Most Important Muay Thai Training Equipment for Training at Home

Here at Fiji Muay Thai, the focus is on self learning and making the best of available resources to train effectively on your own at home.

This is the approach I have taken for the past 7 years in my efforts to learn muay thai and more importantly learn how to train muay thai effectively at home on my own.

The main reason being there are no muay thai gyms or trainers where I live and to access gyms and trainers requires an international flight and significant funds.

So if you are in a similar situation as me without access to gyms and trainers to improve your striking then training at home is really the only option.

In this post we will look at the best muay thai training equipment to set up your home gym for your own solo training.

The most important pieces of muay thai equipment of gear for your home training are:

  1. Heavy bag
  2. Gloves
  3. Hand wraps
  4. Skipping rope
  5. Round Timer

In addition to these muay thai equipment above there are also ‘bonus pieces’ of equipment for your home training that will be very useful for your training in keeping your training fun and fresh well into the future.

1. Heavy Bag

For solo training at home in muay thai, kickboxing, boxing or MMA striking, the heavy bag is probably the most important piece of equipment you can invest in.

There are many, many options for heavy bags out there that you can buy at your local sporting goods store or order online.

muay thai equipment for home training

Check out a post I wrote about the different types of heavy bags out there and which are most suitable for training at home and for beginners.

There is also the option to make your own heavy bag to keep your costs low. Check out this video from YouTube showing how to make a heavy bag out of old tires.

In my opinion, for training muay thai striking at home, the 6ft ‘Thai bar’ or ‘Banana bag’ is your best option.

The main reason I place high value on the 6ft bag is that you can train low kicks very effectively on it.

I ordered my Fairtex Banana bag unfilled off of Amazon back in 2015 and it serves me well up to today with no issues or problems at all.

2. Gloves

Gloves are another very important piece of muay thai equipment for training at home.

Quality gloves will keep your hands and wrists in good health while training with enough frequency and intensity to keep improving constantly.

There are a number of quality glove manufacturers out there that sell great gloves at competitive prices that will suit every budget.

I have a post you can read here about how to select the best pair of gloves for you taking into account the gloves material (synthetic or real leather), size, cost and features.

muay thai equipment for home training

My top picks for the best gloves would be Twins and also other Thai brands such as Top King and Fairtex. These gloves will cost you around and above the USD $100 mark but will serve you for years of hard training to come.

Cheaper options but which also offer excellent quality include brands such as Elite Sports Muay Thai Gear which will cost you a lot less than the more popular brands out there.

The Elite Sports gloves are a great cheaper option for a second pair or spare gloves.

This way you can alternate between your more fancy expensive pair of gloves and these cheaper gloves to keep the ‘mileage’ lower on your expensive gloves.

Whatever option you choose, gloves are an important piece of muay thai equipment for training at home.

3. Hand wraps

Hand wraps for muay thai training are also crucial for keeping your wrists and hands healthy and protected for good hard training.

Check out this post on the top muay thai muay thai brands and the hand wraps they produce.

These top names in muay thai are known for having excellent quality gear for muay thai.

So you can go wrong with the top brands out of Thailand and the hand wraps they produce.

The most important features of hand wraps are length (180 inches/4 meters) and quality stretchable cotton material. Also make sure the velcro straps are good quality.

Also top brands outside of Thailand such as Everlast, Hayabusa and Venum are also great options for hand wraps and are sure to provide quality wraps.

That being said, really any hand wraps available out there should be suitable for your muay thai home training.

4. Skipping Ropes

Skipping is a crucial part of striking training. Whether boxing, kickboxing, MMA or muay thai, skipping is always a feature of training.

For your home training, a good skipping rope is a crucial piece of muay thai equipment you absolutely need to have.

muay thai equipment for home training

Skipping develops strength in your feet and calves as well as overall length strength, balance and coordination and of course cardio.

Check out my post below to see what options are available for skipping ropes.

I would recommend getting a pair of the thick PVC ‘Thai style’ skipping rope and your regular licorice thin speed ropes for boxing.

5. Timer for Rounds

For your home gym, its important you track the number of rounds you do in your training and having a timer is important so you stay on track.

If you attend a gym or training academy the timing of rounds is done for you and you dont have to really think about.

But training at home you need to have a round timer set up to guide your training rounds and rest periods.

You can do this on your mobile device pretty easily.

muay thai equipment for home training

Training at home and fitting training sessions into limited time its important you track your training sessions and their length.

This is important for your time commitment planning each week and to ensure you are able to train about 3 times per week at home for a minimum session length of 30 minutes.

Bonus Muay Thai Training Equipment

Other items of equipment that are really useful for your home training and that compliment the 5 main pieces of muay thai equipment discussed above include the following items:

Slip Rope

An easy set up and simple piece of equipment is just to hand up a slip rope at about shoulder level.

While muay thai head movement is not as noticeable as in boxing, MMA and kickboxing, it is still a crucial part of muay thai defense.

The slip rope for your home gym will help you develop head movement and keep your training fresh and fun for a long time to come.

Double-End Bag

The double-end bag is another piece of equipment that will effectively supplement the other main pieces of muay that equipment discussed above.

The double end bag will help develop rhythm, coordination as well as counters and defense.

While it is mainly used in Western boxing, the double-end bag is also great for muay thai and kickboxing as demonstrated in the video below.