[quote]fearnloathingnyc wrote:
[quote]Beershoes wrote:
Hey man, glad to see more Thai boxers in the forum! I can’t truly call myself a nauk muay, but I fee as if I am one at heart. I also can’t help but feel for you and what you wan’t to accomplish. I want to start out with what you might see as criticism, and keep my encouragement for the end, so stay with me!
Firstly, these are just my opnions! We’ve all had our own experiences that shape our opnions, so keep that in mind as you ask others for help.
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I can’t help but notice your private muay thai lessons are light on dutch drills, pad work, and sparring. If you’re going to compete in a year, I can’t stress enough how important these things are.
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Your thai work seems to focus very heavily on building endurance by using weighted exercises to increase fatigue. I think this is great for cardio development, which is huge, but again; I really see a lack of true skill work.
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I really don’t think you need two different days to work on your strength, unless your body can take it. Our focus as nauk muay’s is to learn the art of 8 limbs. We can focus on our superior stregth development when, and if, our coach or our body tells us that our strength is holding us back.
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I don’t see any recovery, speed, or mobility work in your program. Be smart and add this in early.
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I see you’re using 5/3/1 as a template for your strength program! Awesome! You are two years ahead of me when I started. Finding this program was invaluable to me.
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Your cardio should be pretty sick with all those weighted circuits.
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You clearly have the right attitude! Hard work pays off!
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I really think that for your height and weight you have a good enough strength base to focus your efforts elsewhere for some time. Or, at least, hold off on adding a second strength day.
I’m currently 4 weeks out from my first Mauy Thai event and I’m not lifting twice a week. In fact I haven’t been for almost 8 weeks. I noticed that there was no way my body was recovering from lifting that hard, and putting in all the work at practice. I needed to focus on my skills above all else, cardrio as a secondary, mobility and explosiveness third, and strength dead last. When you fight an opponent your own size in a sporting event, skill is your greatest asset. [/quote]
What kind of dutch drills do you think I am light on? As for sparring, the advanced students spar. I’m still a beginner learning the fundamentals regarding technique.
Yes, the thai boxing gym I go to focuses on a lot of reps and conditioning. This pays off big time on fight night, since most of the fighters from the gym are rarely tired during and after the fight, meanwhile, the opponents are experiencing fatigue.
What kind of skill work do you think I should be doing?
As for strength days, the reasoning behind adding a second day is such that it helps my Judo (even if minimally). I do agree that it is probably not necessary especially from a recovery standpoint.
What type of recovery work should I be doing? Foam roller, massages, etc.? As for speed work, do you recommend explosive lifts?
Congratulations on preparing for your first Muay Thai fight and best wishes. I like what you said here: “to focus on my skills above all else, cardrio as a secondary, mobility and explosiveness third, and strength dead last.”[/quote]
Focusing on gaining proper technique is of paramount importance, and I would never try to tell anyone that their coach is wrong. I prefer dutch drills and pad work because they give you the opportunity to work on distance, timing,and movement on an opponent who is also moving. I think a lot of people are weak on cardio (I count myself among them) because it’s the most grueling aspect. As far as what dutch drills, pad work, ect… you should be doing, I can’t say. Your kru knows better than I do, but I find that our teachers also get into the habit of a routine. Sometimes just asking them to mix in some other types of work can add a spark to your training.
For recovery work I would suggest yoga, foam rolling, and if you can afford it a massage.
For your explosive weight work it really depends on your skill set, your strength level (which seems better than most), and your equipment. I think oly movements are a big help, but I’d suggest consulting the combat blog (on this website) entitled dog days by donnydarkoirl. He really logs his explosive work well.