for those who do muay thai training

[CloudEngineer]

*firstly im going to say if you don't/havn't done muay thai and lifted weights to complement your muay thai training please make it clear at the start of your post*

I'm starting to train for muay thai later this week, at the moment i'll be doing about 2 days of training a week and probabbly will increase that to 3 times a week after a month or so.

I currently also do some weight lifting, have been bulking for 3 months now to get up my body weight and muscle mass. i went from 65kg (143lbs) to 80kg (176lbs) and now i'm in the process of cutting body fat and conditioning my body for muay thai. im sitting i believe on 76kg (167lbs) today.

I do eventually want to fight in tournaments both muay thai and some kickboxing tournaments here in australia and plan to go train in thailand for a month in about a year's time.

My question's more about my lifting at gym, atm i've stuck pretty much to full body workouts 2-3 times a week.

mainly compound exercies such as squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, standing military press, dips, wide grip chins, bench press (mainly incline but occasionally flat and decline) pullovers and the odd isolation exercises such as db/bb curls etc. I pretty much want my gym work to compliment my muay thai traininig to increase my strength and explosiveness.

i want to avoid over training, what kind of weight lifting routine do you guys recommend?

atm i don't do much cardio work but plan on starting to do extra cardio like run and do sprinting excerises aswell aswell as skipping etc

I'm obviously going to also ask my trainers for the input also :)

Cheers

[TheRealDave]

I do muay thai 3 times a week and i do lift weights and I must say the best way to increase strength and cardio is simple. Just get a back and pound the crap out of it! Work on technique and once you've got that mastered used the resistance of the bag.

You dont want to bulk too much as it'll just make you tired and slow you down in the ring. Pads and bags are the best way IMO.

[fingers.t.beaver]

I always found squat thrusts a really good cardiovascular exercise reps of about 50 to 100.

Also for upperbody go to your nearest climbing shop and invest in a climbing pull up board it has a number of grips that train different muscle groups for explosive power over just muscle mass.

Hit a climbing centre the types of power exercises they have in they're training rooms works similar groups to martial arts.

[Samboini]

Get on the rowing machine, this is massively cardiovascular but each stroke is designed to 'explode' all of your muscles. When I did rowing at university we used the rowing machine 6 times a week on top of everything else; it helped immensley.

[TheRealDave]

Get on the rowing machine, this is massively cardiovascular but each stroke is designed to 'explode' all of your muscles. When I did rowing at university we used the rowing machine 6 times a week on top of everything else; it helped immensley.

That's pulling upper body though. What good is that when going to throw a punch apart from slight lower body explosivness

[CloudEngineer]

I do muay thai 3 times a week and i do lift weights and I must say the best way to increase strength and cardio is simple. Just get a back and pound the crap out of it! Work on technique and once you've got that mastered used the resistance of the bag.

You dont want to bulk too much as it'll just make you tired and slow you down in the ring. Pads and bags are the best way IMO.

we'll ive stoped bulking, did a sort of clean/dirty bulk mix while i was lifting so i've cleaned up my diet a bit

i'll be doing a lot of bag and pad work anyway,

i'm just stuck trying figure out the amount of sets/reps i should be doing in and how heavy i should be lifting to increase my strength, explosiveness and speed in the ring.

[Samboini]

That's pulling upper body though. What good is that when going to throw a punch apart from slight lower body explosivness

If you've ever done rowing you will know it is one of the very few sports that uses every muscle group during exercise. It will train all of your muscles to be explosive, from your legs, up your back to your chest through your shoulders and finally your arms. With good technique a rowing machine will also bulk you out providing you eat correctly.