The Suspension Explosive Press Up is an example of an explosive upper body power exercise for Muay Thai using a TRX Suspension Trainer. This is great for all you fighters on the move and without access to a fully equipped gym. This exercise is part of the progressive Minimum Equipment Program. [...]
This video clarifies some of my thoughts regarding the changing face of Muay Thai training in Thailand itself. It's going to be a long process, but it has begun. Things are slowly changing in Thailand. And with traditional Muay Thai training habits so strongly embedded and blindly defended, it's the foreigners that could be [...]
In part three answering Richi Alvarez' Muay Thai strength and conditioning questions, we turn our attention to energy systems (or cardio conditioning) training while in Thailand. To plug gaps in your cardio conditioning training in Thailand, you must first understand what you're already getting! You'll certainly get a large volume of "threshold training" and [...]
Muay Thai specificity is a term that's largely misunderstood, and therefore misused. In this video I set about explaining how all three main elements of your training; strength and power, cardio conditioning, and Muay Thai training itself, have a range of activities from general to specific. Once you understand this, you can begin to [...]
I've put together a few videos that should answer a some planning training questions for you. The first one considers what I believe is the biggest mistake in Muay Thai strength and conditioning. Rather than just waffling on, just watch this 2-minute video and all will become clear... The second video elaborates [...]
Not all types of supplemental training will transfer well to Muay Thai. The training adaptations that your body makes are highly specific. You instinctively know training as a long-distance runner won’t improve your sprint performance. But it goes so much further than this coarse example. The concept of transfer specificity is misunderstood by many [...]
This article is in answer to an email I received… Hi Don I have started watching your Starting Strength & Conditioning for Muay Thai Video Course. I found it really informative. I have a couple of questions for you. Being a mature age Muay Thai practitioner (52-yrs-old) I have been involved in Martial Arts for [...]
There’s nothing worse than standing in front of a relentless opponent having exerted all your energy – sitting dead in the water, unable to respond with the same work rate. If you understand how your body supplies energy in a Muay Thai fight, you can train it to not gas out when you need [...]
Here's a simple, but highly effective test you can conduct on a rowing machine to determine your maximum average power, anaerobic fatigue and anaerobic capacity – a very useful gauge for Thai boxers. The result of this modified Wingate rowing test can not only be used to track your personal fitness progress and the effectiveness [...]
Having wound the clocks forward for the start of the spring season the UK, it's time to seriously consider getting some outdoor training in. My first port of call is always a steep grassy slope, less than a minutes jog from my home. The gradient stretches roughly 30-metres, from a children's play area up [...]
This may sound like a contradiction. The aerobic system supplies energy at a slow, steady rate, while plyometric exercise develops the stretch short cycle (the elastic qualities of muscles and tendons), explosively applying force rapidly. So how can both of these qualities be trained in the same session? Aerobic - plyometric training employs repeated [...]
It's been a hectic week — my full-time gym is in the midst of a major refurb, installing a new mezzanine floor and literally doubling the gym capacity. Exciting times! Anyway, as the gym is effectively a construction site, it's not been possible to run the regular Muay Thai classes, so to keep the [...]
Your training must be specific to your sport. This is straight forward if you're either a sprinter (power) or a marathon runner (endurance), but we're Thai boxers and we need it all! Conflicting physical adaptations are part of our game, and managing this is crucial if you're to get the best out of yourself. [...]
This short, intense alactic capacity interval session aims to improve the ability to maintain explosive power for extended periods – perfect for fighters. The objective is increase the maximum capacity of the alactic system by increasing the amount of stored phosphocreatine. The interval session consists of a 15-second flat-out burst of punches, kicks, elbows [...]
Today with the sun beating down, it was a great opportunity to score some training in preparation for my Thai boxing training trip in Thailand. So I left the house wearing just my barefoot running shoes, shorts and a heart rate strap (and some factor 50 sun-lotion - yes, I'm that pastey skinned). My [...]
