength and conditioning equipment do I need?" I'm asked this a lot! You don't need lots of equipment, or even expensive equipment to follow a world class strength and conditioning program. And I've boiled it down to these "must have" items. Collect these, and there really is nothing holding you back, except [...]
What is the most effective way to increase punch speed? There are lots of training methods out there that supposedly increase your punching speed, ranging from using weighted gloves to punching with resistance bands or dumbbells. But when it comes down to punch speed and power, these methods are not going to help, and [...]
Strength vs speed, what would you pick? Before you answer, how about a little Muay Thai sports science review of the fight between Rafi Bohic vs Dylan Salvador at Lumpinee Stadium... A massive thanks to Timo Ruge at Muay Ties for allowing his footage of Rafi vs Dylan to be used in [...]
Chin-ups and pull-ups, a holy grail of gym performance – but what does it mean to your Muay Thai performance? And is one better than the other? We’ll get into the differences and the effect on your Muay Thai in more depth in just a moment, but first let me explain why [...]
Despite the recent snow here in my part of the world, sponsored fighter Joe Le Maire has still made it in for his gym sessions at my home gym! And I thought I'd share some of the work we're doing together to help him prepare for his next fight. So here’s a quick video [...]
This week I'm going to spotlight a strength and conditioning milestone achievement of Richi Alvarez, one of our online Heavy Hitter members. He's been working consistently on the program now for over a year and a half, and has just hit one of his athletic goals scoring a 7/10 on the chin up max [...]
Following up on the popular video "Do This Every Session To Get Better At Muay Thai", this time I explore making these motor pattern "engrams" efficient! And there's a little dig into some classic research to help steer your practice in the MOST efficient direction too. It's not how much you do to get [...]
Are you making these 3 mistakes when planning your training? 1. Not understanding the boundaries of different types of training 2. Training the wrong types of sessions together 3. Emphasising the wrong type of training either too far away or too close to a fight It’s important to understand that TYPES of training are [...]
Planning Muay Thai resistance training requires some thought. Just throwing in random exercises based on equipment choices wastes your training time and could lead to unbalanced structural development and ultimately injury! Instead, you should hand pick exercises that fulfil a specific need. But getting caught up in specifics can render you unable to see [...]
This is the first episode in a series, answering six great questions posed by Richi Alvarez in the private group for my online strength and conditioning programme. Richi is training full time at Khongsittha Gym in Bangkok, and has a background in strength and conditioning too. So there's some great thought behind the questions. [...]
Last time I showed you an exercise for core rotational speed and power, this time I serve you the foundation... anti-rotational strength! And this is a true strength exercise, one designed to create enough overload on your neuromuscular system to really increase the amount of force your core can produce and withstand. Combine this [...]
What do I mean, "Training and fighting the curve?" It's a fundamental principle of performance training that I'd like to breakdown for you, specifically for Muay Thai athletes. If you can grasp this, and structure your training to exploit it, I guarantee you'll unlock more of what you're truly capable of. There's two videos, offering [...]
