Pro boxing and Muay Thai strength training

[Pretty Tony From the Mack]

Hello,
I go to a pretty reputable muay thai gym where I have been training for about a year. In the near future I plan on competing and my coach, who I believe to be incredible knowledgeable, has laid out a weekly strength program for the competitive athletes that he changes every month or so. He says that this should be the only strength program that we do while training and the work outs mainly consist of push ups, sit ups, pull ups...mainly body weight exercises, with some plyometrics mixed in. There are some other traditional exercises included like curls, or maybe lunges or some other dumbbell routines but for the most part it is as stated, and everything is high rep and high intensity. His reasoning is in striking sports you don't want to get too bulky, but you want to work on muscle tone and staying lean and flexible. The body types of muay thai fighters, and boxers for the most part, reflect this as most strikers are lean and long while not being overly muscular. You do see some fairly muscular striking athletes but for the most part, across all striking sports, boxers & kickboxers/ Muay thai fighters have that same lean, tone body. So, my question is at your gyms how is the strength training laid out for the competitive/pro athletes? Is it similar to how my gym is where it is mainly body weight focusing on toning and endurance as apposed to bulking? Jiu Jitsu players can even be included as I am curious as to how they strength train. Thanks

 

[pliftkl]

Did your coach actually use the word "tone"? Because if so, you're legally allowed to punch him in the face twice.

 

[CamMan14]

It's clear to see that he has the old school mentality of "weights make you slow and stiff" which is just untrue.
Olympic weight lifters are some of the most mobile and explosive athletes on the planet.
Although, 80% of amatuer gyms are like that. Just doing high reps of easy exercises because that's what everyone else does.

 

[ARIZE]

For the most MT gym's i've been, it's mostly push ups, abs (billions of them), and some neck exercises. I like to add pull-ups, if it's not in the program, since it helps with the clinch. But nothing more... Anything else I may do, it's mostly for esthetics reasons.
Heavy kicks on the pads or heavy bag, plus the daily run/skip is enough for leg muscles, imo...

I know most of people think it's a very old school mentality, but i like it that way personally.

 

[Sano]

For the most MT gym's i've been, it's mostly push ups, abs (billions of them), and some neck exercises. I like to add pull-ups, if it's not in the program, since it helps with the clinch. But nothing more... Anything else I may do, it's mostly for esthetics reasons.
Heavy kicks on the pads or heavy bag, plus the daily run/skip is enough for leg muscles, imo...

I know most of people think it's a very old school mentality, but i like it that way personally.

Nothing wrong with that imo. Personally I would add a few additional weight exercises for injury prevention and other things, at the right time ofc.

 

[ARIZE]

Nothing wrong with that imo. Personally I would add a few additional weight exercises for injury prevention and other things, at the right time ofc.

Can you give some examples of exercises for injury prevention?

 

[Sano]

Can you give some examples of exercises for injury prevention?

It's tough, because it depends entirely on the person. What is their physical weaknesses, if any, that they might not be addressing during regular training? What is their posture like, and does it hinder their performance? Do they feel pain in the joints or other places during training, and is it getting progressively worse?

Stuff like that matters. Overall I'd say that a few ankle and single leg stability exercises with dumbbells can help, a few band or small dumbbell exercises for the shoulders and rotator cuff can help and some heavy barbell or machine weight lifting can help too. The most important thing for injury prevention is good form, going slow on the eccentric, using pauses and using the range of motion that works for you. Like in the squat, too often people load up the bar with too much weight, jam themselves down ass to grass (when they shouldn't go that low with weight) with too much speed and pop back up. Sometimes resulting in more pain and really small gains.

Physiologically, slow and eccentric heavy weight training has been shown to reduce inflammation in tendons and so forth. '

Nagging knees, back pain, nagging shoulders, all these things can often be somewhat alleviated with a good program, depending on the cause and person of course. Getting your muscle tissue strength up is also good for being more durable generally and can transfer to especially power and strength activities in your sport.

That said, I think that barbell training is overrated, some places, for striking sports when it comes to performance, and should be down the list of priorities. I still think it has value as part of your overall S&C though, it just shouldn't take time away from what you really need to be working on.

 

[ARIZE]

Thanks man, much appreciated.

I know it depends on the person and the problem, I just wanted to understand the general idea of the exercises... which you explained, so thanks again...

 

[Sano]

Thanks man, much appreciated.

I know it depends on the person and the problem, I just wanted to understand the general idea of the exercises... which you explained, so thanks again...

No worries. It still bugs me a little giving any advice over the internet, because you can't be hands on in how the exercise is applied.

An important measurement stick if you're doing something and wondering if you're doing it right is, does it cause pain and does it make the issue worse? The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as they said. Think Tony Ferguson and the deadlift he did a while back lol. Anyway.

Another thing, generally working on your posterior chain, like hammies, glutes and back goes a long way.

 

[560ti]

.is reasoning is in striking sports you don't want to get too bulky, but you want to work on muscle tone and staying lean and flexible. The body types of muay thai fighters, and boxers for the most part, reflect this as most strikers are lean and long while not being overly muscular.

I can tell your coach has that old school mentality.

Nothing wrong with adding low to medium rep olympic style strength training to your workout. Main reason why they mostly do bodyweight exercises in thailand is because the pros fight every 3 to 4 weeks and it's not uncommon to have multiple fights in a single month. Doesn't leave you alot of time/energy to be doing all out deadlifts