Pre muay thai training and gear

[Mortification]

So im going to be starting muay thai pretty soon but before hand I want to train a bit so I wont completely be unprepared. Any suggestions I have a heavy bag and wavemaster kickstand. Some benches for lifting,a crunch machine and a few exercise bikes. Ive taken tkd before and realize its way different. Anyone have any training regimens that would be benificial before jumping into it.


Also what gear will I Need. Is there really a uniform?

[Domite]

Don't train beforehand, just go sign up.

[Randomxman]

Don't try to learn anything before hand you will only develop bad habits that will be harder to erase once you begin training at a proper gym.

I would recommend increasing your cardiovascular health before you start. The following methods are excellent ways to add some air to your lungs:

1. LSD Running

2. Sprints

3. Jump Rope

4. Interval Training

5. Burpees

[Meson]

Maybe you could see a doctor about your knee. (Considering the other thread you posted).

[Zencreative]

The best training for doing muay thai is doing muay thai. Get in a class and try it out. Once you've got an idea of what's involved you'lll have a better idea of what you might need to work on fitness wise outside class.
Your instructor will tell you what equipment you need but for your first class just wear work out clothing.
Don't make excuses about getting in shape first - get stuck in and enjoy.

[SilentNight]

Like everyone else has said, join MT right away and run (a lot) in conjunction to the training. just as the poster above me said, the best training for MT is MT.
Edit: Strengthening your core can't harm you either, i guess.

[Sakmongkol]

Running a lot + fucked up knee... No.

Swim a lot?

[h_sh_m]

dude i know exactly where you're coming from. There's no way you can prepare in a way that'll make you look less stupid as a n00b. Hell the only way you know if you're doing it right is if you look clueless in the beginning.

Now some people are saying working on cardio might help, but i'd advise against it. You're much more likely to just kill a couple of weeks doing inadequate cardio training or procrastinating cause it's so boring. And honestly it won't help you get through the first class too much better.

So, I now present you with

The Perfect Guide for Beginning Muay Thai


Part 1: Gear

The main point of this section is that buying your gear ahead of time will allow you to get much better prices and quality than what'll probably be available at your school or at the nearest retail store.

Shirt: A tight fitting T-shirt or rash guard/compression shirt. Nothing baggy since this'll slow you down & is dangerous (kicks get caught, causing broken toes). Champion & T3K makes cheap & acceptable quality compression shirts ($11 a pop, available at Walmart & Ebay).

Shorts: Make sure they're significantly above the knee and not baggy, tuck in your cord if you have one. Your school may sell or require you to wear Muay Thai shorts. If that's the case, buying them online will probably be a fraction of their price. Even if they don't require it, buy at least 1 pair of Muay Thai shorts so you have some experience training in them (they're very lightweight). Unless your goal is to make the cover of National Geographic, you MUST NOT wear boxers with Muay Thai shorts. Wear compression shorts, boxer briefs, etc.

Cup: Get the ones with the rubber lining on the outside so they don't cut into your thighs. Ming_Loyalist says ShockDoctor makes good expensive ones that fit into the velcro pocket of a pair of their compression/sliding shorts (cup+shorts $25 each). I'm about to try a much cheaper pair of T3K's off of ebay I'll let you know how it goes.

Boxing Gloves: Absolute minimum of 12oz with velcro, not laces. Training gloves, not bag gloves. Just find the cheapest **** you can get.

Hand Wraps: You need a minimum of 180 inches. This is very important, because most sporting goods stores will carry mostly shorter ones (like 108") which are completely useless to you if you're an adult. Two wraps come per package, and you may want to get a couple of packages so you can alternate. If you get red, they will bleed onto your clothes when you wash them.

Shin Pads Your school will probably sell these, and again you can probably buy better cheaper pairs online. You want more padding not less, also you want instep protection. Also, VERY IMPORTANT: It is a damn good move to buy a pair of cheap (~$15) white ones in addition to your main pads. You can use them under your normal pads to supplement them when injured, or when you feel you need extra protection. When your shins toughen you can drop down to just the white ones and you'll feel a clear speed improvement due to the dropped bulk.

Adequate padding is very important. Shins are conditioned by being repeatedly banged against something soft (like a heavy/banana bag). They are damaged by hitting something hard like a flexed kneecap w/o prior conditioning. You will do this and it will cost you much pain and time off if you don't pre-empt it by padding up when training with someone and removing the padding when doing bag work and thai pads. This is the real quick way to tough shins.

Mouthguard: Your school may or may not require these for beginners. Get one anyway, they're cheap.



Part II Pre-Conditioning Exercises


Improving your cardio is good, but I feel this is more likely to be used as an excuse than to actually derive any MT benefits. Your school specializes in turning fat lazy smokers into cardio-animals, and they work endurance directly applicable to Muay Thai, so just trust them on that.

However, there are exercises you can do before your first day, that will actually aid your progress in Muay Thai considerably:

Stretching: In the week or week and a half before your first class, begin a stretching regimen. You want to cover every large joint, but particularly focus on the following:

- Hips
-Rotator Cuff
-Calves/Achilles Tendon
-Wrists

2-3 sets each, hold for at least 40 seconds. You will save alot of time if you can preempt overuse injuries to these commonly injured places.

Strength Training: Pretty much everybody has enough muscle to throw decent punches and kicks, so you don't need to work on strengthening large muscle groups as much as you should engage in exercises targetted at minimizing overuse injuries to particularly susceptible parts of a n00bs anatomy. Strengthen these small 'weakest link' areas:

Rotator Cuff: Strengthen this to avoid rotator cuff tendinitis and overuse injuries. You'll suddenly be throwing alot of punches and holding your hands up in front of you for long periods of time. I attended my first Muay Thai class, then had to take then next 2-3 weeks off because of this ****. I have never been to a MMA, BJJ, MT Class, or just a fitness gym generally that didn't have at least 2 people in every room who had rotator cuff problems. One high profile personal trainer (working in MMA) said that almost noone trains this enough.

Cardio: The only thing I might recommend is jump rope. Not for the cardio benefits, but so you can do it without tripping over the rope too much in class. Also, it'll strenthen your achilles tendon and ankles, so you're ready to be on your toes all day. Maybe do 3 two minute rounds.

Showering: Start doing this ****. Also cut your fuckin toenails, put some damn deoderant on and maybe chew a trident. Seems like a no-brainer, but in every class, there's always that guy.



Part III: Actually Going To Class


Here are a few good practices for your first few days:

- Gradually ramp up to a full training regimen. Attend class an absolute MAXIMUM of 3 times a week in the beginning. Otherwise you will get injured and lose a whole lot of time.

- Don't do extra bag work, don't stay after class to do anything intensive. Do stay after to watch if you want.

- Ask the teacher questions. In addition to gaining valuable information, you'll establish a reputation as a serious student, and he'll look out for you more often. Sometimes just paying to be there isn't enough.

- Focus on technique over speed and power. These are the critical days when that other ****'s not a concern.

- If anything starts to hurt, stop fucking doing it. If you're holding pads and your elbow or wrists hurt, stop. Et cetera, et cetera. Getting tired, and lactic acid build up is normal, but soreness shouldn't happen till at least the next day, so if you're getting a sharp pain, stop.



Part IV: Optional Supplemental


**** you don't really need to have or do, but if you want some busy work...

Gear: Duffel bag with seperate wet pocket, Lysol or Febreeze for the inside of gloves, athletic tape, 1 instant ice pack (the popping kind), antiseptic/bacitracin, 'what i learned today' training journal.

Exercises:
- Pushups (minimum 3 sets of 20),
- Running (jogging with staggered sprints)
- Sit ups (a whole lot)
- Leg lifts (for core strength and more importantly to prevent overuse injury to
tendons, etc. in the front of hips)
- Wrist Strengthening exercises (for injury prevention - you'll be holding pads for alot of
strong guys, sprains suck)
- Full extension bicept curls (the ones where you use the machine or a curling stand,
the goal is to strenthen the tendons not the muscles, this is to avoid overuse injury
when you start holding pads, a la the Kimura effect when your hand gets pushed
back by a hard hit)




Disclaimer


I'm not a fitness expert, a competent martial artist or generally an intelligent person. Everything I've included in this guide is the result of my experience and the experience of other n00bs I've seen start.

Basically **** I wish someone had told me.

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could contribute to this guide by pointing out corrections or **** i've missed. For example I didn't mention nutrition at all. Remember, these are tips for someone to have a smooth start in Muay Thai, not someone looking to improve already decent performance or get that extra edge. So, be minimalist.

[Domite]

I think that is great advice, and not to nitpick, but this:

- If anything starts to hurt, stop fucking doing it. If you're holding pads and your elbow or wrists hurt, stop. Et cetera, et cetera. Getting tired, and lactic acid build up is normal, but soreness shouldn't happen till at least the next day, so if you're getting a sharp pain, stop.

I disagree with. In my experience, pretty much everything hurts, particularly in the beginning, and you should generally just push through.

Good post though, someone should make that a sticky.

[Zyph]

Abdominal work. Tons and tons of it, with proper breathign while you are doing it. This will save your ass when the Teeps start comming in.

Learn to jump rope, and if you are going to run mix in sprints. MT and most martial arts relys on burst energy, and that is built better with sprints.

Get some gloves and shin guards, and a mouth pieace if you like your teeth.