Muay Thai is a modern take of traditional boxing where you use your feet as well as your fists to fight your opponent. It is more intense, more complex, and much more difficult than any other form of boxing. For a very long time, Muay Thai was not recognized because of its intensity and danger. In some cases, the rules were so lenient that most people would simply cause permanent damage to their opponent. There are multiple incidents on record where Muay Thai matches turned into bloody and ugly fights. In short, Muay Thai was not accepted by mainstream media for a very long time because of its danger. As a result, Muay Thai found its escape in underground boxing and street combat scenes.
Within Muay Thai a person uses his arms as knives and his hands as swords. The technical use of his hands, feet, and fists along with his shins is something that makes Muay Thai stand out from rest. Most people do not understand that Muay Thai is pretty intense and you need to be on your game if you want to survive. Now that Muay Thai has a less intense approach and it is considered as an art form that can be controlled according to the need, people are now coming forward to learn this. It is a boxing game originally developed in Thailand and it was initially designed by using the basics of boxing.
Within this article, we will discuss some of the most common exercises that will help you train for Muay Thai. We will take a simple template of intense Muay Thai workout that is used in Thailand-based gyms. Our main focus here is to see the gym plan used by famous gyms and then see how you can alter these gym plans according to your personal needs.
What Are The Famous Workout Plans For Practicing Muay Thai?
Most of the Muay Thai famous gyms have a routine of workouts that they follow for everyone. This workout is pretty intense and it involves a full body. It covers the technical aspects of the training along with other aspects like speed, skill, and precision. The main idea of this workout is to help with strength and ensure by utilizing the same workout and exercises that can help an individual with the overall Muay Thai planning and strategy making. With some of the best fighters from around the world, Thai gyms use this workout for everyone regardless of their status in the game.
In most cases, the workout starts with a simple warm-up session, and then it starts with a detailed intense workout. This includes the use of rope skipping along with group run and shadow boxing. All these help with full-body training. Then pad work along with sparring is used. Then heavy bag workout is used for improving strength, body balance, and stability. To further improve the workout, the clinch is used along with starches, and to complete it off relaxing techniques are used.
This complete workout is intense but it covers everything and every muscle. You can easily customize this workout according to your need if you want. To help you with that we have listed a few things that you can use for customizing your workout plan.
How You Can Customize The Muay Thai Workout Plan For Training?
For customizing your workout, try to divide it into three simple steps. The first steps of the workout will be for warm-up which will mainly consist of simple stretching exercises. Then you can switch to the real intense workout. Finally, you need to take a cool-down session where you will use meditation and muscle relaxation therapy to help your body reach the cooldown. We have listed a simple workout plan that you can follow.
Warm-Up Session
Start your warm-up session with a simple run. You can use a 2-3 miles long highly intense run then switch to 3 rounds of rope skipping. Now that you are down with both, you can now switch to yoga or dynamic stretching that will help you open up your muscles and make them more flexible. With the increased flexibility you will have less chance of injury.
Intense Workout Plan
For the actual workout, start with shadowboxing. It will take around ten minutes. This is an intense workout and you will sweat a lot. Once done, you can then switch to a heavy bag workout. This will improve the execution of the punch and the strength of your wrists. Then you can start clinching and sparring. Most people get a round of speed boxing and power boxing. Another very important thing is to use your heavy bag to check the intensity of your power by punching it to the other side.
Cool Down Session
The cool-down session of the work is as important as a warm-up and the actual workout session. With the help of a cool-down session, your main focus will be on relaxation. You can either start with meditation or then go for muscle relaxation therapy or you can replace it with yoga where you will exercise as well as meditate and practice breathing. During fights, most people lose the context and they are unable to follow, with the help of mediation you will be able to focus easily.
Bottom Line
To sum it all up, usually, the workout plans for beginners are simple. However, if you have no experience within the Muay Thai department try to take your time and learn the basics first. Once you are done with the basics only then continue with speed and strength-based exercises. Unless you are not familiar with the technical manoeuvres you will not be able to improve your power and strength. To understand how it works you need to start by joining a Muay Thai class where you can learn about everything in detail. Within the first three months, you will learn about the basics and you can easily work on your own. However, just like MMA, Muay Thai is a progressive art that requires constant improvement. With proper training and routine workout, you will see that manoeuvres that were once challenging are getting easier with time. Your main focus needs to be on things that you find hard and try to practice them over time.