I train Muay Thai, going on a competitive level and I intend on supplementing my athleticism with KB training. What are some killer exercises you’d recommend for training power and endurance ?
Also, I have some decent strength and muscle mass and since I don’t aim on gaining more weight (5’9 for 163lbs) in order to fit my weight class when I’m cutting pre-fight, what weight range and rep range should I (more likely) target.
@returner I'd introduce swings or snatches to start with.
I'm assuming you will be running, doing a lot of pushups and sit ups etc?
Pad work must be near daily? Bag work, skipping etc it's a damn demanding sport. I wouldn't go mad to start with.
@scottles I train my art 3 to 4 times a week where we do technique focused stuff first and 30 minutes of sparring. In between, running and sprinting as a warmup, push-ups, burpees and sit ups are our daily bread. I have an hour class of pad work every week and I’ll do skipping or bag work at the end of every class (I most of the time spam low kicks in order to improve my technique). In the end, I go the gym when I can and have enough energy for it (mostly on weekends and never more than twice a week)
I don’t squat or deadlift that often but know I shouldn’t leave them unseen (276 max squat and 308 max RDL). The thing is that I used to do Calisthenics before returning to combat sports and aim for high level. I have serious vertical pulling and pushing strength and to my surprise, I am still able to do HIIT with a decent cardio and great speed at that weight.
RN I’m worried of not getting too big pointlessly and want to use weights and gym exercises mostly in order to optimise muscle endurance, power and cardio.
@returner I would aim for something that trains explosiveness while already at a high heart rate. So maybe 25-30 kettlebells swings followed by snatches. Or a racked carry for 3 minutes with intermittent explosive presses at random intervals.
Power while rested is good, but you need the ability to throw a strong punch or kick late in a round when you are exhausted, because that’s where your opportunities are likely to show up.
@returner Check out Mark Wildman or Daru Strong. They’ve got some killer KB workouts on their YouTube channels catered towards fighters. Daru Strong more so than Wildman
@returner I’m gonna have to dig through his book Kettlebell RX, but Jeff Martone is a good resource. He trains martial arts and kettlebells. He’s was one of the early adapters of KB when Pavel first started in the US.
@returner Girevoy sport style clean and jerks have brought my cardio, grip strength and leg endurance up another level and have had a lot of training partners ask what I’m doing for exercise. I can definitely see it working for Muay Thai as well.
@jesustruegod For me I practiced the technique with one arm, but two arms are a game changer. My core, forearms, and endurance gets brought to another level.
@monstershouter prob just me but on single arm work i tend to switch from hand to hand before taking a break while i udually do EMOM for two handed work like swings...this happened simply because i have limited access to double kbs at the gym but do have an adjustable kbk comp bell at home..
@returner i was a competitive thai boxer back in the days (2007) and i also with fighters (mma, tae kwon do, jiu jitsu). you're already doing a lot of physical work by practicing your sport. what i would suggest is to do a periodization. when you know the date of your competition you start preparing. i usually start with strength, then power, power endurance, speed. i also implement sprints depending on how close the competition is. long distance between 200m and 800m. short distance explosives between 30m and 100m.
there's a good book that i bought back then for like 20$ called Infinite Intensity by Ross Enemeit. this book is very simple and straight to the point. the guy is a boxer but you can adjust the programs to fit your sport. it changed my perspective on fitness. you can also use kettlebells instead of dumbells and barbells or mix everything for more challenges..
@returner Let me point you towards Simple and Sinister by Pavel Tsatsouline. It’s a $10 ebook and it will check a lot of boxes.
Training for a combat sport is demanding already. Every thing you add is something else your body has to recover from. I’m sure you know this. The kind of intensity you should be putting yourself through, you don’t need or want to go too crazy.
Simple and Sinister provides consistent results without overtaxing your nervous system and muscles.
10 sets of 10 swings done hard style, that is going to hit a lot of what you need. 10 TGU’s, again, pretty comprehensive.
And it goes almost without saying that your body is going to be the ultimate barometer of what you do.
