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On The Muay Thai Guy's podcast, I heard a strength and conditioning coach say that lack of engagement in the glutes when doing kicks can lead to knee and low back pain. I've exper low back pain since starting Muay Thai and I've had the problem with lack of glute engagement in running too that led to other injuries. The question: does anyone know of a good article or tutorial that will teach me how to engage the glutes when kicking?

Before I started muay thai, I fight in sanda rules ("chinese kick-box", also with throws and leg grabs). I was always afraid to kick the body, because in sanda we rather use our feet, not shins, when we kick, and it was so painful when I accidentaly kicked my opponent's elbow. And my friend's foot broke actually by this: she kicked, and her opponent used elbow as a guard. I started muay thai, I've learnt to kick with my shins, and slowly I started to be "brave" enough to kick to the body. It's still painful when I kick an elbow, but my shins became harder And now... We had sparring at training (2 weeks ago), my training partner was a beginner man. He didn't know how to defense, or catch leg, he just moved instinctively. I teeped him - he pushed forward his elbows ---> extreme pain in my foot. Next day I couldn't stand on my injured foot, so I went to a hospital. X-Ray, diagnosis: IV. metatarsal bone is broken. I can't walk, just with crutches, it means a month "rest". I hate it, I'm worried if it will be normal again, etc... So, okay, I never experienced this, when I spar or fight with a non-starter opponent. I never used my elbow to defend a teep. But really... You can't strenghten up your feet. And I don't want to be afraid to use teeps. How can you avoid this?

I used to box in western style and recently picked up Muay Thai and am now in Bangkok training. As an active boxer I ran religiously, but it's been awhile. One thing that I noticed whenever I come back to running after some time off, is the massive calf pain that lasts sometimes for almost 10 days. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this, and others can pitch in on ways to avoid or at least minimize this inconvenience. I'm diligent in easing into it, but still have not been able to avoid it.