When it comes to Muay Thai fitness, commitment is everything. Muay Thai is intensive, requiring both physical and mental strength. While weights and pad training will help, most Muay Thai fitness instructors will recommend jogging. Some say it is tradition to jog up to five times a week and should be alongside other training methods, not instead of.
Jogging is popular for those who practise Muay Thai. After all, it increases your cardiovascular fitness, improves your stamina and endurance, strengthens your legs as well as focusing your mind. However, running a minimum for 5k a day isn’t for everyone.
Jogging can be incredibly dull. If you don’t have access to beautiful countryside, then slogging around the city’s tarmacs or on a treadmill can quickly dampen your motivation. Furthermore, jogging can pose some health risks too.
Jogging has been proven to lower testosterone which can impact muscle recovery and reduce your energy levels. As well as this, it can cause shin splints and ‘runner’s knee’ as it weakens the cartilage that you need for shock absorption. Jogging may even lead to chronic pain attacks as well as the fact it can lower your immune system, making you more susceptible to illness.
Having said that, many people enjoy jogging and feel a wealth of benefits, but that doesn’t mean that jogging is for everyone. It certainly doesn’t mean that jogging is essential for Muay Thai fitness. So, if you’re practising Muay Thai fitness and want to swerve jogging, here are four jogging alternatives that can bring benefits to your practice.
1. Swimming
Swimming is an excellent way to keep fit and can be particularly good for Muay Thai athletes. As well as improving heart health and burning fat, swimming offers a form of resistance training within your cardio training; it requires your muscles to really push hard even though it may feel easy. What’s more, swimming requires an excellent breathing technique, much like Muay Thai requires, that you can develop while building up stamina and endurance in the pool.
Of course, the main benefit of swimming is the minimal impact that it has on your joints which makes it an ideal way to strengthen muscles and improve your fitness without risk of injury.
2. Rowing
Hitting the rowing machine at the gym gives your body a complete workout that can help your Muay Thai training. To maximise the benefits of rowing, the right technique is essential, once you have perfected the technique rowing offers a low-impact full-body workout which is a great choice for any dodgy joints or to avoid injury.
You can use rowing in a variety of ways, whether for a warm up before a session or an all-out cardio workout. By doing sprints of the rowing machine, it helps to keep you more dynamic, giving you the explosive power that you need for Muay Thai.
3. Cycling
If long-distance running just isn’t for you, the long-distance cycling offers a fun and convenient alternative that reduces the impact on knees. Spinning classes, stationary bikes and road bikes can help to improve muscular endurance in the lower limbs without damaging the knee joints. If you have an exercise bike at home, then you can put your music on loud, or even your favourite film and work up a sweat without needing to leave the house on a cold and rainy day.
4. HIIT workouts
If you’re looking for a fun and interesting way to up your cardio and burn calories, then a Muay Thai-inspired High-Intensity Interval Training workout may be for you. Unlike monotonous jogging, HIIT sessions quickly change activity keeping it fun and fast-paced.
HIIT is a fantastic way to build endurance as some activities are slow and controlled while others you move as fast as possible, which you can transfer to help you control the rhythm in your fights.
Ready To Transform Your Workout?
The most important thing for Muay Thai training is commitment. Fun and engaging workouts are much easier to commit to that exercises you find dull. Try all of these out and see which works for you and don’t be afraid to switch it up the next time you get bored.
Darren Mitchell is a Muay Thai enthusiast and writer for the BestMuayThai blog. Darren has trained Muay Thai for several years at gyms all over the world alongside some world-renowned fighters and coaches.