Jump to content

Different Kinds of Running - What is Best for Muay Thai?


Recommended Posts

It's pretty well known that all top nak muays run. But there are different ways of running, and they bring different benefits. Sprinting in short intervals seems to be more effective when it comes to building cardio than running longer distances at a lower pace. The more classic medium distance running builds endurance in the leg in a way that short intervals doesn't though. What way do you find most benefitial for muay thai practitioners, and why?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hill repeats, stairs and sprints are all great to work into training. I've only ever seen it applied here in Thailand in the lead up to a "big fight," rather than part of maintenance training.

I've read the articles and arguments and all that on how HIIT is better than distance for explosive blah blah blah. But I don't think that the 10 km runs that NakMuay are pounding out twice per day are necessarily only meant for cardio. It's mental training as well.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with both 515 and Sylvie. Both endurance and high intensity training have their places and respective benefits, neither one is better than the other, so I find it best to do both. Most people seem to run before training, but I prefer to do it afterwards. That way, I can use it to go over what I did during the session in my head. I tag sprints onto the end, either before or after the big run, depending on how I feel that day. Some days, I'll do one and not the other and occasionally, I won't do any running at all, but as long as you incorporate both kinds into your general routine, you're good.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Long slow endurance runs, besides the definite mental capacity it takes to do those sort of runs, also help with your body's utilization of the aerobic systems. I know usually when you're in a fight it's a ton of explosive anaerobic work, that's what all the sprints and HIIT helps with. That sort of power. The aerobic part comes in between combos or between rounds. Essentially the stronger aerobic system you have, the faster you'll be able to recover from the explosive work.

My cardio absolutely sucks, so I'm actually working on trying to build up to longer runs and work on the mental training to do them, since I get horribly bored and want to quit as soon as possible.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the input. I especially like Stephs point about needing the aerobic systems to be able to utilize the anaerobic ones throughout an entire fight. I'm also not really a fan of running, which is why i have prefered sprints. It takes shorter time, and during high intensity trainings, I have to focus, and thus don't get bored. My friend signed me up for one of these 10 km road races last month though, so now I have found some motivation to do longer distances as well, which i think has made a difference. Generally i think both have their place in training, but it's interesting to reflect on the proportions from a sports-science perspective.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an issue with incorporating running to my training as I have a hip injury/weakness (something biological I have to live with it seems) which results in pain and stiffness in my right hip and thigh muscle if I run a lot. I've been trying different types of training, runs etc. to see what causes pain and what doesn't. It seems that anything apart from long distance runs are ok. Anyone with any thoughts or tips on how I can get cardio done for Muay Thai without too much running? In the gym I do cardio rounds on the bags, circuits, rope skipping etc but I'm always worried it's not enough as running seems to be such an integral part of Muay Thai training.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually have a similar problem Snoopy! I think that cycling is supposed to be really  good if you can get access to a stationary bike or something. Whenever I run long distances I start to get pain in my right hip and it eventually leads to me not being able to move my leg anymore if I continue to push it way past the limit. I haven't found any solution myself, what I've started trying to do is slowly build up. At this point I'm only doing short runs of about 3 km. It already causes some stiffness but its not enough to result in pain. What I intend to do is slowly increase it, so I'm hoping to build up strength without cause too much damage initially. I know this is probably not much help, but I hope you can find a way around it. I'll share any tips I figure out.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple years back I suffered from a bad case of plantar fasciitis that lasted 6 months(!!). Any ability to bounce around on my feet had to be reserved for sparring. I started working out on rowing machine and stationary bike, which helped with the cardio. Of course this doesn't replace running, but I found it to be the closest thing.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fall into the "cannot run because my back is a mess" category, also being a heavy woman it would be suicide on my articulations.

I know cycling can be a substitute, but how much? How long? What kind of route/intensity/setting (if on stationary bike?) Right now I jump on the stationary bike as I arrive at the gym, and I'm managing to fit a 20 minutes medium intensity biking before training as a warm up, I have the feeling is essential for my legs and knees to warm up that way. But I don't think that's enough as cardio conditioning/help recovery.

Any advice is welcome!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Most Recent Topics

  • Latest Comments

    • Muay Thai, Colonialism and "Techniques" not a competition, its a celebration There is a lot that is culturally complex in how the West (and others) interact with the traditional Muay Thai of Thailand, and honestly it is worth of analysis and thinking about. It's likely full of contradictions, and doesn't present only a single picture of motivations, but...there is one thing that is pretty common place and intense, and that is the way that fighters, coaches and various purveyors of information on Muay Thai to the West, usually in the form of demo'd techniques, simply present themselves as "experts", as if their knowledge, what they came to is simply something OF them. It becomes the signature of their authority and value, especially in social media contexts where a lot of platform reach comes from "demos" of one kind or another. This is just a serious trend, a pattern. But really it is almost inexcusable when sharing or teaching others not to share where and even more importantly WHO learned something you are demoing from. Almost uniformly, it wasn't something you learned from yourself. This means, with every share you are actively erasing the past, the actual lineage of that knowledge, you are erasing the people who actually knew something more than you, and you are removing their importance for anyone who might be interested in what you are sharing. This is pretty extreme, in that it is quite widespread. One of the biggest problems Muay Thai has right now is that as it internationizes, as it reaches for more commercial markets, so many of its roots are being erased...it has less and less concrete rootedness. And while this may help it spread quickly, charged up by the popularity of influencers and such, soil without roots will just wash away when there is a change in season. The roots are what holds everything together. Further of course, if you aren't naming teachers, krus, padmen and coaches that gave you that bit of information you are undermining the entire hope of Thailand in sharing Muay Thai in the world. You are erasing the very thought that you have to go to Thailand to learn specific things (or, in other countries well educated krus and gyms), the notion that to learn something better or more completely you should go further down the coaching tree, further into the roots. This was a huge motivation for pretty much everything Sylvie has done. Her path started learning kind of psuedo-Muay Thai from a strip mall gym that had a lot of TDK in the mix, but there was the photo of a guy on the wall who had taught the head coach of the gym his Muay Thai. This was "Master K", Sylvie's first Thai teacher. What do we do? We go to the teacher of the teacher. And this is exactly what lead us to Thailand, eventually to the Muay Thai Library documentary project itself. It's been an instinct from the beginning, but also a motivating value. Shine the light backwards. The teacher always will know some things the student will not. Because the teacher's knowledge comes from something very complex, a lived experience that is full of details and reasons and contexts that don't get filtered down into the particular technique. The teacher is full of richness and intensity...and its our job to raise up and preserve the teacher, to pull them into the present, and thus into the future. And this should be done with every share of technique possible. It should be just regular, not only etiquette, but also passion to bring the sources of what you know forward with you, and build a picture of knowledge that immediately causes people to look past you, before you, when they learn something. The krus, coaches and padmen need to be known. If you've been to Thailand and trained seriously you already know that many Thai padmen in gyms in some ways know more much more about Muay Thai than you'll ever know, even if you are a very experienced fighter. Muay Thai needs for us not to erase its own past, it needs to stop cutting off the vines below the flower. It is just amazing to me that so many shares of technique do not automatically tell of where it came from...who it came from. This doesn't mean you have to authorize your knowledge, because you got it from someone more famous, or more esteemed than someone else. As I said, there are so, so many in Thailand who are just brimming with knowledge who are almost completely unknown to but a few. Common padmen just walking experts of Muay Thai, padmen who don't have even much social standing in their own gym. Lift these names. Inspire people to connect to your own knowledge tree. It's not a competition, its a celebration.  There are many krus that we've documented in the Muay Thai Library who are not or were not social important krus or padmen, but they are full incredible knowledge and wisdom. Raising their names, and sharing their muay is absolutely vital, and can change their lives as well. There are so many example of this, even very famous names now. Sharing can be something as simple as: "Point your toes up on checked kicks, this is something learned from Kru Big at Sinbi [made up name] and a few other places as well" or,  "Hook-lowkick is a great go-to combo, this is a mainstay of the Sitmonchai style started with Kru Dam" or, "Kru Toi always told me to use the teep more in fights, and its something I've had success in when I did it".   It's just a way of talking about advice or demonstrated knowledge. Also, if this became more regular it would undercut just people cribbing demo advice from other content sharers, other influencers or breakdownists of varying quality, something that thins out the knowledge base. There isn't must wrong with learning from other sharers, but maybe just mention that you have? Create and build lineages, and inspire others to do the same. Muay Thai itself needs this.
    • "I don't know anything about tennis, but the one hitting the ball harder is clearly winning." Sylvie's brilliant encapsulation of Western advisements of how trad Muay Thai should be fought.
    • I put together this compilation of little notes Sylvie has taken in a stretch of training and sharing Muay Thai, and was surprised that there is a full 30 minutes of these. I'm just struck and really almost shocked at how much knowledge she drops and the nature of it. These are not "demos" of techniques, but looking beneath or within techniques, something that comes from being closely connected to techniques for many many years, and her self-transformation. I can't think of another person in the world who could drop notes like this, of this much variety, because this just comes out of her path. These are like reading notes of Muay Thai. It's a very interesting, and kind of inspiring level of knowledge. She's a walking encyclopedia of experience and knowledge.  That foot-drop taught by Manop is just this kind of thing. It's not "technique", its a piece of a technique, but its related to a generative principle that informs all sorts of other techniques, and even can touch all of your Muay Thai. There are so many of those.   
  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • Hi all, Does anyone know of any suppliers for blanks (Plain items to design and print a logo on) that are a good quality? Or put me in the right direction? thanks all  
    • The first fight between Poot Lorlek and Posai Sittiboonlert was recently uploaded to youtube. Posai is one of the earliest great Muay Khao fighters and influential to Dieselnoi, but there's very little footage of him. Poot is one of the GOATs and one of Posai's best wins, it's really cool to see how Posai's style looked against another elite fighter.
    • Yeah, this is certainly possible. Thanks! I just like the idea of a training camp pre-fight because of focus and getting more "locked in".. Do you know of any high level gyms in europe you would recommend? 
    • You could just pick a high-level gym in a European city, just live and train there for however long you want (a month?). Lots of gyms have morning and evening classes.
    • Hi, i have a general question concerning Muay-Thai training camps, are there any serious ones in Europe at all? I know there are some for kickboxing in the Netherlands, but that's not interesting to me or what i aim for. I have found some regarding Muay-Thai in google searches, but what iv'e found seem to be only "retreats" with Muay-Thai on a level compareable to fitness-boxing, yoga or mindfullness.. So what i look for, but can't seem to find anywhere, are camps similar to those in Thailand. Grueling, high-intensity workouts with trainers who have actually fought and don't just do this as a hobby/fitness regime. A place where you can actually grow, improve technique and build strength and gas-tank with high intensity, not a vacation... No hate whatsoever to those who do fitness-boxing and attend retreats like these, i just find it VERY ODD that there ain't any training camps like those in Thailand out there, or perhaps i haven't looked good enough?..  Appericiate all responses, thank you! 
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.4k
    • Total Posts
      11.4k
×
×
  • Create New...