Do Muay Thai classes emphasize cardio more than BJJ classes?

[AreYouHappyNow?]

Hello, my name is AreYouHappyNow? and I'm new to Sherdog. Fight training is new to me too, so I'd really appreciate your input on this subject.

I've attended quite a few martial arts training classes. But I've never participated in them or stayed for an entire session. I'm a real, raw rookie in that I've never even been in a fight school, ever. I've trained before, but always without supervision. I have a target date of entering my first school at the end of this month. I'm really looking forward to it, but I have a question that will help me pick out a school. Your answers will help me determine what school I go to.

My question is: Do Muay Thai schools empahsize cardio conditioning more than the Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes? Based on what I've seen, it appears as if the MT classes are more cardio inclined than the BJJ classes.




I've seen the MT students do:

--medicine ball excercises

--heavy bag drills

--jump rope

--burpees

--run laps around the studio

--shadowbox

--and then do it all over again and then some



I've seen the BJJ students:


--roll around on the floor and grapple

--roll around on the floor and grapple

--roll around on the floor and grapple

--and that's just about it


So in addition to my original question of, "Do Muay Thai classes emphasize cardio excercises more than BJJ classes," would you say that it's alot easier to run out of gas in an MT class as opposed to a BJJ class?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[yomon]

i would definatly say MT for cardio. all we do at TeamTompkins is run, jump, and throw combinations till you have internal bleeding. Our gym actualy takes pride in having the best cardio trained fighters in all of canada.

when we roll BJJ it doesn't fell like work at all in comparison to the MT conditioning

 

[Aardvark]

Depends on the gym and the instructor.

There are plenty of MT places where you can slack and plenty where you will be driven into the ground and then the actual cardio work starts. Ditto BJJ schools. In general however, competition biased bjj schools will be more intense cardiowise than self defence biased bjj schools.

Look around. Just about every decent school under the sun will let you take a free class or two. That should answer your question (will the MT gym *you* go to emphasize cardio more than the BJJ gym *you* would go to) better than the experiences of a bunch of dorks with insomnia on a forum.

For what its worth just "rolling around on the floor and grappling" can be a pretty intense workout.

 

[Bizz]

i would definatly say MT for cardio. all we do at TeamTompkins is run, jump, and throw combinations till you have internal bleeding. Our gym actualy takes pride in having the best cardio trained fighters in all of canada.

when we roll BJJ it doesn't fell like work at all in comparison to the MT conditioning

I'd have to argue the Pride gym in Trail BC has the best cardio in Canada as I have seen them all fight and they can outgas anyone from any other gym and fights fighters from all over the US and Canada.

Take no offence though, they do all altitude training in Rossland BC (highest elivated city in Canada) and work Cardio more then anything.

Also about BJJ, Pankration, Sub Wrestling...w/e rolling is a fucking crazy work out if your group likes to go hard

 

[Eric O]

I generally leave my BJJ class feeling like I'm going to die.

MT I leave tired and broken but not fearing that I may puke on or shit myself.

 

[wenispinkle]

you say that as if grappling isnt hard as hell on the cardio system

 

[SmashiusClay]

Both will nearly kill you if you have a decent school to train at. I always find that Mt is harder on my cardio and grappling is more about killling my muscular endurance, but then again doing high speed uchi-komi at judo leaves me near collapse after half a dozen rounds.

 

[b0b]

BJJ emphasizes more practical cardio. The more you roll, the longer you will be able to roll in the long run. It uses almost all of your body's muscles.

 

[SmashiusClay]

BJJ emphasizes more practical cardio. The more you roll, the longer you will be able to roll in the long run. It uses almost all of your body's muscles.

WHAT??

That post made my head hurt, are you implying that doing MT will not make your cardio better for the purpose of MT and that MT does not use most of the bodies muscles?

Also I think you are going to have to run "practical cardio" past me again, cos' it does'nt make much sense to me at the mo.

 

[Bizz]

WHAT??

That post made my head hurt, are you implying that doing MT will not make your cardio better for the purpose of MT and that MT does not use most of the bodies muscles?

Also I think you are going to have to run "practical cardio" past me again, cos' it does'nt make much sense to me at the mo.

Correct me if I am wrong but I do not think he is Discrediting the cardio that MT can give you as both are intense. I think he was refering to how rolling builds complete body strength and endurance at the same time.

This is all relitive however. If you have ever been to a gym where MT classes are "light" on the power of your strikes, but you do a lot for the sake of technique and cardio building I understand his position as no matter how things go in your Pankration / BJJ / Subwrestling class its hard to go "light" unless you happen to be rolling with a 125lb person and you are 300lbs lol.

 

[Duncon76]

MT cardio and rolling on the ground are two different actions. You need to do both. If all you do is roll, then it makes sense to roll, roll and roll again. But for MMA, I think one should do both.

 

[AreYouHappyNow?]

Alright, how about this theory:

The stress on your cardio system in MT is more on the aerobic side? Maybe.

And the stress on your cardio system inflicted from BJJ is more anaerobic?

This is just an educated guess as I haven't trained in either one, though I have watched alot of classes. In the boxing classes there are some people, beginners probrably, who towards the end of class look as if they have just run the Boston Marathon with a 100 lb. anchor tied around their waist. I've yet to see that sort of exasperation coming from a BJJ dude.

Lets not forget that for decades now people have been saying that a boxer is one of the best conditioned athletes out there. And you can take that statement any way you want.

 

[cortezthekiller]

Alright, how about this theory:

The stress on your cardio system in MT is more on the aerobic side? Maybe.

And the stress on your cardio system inflicted from BJJ is more anaerobic?

This is just an educated guess as I haven't trained in either one, though I have watched alot of classes. In the boxing classes there are some people, beginners probrably, who towards the end of class look as if they have just run the Boston Marathon with a 100 lb. anchor tied around their waist. I've yet to see that sort of exasperation coming from a BJJ dude.

Lets not forget that for decades now people have been saying that a boxer is one of the best conditioned athletes out there. And you can take that statement any way you want.

I don't know about BJJ, but Muay Thai is anaerobic.

 

[kneecompression]

I don't know about BJJ, but Muay Thai is anaerobic.

i think its the other way around, with wrestling being even more anaerobic than bjj

 

[b0b]

WHAT??

That post made my head hurt, are you implying that doing MT will not make your cardio better for the purpose of MT and that MT does not use most of the bodies muscles?

Also I think you are going to have to run "practical cardio" past me again, cos' it does'nt make much sense to me at the mo.

No, I am not saying MT isn't a great cardio workout. I am saying BJJ most schools do not emphasize stuff like the Topic Poster wrote, like

I've seen the MT students do:

--medicine ball excercises

--heavy bag drills

--jump rope

--burpees

--run laps around the studio

--shadowbox

--and then do it all over again and then some

Stuff like running laps, jumping rope, etc...

 

[Sinister]

I love when people endlessly debate the validity of apples versus that of oranges. All you need to know is they're both sweet, they're both fruit, they're both PICKED, depending on which you feel you want or need at the time. The rest of the debate is mostly tough-guy talk you get from guys who swear by one system versus the other. Or guys who happen to have seen a person run into bad experiences when transitioning. Cardio is cardio, either you're in shape or you're not, and being in shape is a relative term to the fighter. As per the training, that is relative to the teacher. I've seen guys who do the types of things listed in Muay Thai classes gas faster than BJJ, but the reason is not the mechanics. The reson is they half-ass. End of discussion on that. I've also seen the converse.

 

[TapSD]

I don't know about BJJ, but Muay Thai is anaerobic.

lol...anarobic is like lifting weights...how is jumping rope...doing burpees...bag drills and Thai pads drills anarobic..Ive done MT for 4 years and the firsdt time I did BJJ I thought I was gonna die..I run 4 miles 3 times a wekk and do ALOT of sprints..but BJJ was a different kind of conditioning..

 

[Sinister]

Ive done MT for 4 years and the firsdt time I did BJJ I thought I was gonna die..I run 4 miles 3 times a wekk and do ALOT of sprints..but BJJ was a different kind of conditioning..

This kind of illustrates my point. You ran into difficulty transitioning applying the cardio conditioning you already had differently. But I bet there was at least one doof in your class who has never done MT a day in his life who would say "yeah, see, BJJ is WAY HARDER than MT." But at the same time you put him in a REAL Muay Thai camp and his tune would change. It never ends.

 

[TapSD]

This kind of illustrates my point. You ran into difficulty transitioning applying the cardio conditioning you already had differently. But I bet there was at least one doof in your class who has never done MT a day in his life who would say "yeah, see, BJJ is WAY HARDER than MT." But at the same time you put him in a REAL Muay Thai camp and his tune would change. It never ends.

zactly!

 

[cortezthekiller]

lol...anarobic is like lifting weights...how is jumping rope...doing burpees...bag drills and Thai pads drills anarobic..Ive done MT for 4 years and the firsdt time I did BJJ I thought I was gonna die..I run 4 miles 3 times a wekk and do ALOT of sprints..but BJJ was a different kind of conditioning..

Anaerobic isn't limited to lifting weights. The exercises you mentioned, the burpees, jumping rope, and hitting the bag are all anaerobic. Sports like Muay Thai and boxing are anaerobic.