What we’re about to review in this article is critical to understand, particularly if you’re skinny. Because today, many skinny people think they can’t start any fighting endeavor, such as by training in Muay Thai, because of their body shape. However, watching a single Thai Boxing fight will tell you otherwise.
You can do Muay Thai if you’re skinny because it doesn’t require you to have any muscle or particular strength to start training. The training adapts to you, and not the other way around. So, if you can’t spar because you’re too skinny (which is unlikely, but let’s assume that), then you won’t spar.
Understanding this concept is critical since it’ll help you overcome any future mental obstacles. For example, you might you’re too weak or too bulky to start your Muay Thai training. You might not even be able to run a mile without stopping. You now know that you don’t have to worry about training not being suitable for you because we’ve already understood that the training adapts to you.
Let’s say you can’t shadowbox for more than a minute without stopping. Good. Then shadowbox for a minute. This is the general consensus of “The Art of Eight Limbs.”
This article is going to be dedicated to skinny people and everything they need to know about training in Muay Thai. So whether you’re skinny or not, I’ll be referring to you as if you are skinny for the sake of clarity.
Table of Contents
- Why Are Muay Thai Fighters Skinny?
- Can You Do Muay Thai if You’re Skinny?
- Can I Lift Weights and Do Muay Thai Simultaneously?
- Does Muay Thai Build Muscle?
- Final Words
Let’s get straight into it.
Why Are Muay Thai Fighters Skinny?
The first part of this article is going to clear the air in regards to why Muay Thai fighters are skinny. If you’re a big fan of watching fights, you’ll notice that many fighters’ bodies aren’t particularly “fit” or muscular. I deliberately wrote down the word fit in quotation marks because they only look unfit. However, these fighters can run faster and more than it looks.
Muay Thai fighters are skinny because their training is extremely intense (5 hours a day, every day), which burns a lot of calories. As a result, it gets difficult for them to consume more calories than they burn daily, which doesn’t allow them to build muscle or store fat. That’s why they seem skinny.
However, they’re in the best shape of their lives. They’re elite athletes, capable of getting hit numerous times without moving an inch. This is why they’re in the position they’re in. So don’t be fooled by their body composition. While they might look skinny, I promise you they can throw a stronger punch than 99.9% of Muay Thai fighters.
I had a Thai Boxing session yesterday and I got hit by an extremely good fighter, who was able to land a fierce Superman punch on my nose. And guess what, I’m still in tons of pain because of that. So these guys can punch powerfully, that’s for sure.
If you want to learn about whether you need to be strong to do Muay Thai, follow this link. The answer might surprise you!
Can You Do Muay Thai if You’re Skinny?
I’ve briefly reviewed whether you can do Muay Thai if you’re skinny already. However, let’s dive into more depth on this topic. You might still not be convinced that your body composition doesn’t limit you, which is why I’ve decided to dedicate an entire section to solving this issue for you.
Being skinny doesn’t limit you in terms of doing Muay Thai because your body composition has no influence over your fighting abilities. In fact, you’ll notice that many professional fighters because being skinny will make you be in a lower weight division, which gives you an advantage.
Of course, you can imagine that having muscle means you’re stronger, which will directly influence your kicking and punching power. However, having tons of muscle isn’t wise for competing professionally, which is why you see many skinny Muay Thai fighters.
So the takeaway from this section is that if professional fighters can be in their position while maintaining a skinny body composition, then you can begin your Muay Thai training without worrying about body composition.
Even if you’re overweight, you can still start your training without having to worry about it influencing you. In fact, you can expect to begin losing body fat once you start your training.
If you want to learn how you can start losing body fat with Muay Thai quickly, follow this link.
Fighter Weigh In
When I asked my coach why are Muay Thai fighters skinny, his answer opened a new perspective on this matter that I hadn’t thought of. Here’s his answer:
The heaviest weight classes you’ll see is 135lbs and under in Thailand. The last thing they’re (Thai fighters) focused on is building muscle. Their primary focus is developing endurance, speed, and power, which helps them win more than building muscle does.
MY COACH
Another point he made was that the weight divisions are typically extremely lightweight, as Thai fighters (in Thailand) aren’t as tall and remain skinnier than average. For that reason, you won’t typically see fighters who weigh more than 135 lbs, as my coach had mentioned.
Can I Lift Weights and Do Muay Thai Simultaneously?
Cross-training is one of the most important things you can learn to do as an athlete. In fact, I would say that understanding how to train in more than two activities is a skill. You learn to listen and understand your body, so you can amp up or slow down the training when you don’t need or need rest.
Lifting weights and doing Muay Thai simultaneously is possible and will help you build muscle while learning to fight. Muay Thai training doesn’t build muscle much as weightlifting—if any at all. As a result, combining the two while ensuring you feed your body sufficient rest to recover—will be a fantastic choice.
Your primary concern should be to avoid overtraining. It can be easy to start all excited and end up hurting your body because you’ve trained more than you should. Likewise, proper nutrition and sufficient rest are critical factors when it comes to optimizing your results.
I have a free complete diet plan for Muay Thai fighters, which you should definitely read if you want to optimize your results.
I combine weight lifting, long-distance running, and Muay Thai and I have plenty of experience on when it’s too much for your body. The primary sign you want to look for is exhaustion. When you feel your body needs rest, let it have it.
Training-related signs of overtraining:
- Unusual muscle soreness after a workout, which persists with continued training.
- Inability to train or compete at a previously manageable level.
- “Heavy” leg muscles, even at lower exercise intensities.
- Delays in recovery from training.
- Performance plateaus or declines.
Does Muay Thai Build Muscle?
Whether Muay Thai builds muscle is an interesting question, and let me explain myself. If you’ve followed thus far, you know that professional fighters are typically skinny. There are more bulky ones, of course. But the majority of them are skinnier than many people expect. However, it doesn’t have to be the case.
Muay Thai training can build muscle if you also incorporate strength exercises between the usual training. For instance, you can do 50 push-ups after 5 minutes of working on your technique. The push-ups, specifically, will strengthen your chest and triceps and lead to hypertrophy, the muscle-building process in the body.
However, and this is key to understand, regular Muay Thai training, such as hitting the heavy bag, shadowboxing, and sparring isn’t strength training and, thus, will not lead to hypertrophy (building muscle.) All martial arts are mostly endurance work.
Nonetheless, if you incorporate various strength exercises into your Muay Thai routine, you’ll be able to work on your endurance while building lean muscle (considering you eat sufficiently and sleep appropriately.)
To learn more about Muay Thai’s best strength exercises to build muscle and increase power, follow the link to an article of mine on the topic!
Final Words
Let me wrap up this article by telling you one last important lesson I’ve learned too late in life. But, better late than never. So, here it goes. The most valuable lessons and insights you’ll have in your life are those that’ll come from the most amount of suffering. Although it’s pessimistic, hear me out.
The more you suffer to achieve a certain goal, the more it’ll be worth it. If you find yourself not appreciating something, you might have gotten it too easily. So the next time you feel discouraged because of anything related to Muay Thai, remember that you should start your training as soon as possible and not let your emotions control you.
Although it’s hard, people still do it, and you can too!
If you want to know how long it really takes to learn Muay Thai, follow this link.
Here are other articles you’ll benefit from reading:
Required Equipment for Your First Muay Thai Class
Is Muay Thai Hard to Learn? Can Anyone Get Good at It?
Best Muay Thai Supplements: For Performance and Recovery
