Knee Problems with the Snowshoer

increased strength platform that can eventually be tuned (by training against resistance explosively) for more explosive power (the rate of force development), both in your striking and clinch abilities. But before you can increase your power, you need to have the strength base first — you can’t add more explosive power in your muscles than you currently have without first adding the (extra) strength to enable that additional explosive force capability. And this is what strength training aims: to help you build your overall foundational strength. Again, if you really want to get into the WHY of it, do read my article on for the full explanation on why you need to first build up raw strength before you can train your muscles for more power. Every question you likely have is answered there! Strength and Conditioning…Where Does STRENGTH fit in? In the sports world, there is a lot of talk about Strength and Conditioning. Athletes are not only training their sport, they are also doingsupplemental training, commonly referred to as Strength and Conditioning. Strength and Conditioning, as it applies to Muay Thai, is not about increasing your strength or your conditioning, but rather developing your body’s capacity to produce and . This could be increasing your maximum force production (strength), your overall power output over the rounds (power endurance), more explosive power per strike (i.e. knockout power), or developing your body’s energy systems (i.e. increase your body’s ability to produce ATP) so they can produce more energy and utilize it more efficiently when you need it. So strength training when looking at it from a Strength and Conditioning perspective is only ONE aspect of your S&C. That is Strength Training has the stated goal of helping you increase your overall MAXIMAL strength which can then be trained for more explosive power. Strength Training, however, is only dealing with muscular adaptions for power. It WILL NOT improve other aspects likeConditioning, which comes down to optimizing your body’s three energy systems (and the support systems like your heart, capillaries, oxygen carrying systems), the Alactic, Lactic, and systems so you can produce ATP (muscle fuel) faster, more efficiently, and for longer periods. Training your maximal strength causes increased recruitment and motor control of existing muscle fibers, optimizations in your CNS (Central Nervous System),  and increased productions of hormones which allow your body to better adapt to potential conditioning. Without getting to deep into the science of it, Strength Training does a lot of good SHIT to your body in general and a lot of it can help your general conditioning. You can actually view your general strength training program as part of your overall Strength and Conditioning plan; it’s the precursor to building up explosive strength, and having more strength can actually help make some of your later conditioning work more effective when you beginning towork on your Alactic and Lactic energy systems to better produce and handle ATP. If you want to know more about these energy systems and how to improve them to transform your conditioning and fitness so you never gas out, read our  for the best guide Muay Thai guide to strength and conditioning you’ll find online, bar none. I want to be clear here that Strength Training for Muay Thai has a specific purpose: You are not trying to compete with power-lifters here on how much weight you can lift in the gym. The goal if you strength train is to become as strong as possible (and depending on your goals, with minimal or NO weight gain), as quickly as possible, all to improve your strength and explosive strength for Muay Thai WITHOUT negatively impacting your current Muay Thai training! So If My Maximal Strength Increases, I Can Punch and Kick Harder? Not exactly. There is a stated difference between your strength (that is your maximal force development) and applying that strength explosivelyin a fight (power). It’s not enough to just be really strong. I’ve seen guys who can bench-press hundreds of kilos and dead-lift twice that, but they can’t punch for shit. Ignoring the fact that they don’t have the technique to correctly apply some of that strength to strikes, most of their raw strength can’t be used explosively. Increasing ONLY your raw strength won’t likely give you more powerful strikes — yet. But what it will do is give your body the strength foundation which you can then train to be more explosive. I will say there may be some direct relationship between your strength improvement and your clinch game however. If you have NEVER done any strength training before, it’s likely that you can within 3-4 months, become 20 or 30 percent stronger than you currently are. This is because your body will readily respond to the initial training. After the a few months, your strength gains will level off, but you will be stronger. Becoming a little bit stronger (say 5 or 10percent) might not make much of a difference in the clinch. But if you are 20, 30, or 40 percent stronger, this will ABSOLUTELY make a difference if you clinch guys your weight (ignoring any skill and technique difference) Types of Strength Training There are a number of different ways to go about Strength Training, each depending ENTIRELY on your stated goals. Someone who is training Muay Thai to get ripped has an entirely different goal than someone who wants to Strength Train for increased power in a fight. I’ll break these into three groups: Strength Training for Aesthetics There are a number of people out there who don’t really care so much about improving their Muay Thai performance for fighting but rather they want to build a muscular physique while training Muay Thai. They train Muay Thai to burn calories and for fitness but also want to lift weights for…well…body image reasons. It’s true that doing a lot of cardio will hinder muscle growth. If you train Muay Thai because youlove the sport but also want to add muscle to your  frame or keep as much muscle as possible while losing fat, then Strength Training will enable that. Keep in mind that IF your body is your goal and NOT trying to improve the power of your strikes, then Strength Training is more of a permanent sort of routine NOT a training block that you cycle on and off depending on your current goals. Strength Training can be used to build a better body (with proportional aesthetics and functional strength — unlike bodybuilding) very successfully if you manage the nutritional aspect. Unlike bodybuilding style training, Strength Training won’t hinder your actual Muay Thai performance but will provide  benefits. But if you want to work on the aesthetics of your body, you are going to have to have the NUTRITIONAL part of your Strength Training down. If this is your goal, you should look at the following articles: Strength Training for Casual Muay Thai Student If you love Muay Thai as an art but don’tplan to fight, then . Chances are that you are the type of person who loves to spar, work on technique, and has a general appreciation of the sport. If this is the case, you can pretty much strength train as much as you like without needing to change it to Power Training, though you can if you wish. Strength Training for the Fighter If you fight, you have a completely different set of needs. You strength train with the sole intention to give you an edge when you fight. That means having more explosive power in your strikes when you fight and more strength in the clinch. If that’s the case, then Strength Training will only be one block of your training, likely lasting several months (2-3 months), when you are not fighting. As soon as you have a fight, you will need to switch from a pure strength training routine to an Explosive Power training routine. In the context of training as a fighter to fight, Strength Training can be looked at as part of your Strength and Conditioning program(you’ll also be managing the conditioning training as well, of which strength training can overlap but is NOT exactly the same). For the most part, this means strength training is a sort of off-season style of training where you work on increasing your strength when you don’t have a fight in 4-6 weeks. Strength Training for Muay Thai 101 At last we get to the meat of the article! Pay attention because class is in session. You can read my in-depth article about for beginners for a detailed GENERAL strength training guideline. I break down some of the finer details involved. You should absolutely read it before continuing. Strength Training, in general, is a pretty simple process. We can break it down into a handful of steps: lift heavy weights such that reps you can complete between 3-6 and the sets anywhere from 2-5. Rests between sets to be between 2-3 minutes. perform compound lifts that stress multiple muscles per movement (Deadlifts, squats, rows, weighed pullups, barbell curls,bench-press, overhead press, etc) utilize free weights which will allow you to maximize your weight loads and utilize the most muscles possible per lift (barbell and dumbbells) recover — give your muscles adequate rest to recover between sessions. increase the weight (stimulus) you lift every week if possible The thing is it is quite bit more difficult if you try to combine a proper strength training routine WITH a full Muay Thai training regimen. The problem is that strength training can really tax your body which can affect your actual training performance. Keep in mind that strength training and endurance training (of which you can argue a grueling 2 hour session of Muay Thai is) both try and push physical adaptations in your body in different, often mutually exclusive, directions. Strength training encourages physiological adaptions to increase your raw strength and is anabolic in nature (encourages protein synthesis — muscle fiber development). These adaptations include changeseffective for ensuring I don’t feel over-trained in the middle of the week. 8. Take a FULL week off  both Muay Thai and Strength Training every 6-8 weeks of training I know a lot of people will chaff at this, but complete recovery is a critical part of your strength training regimen. Heavy Strength training and heavy Muay Thai training takes a huge toll on your body. There is only so much stress your nervous system and hormonal systems can handle before they are unable to cope. If you do NOT take a recovery week, chances are you’ll start to feel run down, start to get sick, and your endurance, power, and strength will all dramatically decrease. Until you take an extended break, your performance will be down. To give your body a chance to fully recover and your hormonal system to reset, you need to take a week off. I recommend every 6 weeks if you can, but if this is too much, then do so after 8 weeks. If you REFUSE to take a week off from Muay Thai, then at least take 1 full week offfrom strength training after 6 weeks. 9. Nutrition This itself is a whole nother topic which I won’t cover extensively here and it’s out of the scope of this article to provide you with a list of what you should eat for each meal, etc. However, nutrition  is important to nail down. If you don’t, you won’t see as much (or any in some extreme cases) strength gains. I recommend you thoroughly read my to find out H and for information about putting together a proper nutrition plan that meets your goals (gaining strength/size, losing fat, getting ripped, etc). I will say though, you need to keep your protein levels high. I suggest around 1.5 grams of protein PER lb of bodyweight. This is a bit on the higher end of what’s needed perhaps, but it’s enough to cover all bases just in case. If you don’t get enough protein in, you won’t see the strength improvements you would otherwise see. Get your protein from natural sources if you can, but if you need to do a number of protein shakes per dayto reach it, then do it. At the macro level, you have a couple options when it comes to eating. These will affect your strength gain AND your muscle/fat gain: Calorie Surplus: You can be on a calorie surplus, which means eating more calories than your body burns. If you strength train while on a calorie surplus, you will see the MOST strength gains and the MOST muscle size gains. However, this also means you will gain weight, which might not be a good thing if you FIGHT at a certain weight class. Not all weight will be muscle, you will also likely gain some fat, which is a necessary evil. This option is good if you are NOT fighting and just seeking to add muscle to your frame Calorie Maintenance: If you are eating roughly around what you burn, you won’t gain a lot of weight. If you have NEVER lifted weights before, you may see some initial muscle gain and you will definitely see strength gains, especially the first 3-4 months as your body adapts to strength training. Eventually,however, your strength gains will stall as your body won’t have the nutrients to add more muscle (which means more strength). This is good if you fight at a certain weight class but just want to increase your maximum strength without the associated weight gain. Once your maximum strength is up, you can train for more explosive power. This is probably idea for someone who fights and you are happy at your current weight. Calorie Deficit: If you eat less than you burn, you are on a calorie deficit. Strength training can be challenging while on a deficit because your strength will, for the most part, not improve while on a deficit. You are mainly trying to hold on to your existing strength and muscle while you shed fat. If you cut calories but don’t strength train, your body will shed muscle — this is WHY you want to strength train while on a calorie deficit. This option is good if you are trying to fight at a lighter weight class. By shedding fat and keeping your strength (and muscle),you improve your fat to muscle ratio and you might not have to cut as much before a fight if you shed BODYFAT as opposed to water weight. This is by far the best way to ‘make’ weight. Losing bodyfat als0 can allow you to reach even lighter weight classes than you normal couch reach by just cutting water weight. 10. Sleep If you strength train, you need to get your sleep in. It goes without saying that you should have at LEAST 8 hours of sleep a day. Training Muay Thai and Strength Training takes a huge toll on your body and you need sleep to recover. Protein Synthesis (i.e. muscle development) tends to happen at night while you are sleeping, so if you don’t get enough sleep, you wont’ see as many strength gains. Personally, I’ve tried both methods and I find I can train harder in my Muay Thai sessions if I save deadlifts squats for the last day of training. Since I ensure I have 1-2 days off from strength training before I do these lifts, my strength is usually not negativelyimpacted when I do these lifts. 11. Strength Training and Fights If you are a fighter and strength training is a MEANS to build more powerful strikes and more strength in the clinch, then you are going to have to plan out how long you strength train. Ideally, you should look at strength training as a BLOCK training — you train for 2-4 months with the stated goal of improving your maximum strength X amount, then switch to another style of training as you approach a fight. If you want to convert your increased strength foundation into FUNCTIONAL explosive power, you are going to have to change your training from Strength Training to Power/Explosive Training. This means you should in fact be doing Power Training or Power Endurance training the last 3 weeks to 6 weeks before a fight and NOT strength training. If you are strength training only before a fight: You never want to strength train the week of your fight — it will tax your body, your training will suffer, and you may be tiredduring the fight. At the very least, you need 7 days between your fight day and your last strength session. You may find that fight training the last couple weeks coming up to the fight is so taxing that strength training sessions might interfere with training. If that’s the case, you may want to look at doing 1 full body session a week rather than 2 – 3, for the last couple weeks leading up to the fight. Trust me on this, I’ve gone into multiple fights with very little time off from pure strength training and my body and strength took a big hit by the time of the fight because I was so over-trained. You don’t want this to happen to you! Putting It Together Strength Training will help you become stronger and this will only benefit your Muay Thai. However, if you want to fully reap the benefits of your increased strength by increasing your explosive power, Strength Training needs to be part of a coordinated of which it is only one element. Ideally, after you build up a level of strengthyou’ve never had before, you will start to train your muscles to be more explosive to reap the benefits of that increased strength in your striking. I’ll have an follow up article in the future about Explosive Power Training for Muay Thai that will give you some basic guidelines on how to train your Maximal strength for Explosive strength. As I’ve mentioned in my article, just having more strength and explosive power is not enough; you have to have enough energy production  to support a sustained usage of it. If you have powerful striking but a tendency to gas out long before the fight finishes, then this is a serious limiting factor. This is where the CONDITIONING part of your Strength and Conditioning comes into play. We’ve talked about the Strength part of it (and there is still more to cover in regards to building explosive strength and power endurance), but your JUST (and I’d say even more) important a role in allowing you to continually tap into that power and strength for all 5rounds of a fight! To take full advantage of explosive strength and power in a fight, your neuro-muscular system, your hormonal system, and your cardio vascular systems need a number of biological adaptions to dramatically increase their efficiency as they work together to supply your muscles with enough continuous ATP to support your power output. The better each system is optimized, the better your cardio. And the way to do this is to improve your body’s different energy systems (aerobic, alactic, and lactic systems) to better produce and process ATP. Discussing the complex topic that is CONDITIONING is beyond the scope of this article. But fortunately for you, I’ve already written it. So to now read about the conditioning part of the strength and conditioning equation, start for the first article.