Think You Are Ready to Start Muay Thai Classes?

Thinking of attending muay thai classes but are unsure if you are ready?

The truth is, there are gyms and online resources that you can visit and use to start training even if your fitness level is not that good.

A lot of people use muay thai lose weight, starting off overweight but getingt in great shape through muay thai training.

So really you can start any time.

But there are some minimum physical fitness conditions I would recommend before you get into full training as a beginner and not in muay thai training shape yet.

ready for muay thai classes

So how will your training go as a beginner at a gym?

Depending on the gym, some are muay thai specific (such as in Thailand) and others have muay thai and striking as part of an MMA or kickboxing gym.

Either way they will most likley have group classes and one to one private training.

One to One Sessions

One to one sessions and beginner muay thai classes will be your first step as a muay thai beginner.

These one to one beginner sessions will first gauge your level and teach you the basics. They could also be more fitness exercise focused depending on the gym you attend.

Beginners Muay Thai Classes

You could also be part of the beginner group which is very likely.

These classes will focus more on the basics and also have some physical exercises as well that will help prepare you for the full group classes.

Attending these types of classes will not require too high of a fitness level as they are accustomed to training beginners and those who want to try a new form of exercise in muay thai.

ready for muay thai classes

For these classes you could basically walk in at any level of fitness to start.

It is good though to first have some private one to one muay thai classes to gauge your technical and fitness level.

Group Training or Muay Thai Classes

Depending on the gym again, you could be training with all the fighters or mostly hobbyists.

Either way these sessions will not be easy. To get the most out of them I would reccommed you work toward a few minimum physcial standadrds before training.

1. Have a Good level of RHR.

Using the standards below I would aim for the Good range and also low (lower heart rate) Average range.

The following standards are taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics

Men

  • Age 18-25: Athlete 49-55 | Excellent 56-61 | Good 61-65 | Average 70-73 | Poor Over 82
  • Age 26-35: Athlete 49-54 | Excellent 55-61 | Good 62-65 | Average 71-74 | Poor Over 82
  • Age 36-45: Athlete 50-56 | Excellent 57-62 | Good 63-66 | Average 71-75 | Poor Over 83
  • Age 46-55: Athlete 50-57 | Excellent 58-63 | Good 64-67 | Average 72-76 | Poor Over 84
  • Age 56-65: Athlete 51-56 | Excellent 57-61 | Good 62-67 | Average 72-75 | Poor Over 82
  • Over Age 65: Athlete 50-55 | Excellent 56-61 | Good 62-65 | Average 70-73 | Poor Over 80

Women

  • Age 18-25: Athlete 54-60 | Excellent 61-65 | Good 66-69 | Average 74-78 | Poor Over 85
  • Age 26-35: Athlete 54-59 | Excellent 60-64 | Good 65-68 | Average 73-76 | Poor Over 83
  • Age 36-45: Athlete 54-59 | Excellent 60-64 | Good 65-69 | Average 74-78 | Poor Over 85
  • Age 46-55: Athlete 54-60 | Excellent 61-65 | Good 66-69 | Average 74-77 | Poor Over 84
  • Age 56-65: Athlete 54-59 | Excellent 60-64 | Good 65-68 | Average 74-77 | Poor Over 84
  • Over Age 65: Athlete 54-59 | Excellent 60-64 | Good 65-68 | Average 73-76 | Poor Over 84

2. Be able to do multiple sets of 10 push ups and sit ups

These are a mainstay of any muay thai gym and in Thailand pros do them after every round of training.

Usually 10 are done after each round in a typical gym in Thailand.

It is normal for muay thai classes or group training with fighters to finish with multiple sets of push ups and sit ups for conditioning.

3. Have Decent Hip and Leg Mobility

If you are tight in the hips, hamstrings, hip flexors, claves and ankles then I would highly recommend working on these areas before joining full training.

This will make recovery much smoother after training, improve your performance in training and reduce injury risk.

Check out some standards to work to toward in terms of mobility and flexibility for muay thai at heatrick.com

Also check out a video I made about my warm up routine for muay thai and training that will also help improve mobility over time.

4. Able to Perform Skip Knees and Multiple round kicks smoothly

You will likley do multiple knees and spped kicks on the heavy bag and thai pads. Trainres often make the trikers do 10 speed kicks each leg at the end of a round.

A lot of gyms warm up and finish with 50-100 skip knees on the heavy bag.

So I would work on performing these smoothly and with good energy conservation.

Ready for Muay Thai Classes – Final Thoughts

If you are not in so great shape but are keen to start muay thai training then you can join up at any gym.

Most gyms have beginners classes and also one to one sessions specifically for beginners.

There are also many online resources that you can start learning muay thai at home for free!

I would highly recommend you check out free muay thai resources online first and work toward the 4 minimum physical standards discussed above before joining the full group training at your local gym.

References

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr041.pdf

https://www.verywellfit.com/resting-heart-rate-3432632#citation-5