Here is how to get in effective muay thai workouts at home so that you can not only maintain your skill and conditioning level but also improve through focussed and dedicated home training sessions.
So in this post we cover different scenarios for nak muay (Thai boxers), fighters and students who train solo at home as well as the best way to train at home to keep improving consistently over time.
This post will also discuss the most effective way to use muay thai workouts at home to improve both your technical skill and conditioning.
So let’s get into it!
Why do muay thai workouts at home?
There are a couple of reasons why anyone would want to do their muay thai workouts at home.
The first being, that there are no muay thai gyms or trainers in their area, region or even country.
This is not that uncommon a scenario as muay thai is still relatively new, globally and in comparison to martial arts and combat sports such as Judo and Boxing; there are not that many muay thai gyms around the world.
In this scenario it can be quite difficult to train and improve with muay thai workouts at home.
But in my opinion any person can improve significantly from their beginning level in muay thai if they are dedicated, focussed and consistent with the solo (or partner) home workouts.
There is just so much knowledge available online in this information age we live.
And the instruction is top notch and delivered in high quality video format, often with online forums for discussion and feedback from online instructors.
*Check out a post I wrote on this site about the best sources for online muay thai instruction available today.
The second reason a person would want to train muay thai at home would be to get in more work outside of their regular training at their muay thai gym.
And even within this second category there are different scenarios such as:
- work/family commitments limits their ability to attend some training sessions so they want to put in work at home
- they simply want to improve in the fastest way possible with extra work at home
- they may miss a couple of sessions and want to ensure they stay in good muay thai shape
- someone is considering joining a gym and want to get into decent shape before committing to full classes
How to Train Muay Thai at Home
Training muay thai at home and specifically what types of workouts to use at home depends a lot on your goals for wanting to train at home (base don the scenarios discussed).
And also what type of training equipment you have available to you at home.
But starting form the very basics of zero equipment and just little space to having a heavy bag, skipping rope and pull up bar, there are an infinite amount of workouts you can use.
But let’s start with the minimum/zero equipment scenario.
No Equipment Muay Thai Workout
With absolutely no equipment at all and just a little space anyone with the right mindset focus, dedication and consistency can really get in valuable training on their own at home.
And anyone can learn and improve from a beginner level as well beginning with zero equipment.
Here is what a ‘zero equipment’ muay thai workout at home should look like:
- Warm Up (running, walking, foam rolling, dynamic stretching/mobility) 15-20 mins
- Technique and Skills/Strategy (shadow boxing) 5-10 rounds
- Strength & Conditioning (pushups, situps, pullups, burpees) 15-20 mins
- Cool Down (stretching, walking, deep breathing) 10-15 mins
Workout Breakdown
The warmup is pretty much self explanatory.
But a great warm up routine one could follow specifically for muay thai can be seen in the video below:
Technical Shadow Boxing
As shadow boxing would be the main way you train your muay thai technique and skill you should focus on technique!
Dont worry too much about speed and power in the early rounds of your shadow boxing i.e Rounds 1-3
Focus on the technical aspects and getting these aspects down perfect!
*** Pro Tip – do some or all of your shadow boxing with a small towel under your chin (and don’t let it fall!) some like to use a tennis ball. This ensure your chin is alway down on every technique.***
Examples:
Round 1&2 – Boxing (Jabs, Rear Hands, hooks and Uppercuts) – be aware of each and every punch you throw, making sure your chin is down and the should or your punching arm touches the side of your face each time.
Make sure you are brining your punch straght back each time after it is thrown and your opposite hand is always touching your face.
Rounds 3&4 – Lead Punch Rear Body Kick
- Jab Rear-Kick
- Jab, Cross Hook – Rear Kick
- Lead Hook-Rear Kick
- Hook Cross Hook – Rear Kick
Round 5 – Rear Punch – Switch Kick
As above with the Lead Punch-Rear Kick combo throw any combination of hands but always finish with the rear hand followed by the switch kick.
Rounds 6&7 – Elbows and Knees
Use your imagination and some research on YouTube to come up with even more combos that you can use in your shadow boxing.
But remember to focus on technique first!
Zero Equipment Muay Thai Conditioning at Home
With little to no equipment at home you still have many, many options to improve your strength and conditioning.
Pushups, pullups, squats, burpees, lunges, sit ups and crunches are the obvious options that are available o just about everyone.
But you can also use muay thai technique based exercises for muay thai conditioning at home as well.
For example:
- standing on one leg and throwing 20-100 teeps – repeat on opposite leg
- punchout drills – 100 plus punches
- reverse lunch to muay thai knee strike
Cool Down and Stretching
There are a lot of routines for cooling down and stretching available online for free that you can use and adapt for your own needs.
But generally for muay thai the areas to focus on for stretching I would recommend are:
- hips
- calves
- hamstrings
- quads
- shoulders
- neck
- lower back
Muay Thai Home Workouts with Equipment
With just a few basic pieces of equipment such as skipping rope, heavy bag, slip rope and some dumbells you can get in a much more effective workout at home.
The heavy bag alone will help so much in improving your technique as well as conditioning while training solo at home.
And with a 6ft banana bag you can include leg kick training and with any type of bag you can also do some basic clinch drills solo as well!
The basic routine below is one you can use if you have the few pieces of equipment listed above.
- Warm Up (running, skipping, tire bouncing, dynamic stretching/mobility)
- Technique and Skills/Strategy (shadow boxing, heavy bag rounds including clinching)
- Strength & Conditioning (pushups, situps, heavy bag burnout drills, partner drills)
- Cool Down (stretching, deep breathing)
With the basic routine described above you can improve your muay thai technique and conditioning from home.
At the very least you will ensure that you do not lose significant technical skill and conditioning if you miss a few weeks of training at the muay thai gym due to work or family committments.
And if you are training mostly solo (like I do) then use the basic routine described above and with just a skipping rope, heavy bag and some resistance bands you can train very effectively for muay thai skill and conditioning from home.
