I've studied the science and culture of skill development and have been involved in many training camps here in Thailand. Here are 5 tips on skill development you must learn in order to improve your skills in Muay Thai.
1. War, martial arts and fighting are all built upon self-defense -- Spend as much time on your defensive techniques and tactics as you do your offence.
2. Spend time on the heavy bag working on weaknesses and gaps in your technical ability. Pair this with intervals at various intensities/work-to-rest ratios to improve your Muay thai-specific conditioning over time. There is much to be gained training beyond your typical 3 mins rounds with 1 min rest.
3. Ask more questions, talk less -- The students that see no improvements over time are usually the ones talking too much at the gym, thinking they know better than their teammates and coaches. Ask at least one question that will help you improve one aspect of your game, every session.
4. The best way to break through technical and skill-related plateaus in training is to establish weekly and monthly focuses. Setting focuses/themes are a great way to break down skill development into digestible chunks, so you can make meaningful improvements in key areas. Don't think just because you're training in Thailand, you'll improve naturally. Coaches can only do so much for you. Take responsibility of your own development.
5. You reap what you sow - Think of Muay thai as problem-solving. If you're relying on your physicality to solve every problem (eg: "just get stronger, just get more fit, just hit the pads harder, just walk through shots in sparring"), don't be surprised if you don't develop technically over the next few years. However, this goes both ways. The balance of technical and physical development is something fighters will have address throughout their career.
@vinceromanomt smooth with it
Training at @eminentairboxinggym
Peaking for a fight - different Muay Thai and western boxing camps have different running cultures and expectations about running volume. Use these 3 training principles to control WHAT YOU CAN to the best of your ability to make sure you're sharp for your fight.
I have free resource out right now, a running cheat sheet guide for Muay Thai. Comment "RUN" and I'll send it over 📲
#muaythai #running #boxingstrengthandconditioning
1. It's the most popular conditioning modality for fighters because it incorporates the most amount of musculature compared to treadmill, ski-erg, row-ergs, making it easy to reach true high-intensity and max heart rates. But just because it's easy to reach redline doesn't mean you that's all you should do it all the time. You need low and moderate intensity intervals that can be sustainably performed year round.
2. It's a great way to build general endurance, but too many fighters rely on it, to the point it becomes band-aid for the bigger problem. Movement/biomechanical efficiency within your sport is still the most important for real conditioning. Eyes-closed, noodle-arming your intervals - this doesn't transfer well either.
3. Not every fighter benefits from it the same. Fighter A who already pushes the pace in the training room and relies on physicality will ironically, see diminishing returns on the bike. Fighter B who is highly technical and doesn’t reach high heart rates in the gym can benefit more. Airdyne work should be supplemented accordingly to athletic and fighter archetypes.
Follow me @gcptraining for more combat sports conditioning insight and methods 🧠
3 important general conditioning principles for fighters
1️⃣ General conditioning volume should not outshine sports training.
There are always fighters who overemphasize general cardiovascular conditioning in order to get fit enough to train for the actual sport. I promise you that you won't develop into a skilled fighter this way. Get fit through fight training, use general conditioning to round out your training regimen.
2️⃣ Respect traditions, improve upon them.
In the new wave of science-based combat sports S&C, tradition gets prematurely discarded because it's "outdated" (throwing the baby out with the bathwater). But this is misguided.
Running and skipping rope have been part of boxing and Muay Thai for ages - and for good reason. Instead of demonizing it, learn to manage weekly conditioning volume, use heart rate monitoring for more accurate intensity prescriptions and understand the law of diminishing returns. More is not always better.
3️⃣ Think beyond energy systems.
Beyond the heart rate zones and aerobic vs. anaerobic designations, there are structural/anatomical adaptations improvements that come from general conditioning (which can sometimes play a bigger role in economy of movement vs. other physiological variables) and other aspects often overlooked such as team building and team cohesion.
#combatsports #generalconditioning #combatsportstraining #combatsportsconditioning
I'm a big advocate for running when it comes to developing endurance as a boxer or Thai boxer, when done right. More zone 2 is rarely the answer.
Here are 2 simply methods to intensify your runs.
⚡ Comment "RUN" for a free running cheat sheet for Muay Thai
I've been involved in many fight camps.
Having managed the physical preparation part (handled the weight cutting and skill training a few times as well), here are what I think are the 4 most important ingredients that make up a great peak week to end off your fight camp. 🔪
1. Optimize your weight cut. Hire a professional and do it right. Its 2026 bro.
2. Cut out the fat in your conditioning. Energy systems don't mean anything anymore at this point. Sharpen your skills so you can execute.
3. Keep whats necessary and keep what feels good in your strength training. It takes very little to maintain what you've already built during fight camp. This concept applies to your conditioning as well.
4. Take notes and what works (for next time), manage your stress levels and enjoy the fucking process - if not, why do it?
📲 Share this with a teammate that needs to hear this.
#combatsports #coaching #fightweek
1. If you're consistently running 5-10km before Muay Thai, this pre-fatigue takes away high-intensity efforts later in your training. It's not normal to hit pads and spar completely exhausted, no other combat sports does this - stop glorifying it.
2. Roadwork is a great warm up, but most training camps over do it.
3. Many champions have been brought up running 10km in the morning and 5km in the afternoon. But this leads to burnout and is no longer best practice.
4. You must find your sweet spot, running volume that allows you to warm up, sweat, develop your lower leg strength over time, but one that still allows you to perform your best in drilling, padwork, and sparring - this is where it counts.
5. Solutions include: bringing the distance down to 3-4km each session. cutting your running frequency by half while maintaining distance per run, or separating long runs (5-10km) into a separate training session all together.
I'm tackling Muay Thai physical preparation on my page for the next little while, follow me for more insights and training methods I use with my team of fighters.
⚡ DM me "RUN" for a free running cheat sheet for Muay Thai.
1. Track weekly running volume. Large or sudden increases can mean a subsequent drop in Muay Thai performance.
2. Reduce frequency of long runs (8-10kms) as Muay Thai training intensifies.
3. Reduce overall running volume as you peak for a fight. You can still keep long runs if you like but they should be infrequent as they no longer serve their purpose in this point of your training camp.
4. Remove long runs ~3 weeks out from the fight. Let training residuals do its work (you keep your endurance gains even with less volume of running).
5. Intensify your running with intervals, vary your conditioning with circuits/airdyne bike.
Follow me as I drop more insight of running for Muay Thai over the next few weeks.
Comment below "RUN" for a free running cheat sheet ⤵️
#muaythai #running
Running is so misunderstood for combat sports, especially Muay Thai. I created a set of principles that I work by with my athletes.
Comment "RUN" for a free cheat sheet I cooked up for Muay Thai fighters.
Keeping it simple with heavy compound lifts, dynamic efforts(moving light-moderate weights quickly), treadmill Hill sprints and of course finishing off with robustness circuits.
Interestingly, when we started to work together, Tomoki told me he feels like he's "maxed out" with ballistics/high-velocity training in the past, and given his speed and fight-style, I can see why.
I spend most of my time trying to get my Muay Thai fighters faster but with Tomoki, there's a lot of physical improvements to be made emphasizing heavier, dynamic effort lifts.
#muaythaistrengthandconditioning
#onechampionship
Great S&C session today with @tomoki_sato12
Heading into our 2nd training cycle together and we see a lot of room for improvements already. A great athletic profile to work with considering Tomoki blends Japanese kickboxing and Muay Thai together in 4oz gloves.
Watch out for some explosive fights from him this year ⚡
