Muay Thai Workout

So I decided to swtich things up a bit and in this entry of the “Muay Thai training journal”, I’ll talk about, yup .. you guessed it – Muay Thai training.” Perhaps you were hoping for more stories about crazy Thai chicks and ladyboys but don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to talk about in my future entries as I apparently have a leader of some “firm” after me but more on that later. This entry is about the training..

What’s nice about coming out to Thailand to train is that other than these entries, I really have nothing else that I HAVE to do. I can focus entirely on my workouts without all the distractions I had back in Canada. No selling my life away via a job that I hate, no long commutes to the gym in the middle of winter – nothing at all. The only distractions I have here are the sexy Thai girls hollerin’ at me when I walk by, and that’s not entirely a bad distraction to have.

I’ve been trying to get 3 workouts in a day. I got sick a couple weeks ago and since then, I’ve had to cut one of my workouts out. Even now, I find myself caughing up flem and spitting it over the ropes in between rounds. Before I got sick, here’s how my typical day of training was lookin’..

Muay Thai Workout #1 – Swimming (Early Afternoon)

A major selling point for the condo I’m currently renting was the fact that it has a huge swimming pool. I decided to replace the long distance road work that the Thai’s do for swimming laps. Typical Muay Thai workouts consist of jogging upwards of 20km everyday. With me weighing about 91 KG’s at the moment, that sort of long distance running would be way too hard on my joints. Swimming is low impact and it provides me the opportunity to do functional, Muay Thai related movements such as knees and shadowboxing against the resistance of the water.

Muay Thai Workout #2 – Muay Thai Training (Late Afternoon)

This is when I’ve been going to Scorpion Gym and doing a typical Muay Thai workout. The late afternoon Muay Thai training consists of 3-5 rounds of skipping, 3-5 rounds on the heavy bag, about 10 minutes of stretching, 5 rounds of pad-work (3 rounds of Muay Thai and 2 rounds specifically for boxing). From there I’ll work some push-kicks on the heavy bag and to finish up, I try to get a few rounds of live sparring in. Whether or not I get to spar basically depends on who’s in the gym while I’m there and how busy the trainers are.

There’s 2 large rings at Scorpion. The ring on the left hand side is manned by Somphot (240 fights with 160 KO’s) and the right to the left is manned by “Whit”. Both trainers (who also happen to be brothers) offer something unique so lately, I’ve been rotating back and fourth between the two. Somphot is very technical. Rosalie (the gym owner) was telling me about how experienced, professional Muay Thai fighters will come in to train with Somphot and he breaks down and critisizes their technique to the point where they feel like the on-lookers in the gym will think they’re beginners. No matter how good you think you are, a few rounds of pad-work with Somphot will humble you pretty quick.

With that being said, while the first few rounds can be frusterating, at about the round 3 mark, you literally feel as though you’ve improved drastically within the last 6 minutes. Based on his instruction (if you can remember it all), you’ll kick the pads and when you hear the loud impact of your shin smashing against his leather fairtex pads and his praise of approval, “good man!” – something just clicks. Here is a quick video I took of Somphot working with one of the active fighters at Scorpion (I never caught his name) but apparently he’s currently a #2 ranked fighter at Ratchadamnoen stadium in Bangkok.

“Whit” on the other hand isn’t as technical and because he spends less time correcting your technique, he pushes a much quicker pace. While I’m doing pad-work with “Whit”, I usually find myself leaning over the ropes trying to catch my breath – oftentimes in the middle of the round.
Somphot for technique and Whit for conditioning. It’s always good to work with as many trainers as you can as each will offer something unique. Throughout my time here, I imagine I’ll be working with about 50 trainers so they way I see it – if each trainer can teach me even 1 new little trick/technique, I’ll become pretty well versed in the art – which is obviously the goal.

Muay Thai Workout #3 – Strength Work (Late Evening)

If the Thai’s spent even half as much time on weightlifting and strength-work as they did on long distance running, they’d be unstoppable. In my opinion, they run way too much for a sport that impliments 3 minute rounds. Long distance training can be beneficial for sports of high intensity, short duration bursts however, you also have to train specifically for explosive power if you want to have, well .. explosive power – which is pretty important in a sport where you’re trying to KO people.

It’s 12:19am right now and I’m about to head to the gym. That’s the nice thing about this place is that it’s a 24hr city. I also get the entire gym to myself since working out isn’t exactly a top nighttime priority for the people that come here. Rather, most people in Pattaya spend their evenings in the bars, drinking with the ladies. The lifestyle that most people fall into here isn’t exactly the healthiest. However, I’ve actually managed to stay away from the alcohol lately. If I go out, which I do simply out of boredom, my drink of choice is either water or orange juice.
There’s some really nice gyms here as well. California WoW gym is perhaps the nicest gym I’ve ever seen but the membership was a little too pricey. I just got a membership at Tony’s gym just off walking street. It’s got everything I need and they’re always playin’ good music in there. Check the photo..

For my workouts, I try to focus on the usual, compound / multi-joint / fight-functional exercises that I feel will translate well over to Muay Thai. I do a lot of plyometrics (clapping push ups etc.), maximum strength work (low reps, heavy weight) for those KO shots and of course, some endurance work as well (high reps, medium weight, quick tempo).

With the core being the “strength center”, I try to implement a lot of rotary movements to increase the power of my punches. I got most of the core exercises I use from the combat core manual.
I’m heading down to Phuket to live and train at Tiger Muay Thai in a few days and I’m pretty sure they have the giant tractor tires and sledgehammers there so I’ll that’ll make for some good workouts.

From my understanding, they also have a supplement shop and a strength and conditioning program so it’s nice to see that some of the camps here in Thailand realize that Muay Thai specific strength workouts can be more than just push ups, pull ups and sit ups.

Nutrition

Eating healthy is both cheap and easy here. When I went to Issan, the girl’s grandmother was there and at 98 years old, she seemed perfectly healthy and surprisingly energetic. I guess that’s what happens when you breathe only clean air and eat only natural, unprocessed food. You know, the “organic” stuff that we pay top dollar for in our home countries.

I found an awesome Thai resteraunt where I’ve been getting about 80% of my meals. A plate of chicken/rice and a bowl of soup on the side runs me 30 baht (about 97 cents). The same resteraunt also serves a chicken/rice/vegetable combo for the same price. Looks good, doesn’t it?

One thing I’d recommend to people who are coming here to train – bring your own supplements. They’re way more expensive here. So, since I haven’t splurged on a protein powder, I just throw back a few chocolate milks after my workouts at Tony’s gym. Chocolate milk has both the sugar and protein that your body needs to replenish depleted glycogen stores, trigger an insulin response and of course, start the muscular recovery process.

Next Entry

Since I’m leaving Pattaya in only a few short days, my next entry will profile some of the random, out of the ordinary scenes and photos that I’ve been able to capture throughout my time here. I’ll also give you an update on the situation with the girl I lent that money too. Things certainly took an interesting twist today..

Stay Tuned.

THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Back to the Basics

While it would be nice to spend everyday training at Fairtex, the 800 baht per session price tag doesn’t exactly suit my long term budget. Since I had to move on, the other day I went looking for a Muay Thai/MMA gym that I had heard about here in Pattaya. As usual, I got lost and found myself wandering down a little side street.

I suppose I lucked out because I looked to my left and noticed a small sign that said “Thai Boxing”. I turned down the volume on my Ipod and immediately heard the grunting and sounds of shins smacking against the pads. At first, I was somewhat apprehensive about going in as the place didn’t look like a public gym, but rather, it looked like someone just had a ring set up in their backyard.

After a minute or two of watching from a distance from what appeared to be a garage, I figured I might as well walk through and introduce myself. After all, the chances of me finding the gym I had originally been looking for weren’t very good. As soon as I made myself visible, one of the trainers immediately stopped, mid-round, with the kid he was training and inquired as to what it was that I was looking for (I’m sure he assumed I wanted directions or something).

“How much for training?” I asked. He paused and thought for a second, “300 baht” he replied. I have a feeling he just pulled that price out of his a@s but it sure beat the 800 baht I paid at Fairtex so I obliged, got changed and started skipping. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word “farang” (non-offensive Thai word for foreigner) being tossed around so much. When you’re the only white guy around and the Thai’s are talking are dropping the “F-bomb” (falang) in your presence, it’s a pretty safe bet they’re talking about you.

Not that they were saying anything bad, I’m sure they were just talking about how awesome I am (right?). Anyway, once I was warmed up, I was told to kick the heavy bag 30 times per leg. When you kick the heavy bag, you usually have someone holding it for you and often times, you’ll be kicking it along with someone else (you kick with your right leg, the other guy kicks with his left), then you switch after.

Well, I was trading heavy bag kicks with a 9 year old. It was a unique experience to say the least and in no way am I ashamed to admit that in terms of technique, he was better than me.

With great difficulty, I finished up the 30 kicks per leg and while I was pouring water all over myself and struggling to catch my breath, the kid, who showed no signs of even having an elevated heart rate, came up to me and said “very good” with a big, innocent smile on his face.

Once I re-gained my composure and caught my breath, I stepped into the ring and went through my usual 5 rounds of pad-work. We then moved on to the clinching and again, I’m not ashamed to admit – I got owned. As a matter of fact, it’s been a few days since I trained there and my neck still hurts. I guess that’s a testament to how effective Muay Thai actually is. Right now I weigh around 210lbs (formerly into bodybuilding) and I got tossed around the ring by a Thai guy who weighed no more than 170lbs.

It’s funny to think about all those “roided up” guys in the gyms thinking they’re tough based solely on the amount of weight they use when performing preacher curls. It’s not often you see the “juicepigs” of the gym performing neck extension exercises. It doesn’t matter how much someone can press, curl, row – whatever! If they get into a Thai clinch and get their neck pulled down (because it’s a weak-link for most people), they’ll be defenceless because where the neck/head goes, the body follows.

I learned that the hard way as my strength advantage was completely neutralized when I was “clinched up”. I’m just glad that it happened in training and not an actual fight or else I would have taken some serious knees to the face. Overall, it was a beneficial experience though as I now have an even greater appreciation for the art.

When training was over, I sat for about an hour or so and just talked to my trainer. He spoke very good English and as yet another testament to the hospitality of the Thai’s, he took me on a little tour through the house. He showed me some of the videos he had of the kids (wait, that sounded bad, let me re-phrase).. he showed me some photos and videos he had of the kids that train at the camp FIGHTING..

I then saw a trophy case and walked over to it. He followed and told me some of the stories behind each one. He then pointed to a championship belt that was lying next to the trophies and told me that he was “number 2″ at lumpinee stadium back in the day. I guess that’s Thailand for you. Randomly stumble on a side-street camp and end up training with a formerly ranked fighter at lumpinee stadium. Overall, it was a really cool experience and although I only have a couple weeks left here in Pattaya, I think I’ll be going back.

Here’s a short video tour I took of the camp..

Now, in my last entry, I said I had some information on the status of a potential fight between Buakaw Por Pramuk and Yodsanklai Fairtex. Well, I didn’t say it was GOOD news. Although I’m sure the fight will eventually happen (just makes money sense), things are not looking good for the moment.

When training at Fairtex Pattaya, I was informed that Buakaw’s camp was on board at first providing they fought under K1 rules and not full Muay Thai rules. Now, it seems as though they have backed out because, as my source at Fairtex put it, Buakaw has too much to lose at the moment (with him coming off a KO loss at the hands of Yoshihiro Sato). Of course, that’s only one side to the story. Hopefully I’ll make my way to the Por Pramuk gym at some point and get their perspective on the potential match-up.

THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Punching Power Workout

If there’s one thing you take from this article, let it be that power is a result of the combination of strength and speed (strength + speed = power). When designing a training program to increase the power of your punches, you can’t have a one-dimensional view on things. Your exercise selection and training parameters (reps, contraction speed, rest etc.) should be varied for optimal results.Before I got into martial arts, my chest workouts consisted of the standard decline, flat and incline pressing movements and occasionally, I’d throw in a cable fly exercise to finish off. Now that my priorities have shifted from bodybuilding to performance enhancement, my chest workout is now geared around improving both the speed and power of my punches.

I’ve put together a sample workout for you guys to try. Keep in mind that the purpose of this workout is to develop speed and power. Don’t neglect your endurance training because as you already know, muscular endurance is an extremely important aspect of the fight game.

Without further ado, here’s the workout..

Flat Barbell Press

I start things off with the barbell bench press exercise and I’ll go relatively heavy. The purpose of this is to develop maximum strength (recall that punching power is a result of strength and speed). If you can, attach chains or resistance bands to the end of the barbell as doing so will provide additional resistance as you drive the barbell upwards.

Exercise Guidelines

• 5 Sets
• Gradually increase the weight
• Repetitions = 10,8,6,4,1-2
• Rest = 2-4 minutes (heavier load = longer rest)

Smith Machine Throws

This is a great exercise for hand speed and punching power providing it’s done in an explosive fashion. For this exercise, you would use only around 25% of what you would normally use for your regular sets. As for the execution, you basically toss it up as high as you can, catch it, quickly lower the barbell towards the chest (don’t go beyond a 90 degree angle) and toss the barbell up again. Make quicker the exercise is performed, the more effective it will be.

Exercise Guidelines

• 3 Sets
• 6-8 repetitions per set
• Rest = 3 minutes

Plyometric Push Ups

Yet another great exercise to improve the power of your punches is the plyometric push up. To perform the exercise, you will need to find two of the steps used in aerobics classes and position them between 4-6 feet apart (depending on the length of your arms). You start in a push up position with 1 hand placed atop each bench. When you’re ready, push off and move your hands to a position between the steps. Without hesitation, explode upwards and move your hands back atop the steps.

Exercise Guidelines

• 3 sets
• As many reps as possible (to make it harder, increase the height of the steps)
• Rest interval = 3 minutes

Olympic Bar Push Punch

This exercise is a great way to not only add power to your punches, but also to increase your core strength since you’ll have to brace your torso throughout the movement. Make sure you grab the barbell BELOW the weight plate and not above it. Holding the barbell too high will force you to drive your arm forward at an upward arc that’s unrealistic to throwing a real punch. Keep a stance identical to the stance you’d use while fighting. This exercise; as with most of the exercises in this workout, should be done in an explosive fashion.

Exercise Guidelines

• 3 sets
• 15 reps each
• Do both arms consecutively before resting
• 2 minutes rest

Resistance Band Punches

This is about as functional as it gets. Resistance band punches are excellent for hand speed as you’re simply punching against resistance. To perform the exercise, all you do is wrap a couple resistance bands around the bar on a pulley station (or anything that’s shoulder height). You then grasp the handles and ensure that the bands are positioned under your arms. From there, it’s easy – you shadowbox. If you have a workout partner with you, get him to hold the focus mitts for you. It’s actually pretty fun. As you fatigue, you simply drop one band and continue the exercise (providing your using more than one resistance band).

Exercise guidelines

• 3 rounds
• 1 minute each
• 1 minute rest

Freemotion Hooks

This exercise is performed on the freemotion cable machine. Not every gym has one of these. If yours does, then I guess you’re in luck. The resistance band exercise worked on the speed of your straight shots while this exercise is designed to train your hand speed and punching power on your hooks. The freemotion hook exercise is also great for developing rotary power within your core.

Exercise Guidelines

• 3 sets (each arm)
• 10 repetitions
• 1 minute rest

So give this program a try and see how you like it. You’ll probably find it to be a refreshing chance of pace. I prefer this workout over my old bodybuilding workouts. I especially like the reaction I get from confused people when they see me doing some of them and shadowboxing in between my sets.

Enjoy!

Keep in mind, most of these exercises focus on the chest & shoulder region. Perhaps even more important is developing the rotary strength of your core region. Core development is very important for not only your punching power, but also, about 90% of MMA related movements. There’s a book out that has all kinds of crazy, yet functional core exercises designed specifically for the martial artist. If you’re interested, CLICK HERE to INCREASE YOUR PUNCHING POWER!