For many fighters, bodyweight training only serves as muscular endurance training – multiple rounds of upward of 10 reps per exercise. This approach develops endurance, or “conditioning”. It doesn’t touch the neuromuscular system that’s developed in resistance training sessions targeting strength, power, and speed. And in missing this, fails to [...]
With the increasing volume of questions to fit into the 30 minute segment, apologies if I didn't manage to squeeze in your question in this episode! In this episode of the Q&A I'm asked... How often should you schedule training sessions that really push [...]
I’m often asked how I choose exercises for a fighter’s gym session. So I’ve broken down the steps I mentally run through when planning a strength and conditioning session – to ensure productive progress for every minute in the gym. So let’s get to it... My 9-step logic to selecting the best/most appropriate [...]
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 [...]
"Heavy Hitter", Bob Wansink audio messaged me some great questions regarding speed and power training via Anchor.fm, and this Heavy Hitters Podcast is a direct reply. In this episode, I share the 5 exercise categories I use in every resistance training session that I program. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT WITH FURTHER [...]
Stop kidding yourself, you’ve got stuff you don’t do well… If you don’t agree, you just haven’t looked closely enough. The physical stuff you don’t do well will eventually bite you. But, if you’re honest and make the effort, you can head things off at the pass before your body breaks down. I’ve done [...]
My sports massage therapist Jacqui Sinclair pointed out I've a muscle imbalance in my back. Are you thinking this doesn't apply to you? Guess again — it's a sneaky muscle imbalance! Although I use a well balanced strength and conditioning training programme, I failed to account for some innocuous postural activities. In this video I explain why [...]
Nothing happens by accident. If you want to be the best fighter you can be, you need to put some thought into it. Benjamin Franklin famously said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Or was it Winston Churchill? Anyway, whoever said it was bang on! And it’s true in every [...]
It's not the strength of the arm that throws a punch, or the strength of the leg that throws a kick... It's the amount of power that a fighter can wind out from the trunk and hips – unleashing power via the rotary action of the hip via the trunk to the striking limb. [...]
Do you want to increase strength and power, while torching body fat too? Here's a two-sessions per week programme (used on non-consecutive days) that not only improves body composition, but also builds athletic ability. Each session consists of two circuits; firstly a short plyometric power circuit (speed), and secondly a power (speed-strength) and strength-endurance metabolic [...]
As fighters our exercising training time is very limited. We should spend as much time as possible practising technical and tactical Muay Thai. Time spent exercising must provide a benefit that can't be obtained during Muay Thai training or it's wasting time. Each exercise in your strength and conditioning programme must provide the biggest [...]
Thai boxers, like any sports person, are athletes. We are practising skilled movements requiring strength, agility and stamina (Merriam Webster's dictionary definition of an athlete). So it makes sense that despite MuayThai being over 2000 years old, the current understanding of sports science and physiology has advanced. Few boxers in Thailand are exploiting the [...]
Anyone who's been out to Thailand to train in Muay Thai will have no doubt experienced some Spartan weight training equipment and limited resistance training use. The majority of time is spent running, skipping, hitting bags and pads or light sparring. Although this is common place throughout the majority of Thai boxing gyms in [...]
