Weight training

[Lost Ronin]

Originally posted by Bri Thai
"Weightlifting doesn't have to be time consuming, I lift about three times a week for two hours and I'm in good shape."

Well I lift for one hour a week once. I bet you're not 6 times stronger than me. In my opinion three seesions of two hours duration is way too much, unless you're not really training intensively.

You don't gain strength when you weight train. You gain when you are recovering from weight training.

So I think you're doing too much, unless you have incredible genetics or a "chemical boost".

Well, I don't know about being stronger than you, I know that I lift about 2 hrs. (warm-up included so its really about 90 mins, lets not forget rest periods.) and my main focus is on either endurance or medium range lifts which means that at three sets an exercise and doing high to medium reps its going to take longer than the much more intense and shorter "power workouts". Essentially, my main game is muscular and cardio endurance. And no, I'm not some "super human" or chemically aided person, I use a split routine where I hit three muscle groups with two different exercises, and my reps change accordingly depending on what I'm focusing on. I hit three different muscle groups every day I lift, and I also watch out for antagonistic muscle groups so I don't overuse any joints (I already got injured once.) I agree with you about not gaining strength when you lift, but it's not just the recovery that triggers off the gains in strength. When you lift weights you stimulate the muscle to adapt to a new stimulus (i.e the weight) so the body, in response to these new demands grows in size and in strength. If you don't change the weight that you lift you will not get stronger, your endurance will increase though. But I recommend changing weight every three weeks or when you feel comfortable with the weight you are already lifting, thanks for making that point BriThai. By the way, you are welcome TKDkid.

[thuggedfc]

hey,

first time poster, need some advice.

basically i'm contemplating taking up muay thai to get in serious shape, and to become a hard bast*rd!! j/k

anyways, i currently go to the gym 6 times a week, M/W/F chest/back/egs, and T/T/S arms/shoulders. i'm by no means a meat head, i do fairly light weights, 12-10-10 reps, but i was wondering if this will be detrimental to my learning muay thai??

i don't think it should be a real issue personally, i'm endurance/toning training in weights, so I think my muscles I imagine could handle same day workouts. i'm guessing!!

i would really appreciate anyone with experiance giving me advice

thanks in advance

[billywest1924]

weight training

hi, welcome to the forum...if your going to do any muay thai or fight training lifting 6x a week is way to much you should limit yourself to 2 to 3x a week actually 3x is pushing it i have found that a full body routine as opposed to a split is better for fighters not set in stone but thats my 2 cents.

[Tom Yum]

I train the same way as Billywest describes. No more than 3x per week (usually 2x) with excercises that work out compound muscle groups. The no of reps is high 15+ up to 6 sets with explosive movement in the concentric part (the up portion of the arm curl or push off in bench press).

Looking good is not my goal, but is a nice benefit. My goal is to be able to maintain quickness and explosive power over a longer period of time. I think this is called power-endurance.

Think about it - how often do you wish you could explode kicks and snap punches just one more round longer? Ever get 4-5 fresh fighters ea. to spar you for one round, one after the other with fair contact?

I would love to be able to maintain intensity over a long workload rather than have mean looking biceps or a huge bench. Afterall fighting is about technique, strategy and intensity and not a beauty pageant (allthough I would give the beauty vote to Mia St. John in women's boxing).

[Dimz18]

I"m 6'1 and 145lbs. Im thinking of bulking up a ltl but i herd that its bad for Thai boxing. How much weight should i pick up to be still in an average weight category.

[Tom Yum]

From 142 - 148lbs, you would be a welterweight. You don't want to get too big, but you could add some lean muscle mass over a year or so. In kickboxing/boxing the general school of thought is that leaner is better but at 6'1" 145 lbs you would seem ultra lean.

If you're under 18 yrs of age, you will naturally fill out in the next couple of years, just eat right and get into a healthy weight training regiment. Power comes from excellent technique and explosive speed - weight training helps, but is only used as a supplement for your fight training.

There are guys that look like Tarzan but hit like Jane as Terry put it. You never can tell how hard someone can hit until you watch them. I've gotten my @ss handed to me sparring pro fighters your size but who just have more experience and awesome speed/power.

[Thai Bri]

But how long would it take to train these Tarzan's to hit really hard? Not that long, in my view. Of course they won't hit hard if they have never trained for it.

[billywest1924]

tom yum bri thai

hey you guys(tom yum&thai bri)i didn't see your reply's to my thread"a question about your training habits" come on now help a fella out!!! lol

[Tom Yum]

Ok wild Bill:

I train 4-5 times per week, up to 2 hours per session. The first 10 min. is steady rope jumping followed by 5 min. of stretching.

From there, I work on shadow fighting - rd 1 boxing, rd 2 kicking, rd 3 elbows, rd 4 knees, rd 5 combinations. I'm still not faster than my shadow! But I focus on being loose and light with good technique.

From there I work on 30 minutes of pad drills and bag work. The emphasis is on being rather quick and banging the hell out of the pads - I might work on 5-7 strike combinations, while having another partner jump in with me (for the same combos)

Then I work 1 min fast drills / 1 min defense against the drill for a continuos 4 min round- punches, kicks and knees. Then work on boxing drills with focus mitts and body protection - my classmate and I switch out with punch combos, reflex drills and body conditioning (getting hit with about 60% power).

I just finished off season so I'm going to start sparring on a regular basis. My sparring partners toy with me as they are professional fighters, but after sparring them for a month I can plow through others in my peer group.

[Thai Bri]

I posted my routine on another thread. Can't remember which one. Hre goes again, its pretty basic.

Workout A.

5 x 3 minute rounds striking practice. Each round has a different focus. Sometimes repeating a technique, sometimes dealing with someone behind/at the side. Some pre emptive strikes etc. I vary the striking pad uased (different bag, floor to ceiling ball, Spar Pro etc).

Then a full body weight training workout (I am nowhere near as stong as Tom though). I include a major compound move (usually the Squat) with a 20 rep set. these are killers.

Then stretch.

Workout B.

5 x 3 mintes round as above.

Supplementary weight training, mostly for the neck.

Anaerobic circuit (10 minutes of hell)

Stretch.


I do a total of three workouts per week. One week will be A - B - A and the next week B - A - B.
Isn't a lot, but am sooooo old. And I'm into a high return on my training. I make it as productive and efficient as possible. I've done all that "train for hours each and every day" stuff and rejected it.