How To Learn Muay Thai At Home By Yourself: Complete Guide

Written by Dillon in Muay Thai

Muay Thai is one of the best martial arts for self-defense, but can you practice it at home by yourself? Yes, you can! In this article, I am going to tell you exactly learn Muay Thai at home by yourself

I would still recommend training Muay Thai at a gym but sometimes people live in very remote areas and don’t have access to Muay Thai a gym, this is why the internet will be such an important resource for you.

Luckily when learning to strike you can learn a lot by yourself compared to a grappling art like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where progressing is difficult if not impossible without a training partner.

I will include tons of different drills and helpful resources to learn Muay Thai by training by yourself at home, and I will include a daily home Muay Thai training schedule just for you!.

Remember, before you do any exercise aside from footwork and light shadow boxing you must warmup or risk injury see a fantastic Muay Thai warm-up in the beginner of my post here.

Mobility, Hip Rotation & Stretching

If I could go back to my first day of Muay Thai training I would work on my hip rotation, stretching, posture, and mobility. There is NOTHING you can do that would be more beneficial for your kicks and knees than learning proper hip rotation as soon as you start training.

The best thing is you can do all these exercises anywhere!

Hip Rotation

When you kick, all your power is generated from the hips. Most people when they start Muay Thai will kick straight up like a soccer kick, this is a big no-no as all you will hit is elbows and damage yourself more than the person your hitting.

A perfect analogy is a baseball bat if someone broke into your house and you’re trying to defend yourself, would you swing your bat straight up? Or would you use your hips to get the most power possible? It’s the same with the roundhouse kick in Thai Boxing.

This is the kick checklist whenever you kick

  • With the lead leg, your heel must go past your toes (foot has turned 180 degrees to where your kicking)
  • As you kick have your force go upwards not down
  • Bring your shoulder forward and whip your arm as you kick(same arm as kicking leg)

You can practice proper hip rotation in the drill by Slyvie a Muay Thai fighter with 200+ professional fights in the video above. Remember you should feel your side butt cheek flex with the hip that is rotating, which means you are fully rotating your hip.

There are people at my gym including me who were training for months and months without proper hip rotation on their kicks, it is a crucial Muay Thai movement pattern, and whilst it is somewhat unnatural without it you will not kick properly.

I would recommend doing these at least 100 times per day on both legs to open up your hips, it is common in Thailand for a trainer to tell a westerner to do 300 reps per leg if their hips are especially tight.

  1. Place your foot on a platform like a sofa and be on your toes on the other foot like your kicking
  2. Turn the foot on the platform to the shin to mimic the kick whilst using your arms
  3. Repeat for 25 reps and change leg for a total of 100 reps each leg

Mobility

People living in the west tend to have tight hips due to sitting all day which makes throwing kicks very awkward, as a lot of people just lack hip mobility.

Asian people, in general, can throw kicks a lot easier because they can sit in a full squat(heels on the floor) for hours without pain, in the west since we sit all the time our hips are just stiffer.

How can you solve this problem when training at home? It’s quite simple you need to work on it!

Hip mobility is crucial to proper hip rotation and general injury prevention in Muay Thai and normal life. See this study on the professional application of injury prevention for Soccer athletes who practiced muscle mobility.

Training by yourself is the perfect opportunity to focus on good movement patterns and this is a summary of Don Heatrick’s superb video on unlocking your hips as a Muay Thai athlete.

Following the video could be the key in making your kicks so much better, as even you could have good technique but lack the necessary hip flexibility to turn your hips in.

This routine is split into three different sections, to do all the exercise, you must have a foam roller(like this one on Amazon) or lacrosse ball(which you can view here on amazon) for a cheaper option and a resistant band (like these on amazon).

I have everything and I recommend you buy the equipment as it’s super important not just for Muay Thai for ensuring you have good health and posture throughout your life; this is especially important in modern society with smartphones and computers making us have poor rounded posture. giving us health problems later in life.

  1. Releasing the hips
  2. Opening the hips
  3. Anchoring the hips

1.Releasing the hips

  1. Start to foam roll at the top of the knee and gradually roll up and down the thigh to break down the muscle tissue
  2. When you find a tight area “windshield wipe” your legs left and right to get at that tissue and flex up and down.
  3. Avoid the IT band(the middle of your leg) as it cannot be lengthened and for rolling, it could cause injury
  4. Foam roll each leg for 1-2 minutes then switch legs.

2.Opening The Hips

  1. Attach your band to something sturdy like a squat rack or a TV stand and little lower than hip height
  2. Step into the band and have it high behind your glute/booty & make sure there is decent tension so it’s pulling your hips forwards
  3. Squeeze your glutes by pointing your pelvis forward and thrust your hip in front of your knee don’t arch from your back make sure its the hips
  4. Practice the movement from different angles ensuring you squeeze your glutes throughout the motion
  5. Repeat for 1-2 minutes and then switch sides!

3.Anchoring The Hips

  1. Place your foot on a bench or a platform at a similar height like a chair so your ankle can pivot down and up
  2. Your stance must allow your hip to be at knee level or lower
  3. Keep your chest up and chin down and drive through the floor with your foot whilst squeezing your glutes and feeling that near hip stretch
  4. Once you understand the movement pattern try adding weights
  5. Repeat for around 3 sets of 10 reps for both legs

These exercises will help your Muay Thai and general health by affecting the muscle length, the joint capsule(how your bones are positioned), and your neuromuscular control of how your brain tells you what range of motion you have.

I recommend doing these exercises as part of a dynamic warmup to reinforce good movement patterns which are key to reducing injury risk and making sure your kicking correctly.

Releasing and opening your hips can be done randomly throughout the day, but is perfect for active rest between weight training sessions or part of a recovery day where you work on your posture issues or any muscle that is giving you pain.

Stretching

After your mobility session, your muscles should be nice and warm which is a perfect time to work on stretching and lengthening your muscles, which is key to improving your Muay Thai.

If you do them separately then make sure to jump rope for 5-10 minutes before you stretch so your muscles are very and warm, click here to see some of the best jump ropes on Amazon. Take a look here to understand why you need to warm up before stretching or doing exercise.

The difference between flexibility and mobility is flexibility relates to muscles, and mobility relates to joints, you need both to truly excess at Muay Thai but I do believe establishing proper mobility is more important.

Follow FightTips video above to get an easy quick stretching routine that you can do anywhere that lasts around 20 minutes. I recommend doing this routine anywhere between 4-5 times a week to every day to get maximum results

Chamber Your Kicks

Before you learn how to throw a kick, imagine having control of your kicks like they are fists, with superb balance, control, and knowing where your kicks will go. Chambering your kicks is how you can do this!

Chambering is when you lift your knee towards your chest whenever you kick or check, and the act of retracting the foot back.

In Muay Thai even though we don’t chamber our kicks as much as other martial arts like Karate and Taekwondo it is still super important to improving your power, strength, and balance when throwing and checking kicks.

If you see the fighter of our generation Saenchai you will see he has a fantastic chamber.

These drills to improve your chambering can be done anywhere or at home. from the superb fightTips video above, I have summarised all the drills.

Drill 1 Three Leg Dog

  1. Get into a push-up/plank position and sit your hips back to get into downward dog(yoga pose)
  2. Peddle your calves up and down to warm up the hamstrings & calves
  3. Lift one leg up and then drive your knee up to your chest as high as possible with your heel towards your butt/glute, hold this position for three breaths
  4. Bring the leg up and drive to the outside of the elbow aiming to eventually get the knee to the armpit, hold for three breaths
  5. Repeat step 4 with the opposite elbow
  6. The entire 3 movements count as 1 rep so repeat the process on the other leg for a total of three sets per leg.

Drill 2.Seated Leg Lift

  1. Sit down with your back straight and place something next to your legs like a Yoga block(like these on Amazon) or boxing glove/book
  2. Swing your leg over the object and tap the ground and repeat for a total of 5-10 reps on each leg and 3 total sets

Changing the setting on the block makes it more challenging and remember to not hunch forward as you want the focus on the hip flexor.

Drill 3. Standing Hip Flexor Stretch

  1. Stand on one leg and grab your knee with both hands and pull up to stretch the hips. hold for 3 breaths
  2. Repeat the stretch but turn your knee inward, outward and behind and hold for 3 breaths in every position

If you lack the balance either do them leaning against a ball, or repeat all the stretches lying down as you can see Shane do in the video.

For the most benefit do these drills every day or at least 5 times a week, and you will see a vast improvement in your kick chamber which will benefit any kicks you will ever do across all martial arts!

Muay Thai Techniques

Now, working on your technique is going to be the most difficult thing to train by yourself at home, this is why filming yourself is crucial and I highly recommend buying a tripod such as this one from Amazon so you can film yourself training.

You film yourself as you don’t have an instructor or other people helping you are your technique, you have to be your own instructor so filming is a necessity for home training.

Luckily for you fightTips(above video) has created a FREE Muay Thai beginner class where he goes over the following things that need to be your base in Muay Thai when your training at home.

We are very lucky that YouTube has all these fantastic resources that didn’t exist even 10 years ago.

Later I will go throw the basic Muay Thai techniques you need to film yourself and practice, but I urge you to follow the above beginners’ class often to familiarise yourself with what your learning.

  • Jump rope
  • Shadowboxing
  • Heavy bag work
  • Padwork
  • clinching
  • stretching

Check

Checking a kick is a super basic move in Muay Thai but it is vital to have a well rounded defensive game. Without checking kicks, you will be a target for the devilish Muay Thai low kick that brings in the pain!

Checks are designed to block low kicks and body kicks, so your opponent’s shin will hit either the top of your shin(the hardest part) or even worse your knee. This will hurt you, but it should hurt your opponent more.

  1. Stand up straight in your stance
  2. Lift either one of your knees with your foot facing down to around chest level and to the side
  3. Return to your stance.

Teep

The Teep is one of your main weapons in Muay Thai for both offensive and defense. It might look like a front kick but think of it more like a jab to keep the distance and punish attackers who come in.

You can see it demonstrated by Muay Thai Pros in the above video, but I will go through somethings you should keep in mind.

  1. Stand in your stance with your weight on the back leg
  2. Bring your knee up
  3. Push with your hip and hit with the balls of your feet
  4. Retract your knee and bring feet back to the same position.

Roundhouse

We have already spoken about hip rotation and this is where all that work will come in handy with the Muay Thai roundhouse! You can see it demonstrated in the video above, but the truth is it is a complicated kick and will take many months before you can throw it with good form.

  1. Depending on how far you step out with your pivoting foot as you kick(foot in front) in about a 45-degree angle
  2. Stay on the balls of your feet as you kick
  3. Swing the same arm as your kicking leg to generate power and balance, whilst keeping the other hand up for protection whilst turning your hip in
  4. Return to your stance, in one motion.

Switch Kick

The switch kick is the same as the roundhouse but you switch stances(change leg positions), learning a roundhouse before a switch kick is the best way to learn it.

You use the switch kick to attack the opponent’s body and it scores highly in Muay Thai.

  1. Switch stances by changing the position of your legs, without jumping up or moving whilst stepping slightly to the side
  2. Stay on the balls of your feet as you kick
  3. Swing the same arm as your kicking leg to generate power and balance, whilst keeping the other hand up for protection whilst turning your hip in
  4. Return to your stance, in one motion.

Knee

The basic beginner knee is known as the spear knee and is a devastating strike if it lands. You can use offensively when your opponent is backing up or as a counter when your opponent likes to walk in

  1. Be in your Muay Thai stance whilst on the balls of your feet
  2. Push up on the balls of your foot of your lead leg(forward leg) and bring your knee straight up
  3. Flex the kneeing leg down and bring your heel close to your butt to strike with the hardest part of the knee

Switch Knee

Switch knee is the same but we switch stances before we throw it.

The basic beginner knee is known as the spear knee and is a devastating strike if it lands. You can use offensively when your opponent is backing up or as a counter when your opponent likes to walk in

  1. Be in your Muay Thai stance whilst on the balls of your feet
  2. Switch stances by changing your lead leg and back leg position.
  3. Push up on the balls of your foot of your lead leg(forward leg) and bring your knee straight up
  4. Flex the kneeing leg down and bring your heel close to your butt to strike with the hardest part of the knee

Boxing

Boxing is a very crucial part of Muay Thai, and if you want to see the differences between the sports check out my post here.

I cannot explain Boxing in this post as it is too complicated, but the fantastic Boxing beginners masterclass by precision striking in the video above is all you need.

Remember when practicing his drills Muay Thai is different from Boxing, the stance as well as the head movement. So remember not everything is applicable but all the basic strikes like jab, cross, hook are all very similar and crucial to succeed in Muay Thai

Elbows

Elbows are what makes Muay Thai such an effective martial art, and separates it from Kickboxing. There are numerous different elbow techniques but I will let Jompop Kiatphontip, former No1 at Rajadamnern Stadium in the above video explain the basic strikes.

Clinching

Clinching is what makes Muay Thai such an effective martial art if you want to see the other 12 reasons why Thai Boxing is fantastic for self-defense check out my post here.

Clinching is when fighters wrestle each other whilst standing and throwing knees, from the clinch. There are numerous throws and sweeps to your opponent to the ground whilst you stay standing.

This links to when Muay Thai was a combat sport, as you want to stay on your feet as you fight, check my post here for more information about Muay Thai’s traditional history.

Watch fightTips video above where he gets a private lesson from Petchboonchu, the most decorated Muay Thai champion in history, and arguably the best clinch fighter ever, and he explains the clinch in a way that is simple and easy to understand.

Catching Kicks

Catching kicks and then sweeping or tripping your opponent is a big part of Muay Thai. I know you can’t practice this yourself but it’s still good to know for when you can practice it.

Watch the above fightTips video with Kevin Ross who is the current Bellator flyweight kickboxing champion, who is a master at catching kicks.

  1. Grab your opponents front/roundhouse kick ideally by the angle
  2. So to the side
  3. Drive your lead leg to the outside and try to get your rear hip under his hip and drive through him
  4. Bump your opponent with the thigh and make him sit on his leg.

Footwork

Ask any fighter and they will say footwork is one of the most important skills to develop across all martial arts, and even most sports! Best of all it can be practiced anywhere, anytime, and easily at home.

It is often never trained, so if you start training your footwork early, you will have a big advantage when you start training at a gym.

Everything relates to your foot connection to the ground, with 3 main points on your foot, one on the base and two near the front.

Your weight should be distributed 50/50 on your foot on the balls of your feet, with your tail bone and chin ducked under. Stay vertically upright and keep this position whenever you move.

One drill you can practice seen in the above video is very simple.

  1. Stand in a Muay Thai stance
  2. Take one step straight and step back in the same position, then do the same action but step right, back and then left
  3. As you get more comfortable double the steps or try the drill in your opposite stance.

Never do any unnecessary steps it should only be one step as any more will put you off balance when you get comfortable with the drill take two steps and even add punches as you step.

6 Step Solo Footwork Drill

I started to implement this 6 step solo footwork drill by fightTips and already I have seen solid improvements to not only my footwork but also my shadow boxing.

This drill involves six different punches with numbers that correspond to the actions, now you don’t have to jab in the advancing steps it can be an uppercut, elbow, or hook depending on your spacing.

I will briefly outline the drill

  1. Probing Step-in your Muay Thai stance takes a small step forward(around 1-4 inches) and do a jab as you step; think of your foot and arm being connected like a puppeteer and his/her puppet and whenever the hands move so does. the foot
  2. Retreating Step- take the same step backward on your back foot and do a jab
  3. Pivot Cross- whilst still do a cross making sure you pivot off the backfoot whilst turning the shoulders
  4. Advancing 1-2 Step forward like in step 1 but bring your back foot with you and throw a cross after the jab
  5. Retreating 1-2. Do a jab whilst bringing your front foot back and then bring your back foot back and do a cross
  6. Switch Jab. Switch your stance(if your a southpaw go orthodox and vice versa) and throw a jab in the opposite stance as you switch
  7. Repeat step 1-6 in Southpaw!

Shadowbox

There is nothing more beneficial you can do to improve your Muay Thai than Shadowboxing. It can be done everywhere, waiting in line for groceries or at the airport, you name it!

Now, when you shadow box you must visualize an opponent who is fighting you as you practice. This will help you, whenever you spar as your accustomed to fighting a moving opponent who reacts to what you throw. Make sure to train defense as well as offense, for shadowboxing to truly be effective.

The above 10-minute Muay Thai Shadow Boxing workout by Sean Fagan(check him out) is excellent and I do it daily. It works so well as it trains all elements on your Muay Thai, from offensive to defense and you can go through it at your own pace.

Remember to focus on technique as you shadowbox, otherwise, your body can remember bad habits via muscle memory. This is why filming yourself shadowboxing is so important and I urge everyone to film themselves training as often as they can.

I structure this workout by an internal timer on my phone where each section is split up by 10,1 minute rounds with no rest.

  1. Straights, teeps, and checks
  2. Single strikes
  3. Punch combos with a kick finish
  4. Combos with a defensive finish
  5. Forward fighting
  6. Counter fighting
  7. Punches & Elbows
  8. Lower Body strikes
  9. Creative flow
  10. Fight pace

How Not To Shadowbox

A lot of people have issues with shadowboxing, even professional fighters because they are making one of the mistakes in the above video by Sean Fagan but most likely they are not visualizing an opponent.

In the above video, Sean goes into detail about the issues people have with shadow boxing and I will briefly summaries the main points

  1. Kicking Wrong 2:57. I still suffer from this problem as it’s harder to visualize and properly rotate your hip if your kicking air. To fix it, record yourself or think about correct hip rotation every time you kick
  2. Too Much Head Movement 4:10. Excessive head movement is fine for Boxing as that is part of the sport but with Muay Thai, you want to keep your head movement sharp, minimal, and technical as you can’t bob and weave a roundhouse!
  3. Looking/Punching Down 5:37. This one is more common for an absolute beginner, but you wouldn’t look at the floor or punch down if your fighting anyone but a super midget!
  4. Staying Stationary 6:34. Movement and footwork is key to succeeding in fighting so make sure you move around and cut angles, to make it difficult for your imaginary shadow opponent
  5. Just Offense, No Defence 6:35. You need to add checks, leans backs, catching kicks and catching jabs/crosses when your shadowboxing as your trying to simulate a real fight
  6.  Not Mixing Up Your Strikes 7:37. Now just working the basics like 1-2 right kick is fine if your focus on technique, but if you want to simulate a real fight you need to diversify your strikes. Make sure you’re hitting high and low, to the body and the head with some low kicks. Keep your imaginary partner guessing!
  7. Too Tense 8:58. This is common in the beginning as fighting can be very stressful so your natural inclination is so tense up. Don’t do this as it will only waste much-needed energy. Ideally, you want to be nice and loose and released whilst your fighting, only tensing up your fists when you’re just about to connect for maximum speed and power.
  8. Forgetting To Breath 10:15. This happens to a lot of people especially in BJJ where people forget to breathe. Don’t forget the most basic thing as if you lose your breathe you will get tired quickly and your strikes will lack any power.
  9. Forgetting To Visualise 11:43. Even professional fighters make this mistake and it’s key to getting the most out of shadowboxing. You need to BELIEVE someone is fighting you and reacting to what you throw and you need to react to their strikes. I know it’s difficult but in time you will get there.
  10. Not Extending Your Arms 12:50. I’m still guilty of this, and it’s a very easy mistake to make. Whenever your punching make sure you fully extend your arms, this is to maximize both your range and punching power. You don’t want those mini T-rex arms whilst shadow boxing!

Heavy Bag

Now, I know you might not have access to a Heavy Bag but it will be your number one training partner, it is never late and always there for you.

Ask any fighter and they will say without a doubt it is best the best pieces of fighting equipment you can buy.

Especially if your only training at home getting a heavy bag is even more important.

It is fantastic for improving your footwork and combos and every Muay Thai athlete has put 100s of hours into it. I highly recommend the Fairtex heavy bag (check it out on Amazon here).

If you don’t have the budget you can make one out of heavy carpet or material around the house, like in the video below.

How To Make A Heavy Bag

When you have your heavy bag Sean Fagan’s 20-minute heavy bag workout. for beginners it is fantastic and I’ve done it many times after a training session.

Remember all the 10 shadow boxing mistakes from the above video, and practice good form in everything you do on the bag, if you don’t you could get injured so pay attention!

Here is a brief overview of the workout.

  • Round 1(1 minute each)
  • -Jabs & Teeps
  • -Jab, Roundhouse
  • -Cross, Switch Kick
  • Round 2(1 minute each)
  • -Left Side Strikes
  • -Right Side Strikes
  • -Boxing Only
  • Round 3(1 Minute Each)
  • -Alternating Teeps
  • Jab, Roundhouse, Cross, Switch Kick
  • Combo Finish W/Check & Kick
  • Round 4
  • -Jab, Lead Elbow (1 min)
  • -Jab, Rear Elbow (30 sec)
  • -Balancing Left Teep Drill (30 sec)
  • -Balancing Right Teep Drill(30 sec)
  • Round 5(1-minute each)
  • -Power Right Roundhouse
  • -Power Left Roundhouse
  • -Power Right Roundhouse –
  • -Power Right Roundhouse –

Cardio

Muay Thai already is a fantastic aerobic and anaerobic workout, check out my post here on why Muay Thai is so good for your health.

However, you need to do some other form of cardio so you can make your heart stronger to improve your cardio in a fight situation and improve your general health.

There are two different types of cardio you can do, we want to train both as they are equally important in Muay Thai.

  • Aerobic(low intensity, think skipping or lightly jogging)
  • Anaerobic(without air, think sprinting or lifting heavyweight)

In the video above Shane from FightTips recommends the following weekly cardio workout.

Weekly Cardio Workout

  • 3-4 days a week jog/run(aerobic) for 2/3 miles or 3.2/4.8 kilometers
  • 2 days a week sprint(anaerobic) 100mx10

Now, this is a good conditioning workout, and fighters in Thailand run two 5K/3.1 miles runs every day. But an increasing number of fighters have spoken out about running and how they don’t enjoy it and instead do other more sports-related cardio like hitting pads.

ANY form of cardio that trains your aerobic system for around 20 minutes 3-4 times a week, with the ability to go anaerobic is fine. I will list the alternatives to running.

I still recommend running as the number one cardio you should do, as it is a very natural human action and the runners high after a workout is beautiful; running is also challenging and great for building the mental toughness that you need in any combat sport and all difficult situations in life.

However, if you don’t like running I don’t believe you should be obligated to train something you don’t like, no matter how beneficial it is.

Cardio Alternatives To Running

  • Swimming
  • Hitting pads
  • Skipping
  • Interval training
  • Treadmill
  • Rowing
  • Cycling

Strength & Conditioning

If you don’t do any strength and conditioning and you do Muay Thai you are seriously missing out on some big benefits!

I’ve been on a Zoom call with 5x Muay Thai world champion Andy Howson and he said strength and conditioning is like having a suit of armor; it makes you stronger and less likely to get injured in combat sports.

Everyone from every level can benefit from S&D and the best Muay Thai specific S&D workout I’ve seen was created by Don Heatrick(mentioned earlier) and I have started to incorporate it in my Muay Thai training routine.

There are two full-body workouts, meant to be performed around 2-3 times a week with at least one day of rest between each exercise.

Both routines contain 7 exercises with 3 supersets(2 exercises done connected with no rest) and one ab exercise, with each superset being repeated 4 times before moving on.

I will include a YouTube link where Don himself is demonstrating the exercises, with a brief exercise outline underneath each video.

Every exercise has been chosen to benefit your Muay Thai and I will link Don’s website with all his reasoning behind all exercise choices here.

He has 25+ years of coaching experience and is a former Thai boxer(ranked 4th in the UK when he was 40). I cannot recommend him enough and I love his work and want more people to know about him.

Full Body Workout A

  • 1a) Front squat x 5-reps
  • 1b) Rear foot elevated split squats (Bulgarian split squats) x 8-reps each leg
  • 2a) Incline bench press x 5-reps
  • 2b) Dumbbell chest press x 8-reps
  • 3a) Pull-ups x 5-reps
  • 3b) Dumbbell bent over rows x 8-reps each side
  • 4) Dragon Flags x5-reps

Full Body Workout B

  • 1a) Deadlift x 5-reps
  • 1b) Single leg suspension squat x 8-reps each leg
  • a) Standing overhead press behind neck* x 5-reps
  • 2b) Barbell push press x 8-rep
  • 3a) Barbell bent-over row x 5-reps
  • 3b) Suspended rows x 8-reps
  • 4)Core plate (landmine) twists x 5-reps

If you don’t have access to a gym or weights at home, then a Kettlebell workout by Funk Roberts(certified MMA conditioning coach) is a superb alternative.

A kettlebell is one of the best fitness investments you can ever make, and you can do the workouts anywhere even with limited space. You get a kettlebell here on Amazon. I recommend a 25/5K KB.

Alternatively, if your super broke and cannot afford a Kettlebell, Jeremy Either a fitness YouTuber has a fantastic full-body workout that you do at home without any equipment. Check it out down below.

Adopt The Right Mindset

Training your mind for success and changing your subconscious to make sure your goal-oriented, is one of the best things you can do to succeed in anything, not just Muay Thai.

I will go through various things you can to maximize your success in Muay Thai by training by yourself

Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People Online

If you don’t have access to a gym it can be very difficult to be consistent, that’s why joining a Muay Thai community such as Nak Muay Thai Nation or r/MuayThai(Reddit) or even YouTube is a good choice.

In all these communities you can post your Muay Thai videos and ask for form critiques, and the community will be glad to help you. Having a community of your own helps keep yourself accountable, as it is difficult to practice by yourself with 100% commitment.

Relax & Meditate

I don’t think there’s anything more beneficial you can do for your life in general than meditate, click here for the 12 reasons you should meditate but I do it myself every time I wake up and before I sleep and can’t see myself living myself without the practice.

Meditation improves your focus and attention span, as well as sharply reducing stress; all things that will greatly benefit your Muay Thai. Think before a fight, who would win assuming all things were equal but one person mediated regularly and the other did not?

I would wager highly the person who mediates will win, because they have practice in focussing heavily on one thing. the exact quality you need to win a fight is to focus on it!

Thai fighters themselves do a form of meditation in the form of dance before every fight, called the Wai Khru, and fighters engaging in some form of spiritual practice, whether meditation, prayers, or mantras is super common across all martial arts and even sports in general.

Practice Positive Mantras/Self Belief

If you think you will lose a fight, do you think you have a chance of winning? I don’t think so.

This is the power of negative self-talk and we are all guilty of talking down to ourselves. The problem is, this encourages your subconscious mind to put yourself down which will create failure in your life and your Muay Thai.

Think of your brain like a computer that is programmed, with having poor self-esteem and getting bad thoughts is kinda like a computer program gone wrong (see the above video),; reprogramming your mind for your Muay Thai training will improve every aspect of your life no matter what it is.

I know this sounds a bit too far fetched but fighters like Liam Harrison(8x Muay Thai world champion) have had tremendous success with mind coaches, and I have seen improvements in my life with positive thinking and talking things into happening.

A famous mind coach that Liam Harrison uses and is very good friends with os Vinny Shoreman, who is also a well known MayThai commentator, fighter, and ex-coach. He did a Zoom session for our gym that everyone loved. You can see a clip of him on the Joe Rogan Experience in the video below

Positive Affirmation

Positive affirmations(saying good things to yourself) is key to succeeding in anything in life, but especially incoming difficult things like learning Muay Thai.

Spend your time when your not training to think about what you IMPROVED not what you did wrong that session, yes of course it is important to look at your weaknesses but focus instead on how much better you are compared to when you first started.

For Muay Thai, positive affirmations make you look on the bright side even in bad times, like when you didn’t do good in sparring or just finding a technique difficult to learn. It allows you to stay rational when others would only see the bad in something

The issue a lot of people have in life is focusing on what went wrong. they might do badly in their first spar and think because they did bad that is their destiny, positive thinking allows you to think rationally and be more in control in bad situations.

Here is one of Brian Tracy’s (self-development author) quotes from the above video.

“Whatever is expressed is impressed. Whatever you say to yourself, with emotion, generates thoughts, ideas, and behaviors consistent with those word”

Brain Tracy(self-development author)

If you start getting negative about your Muay Thai training you will become worse as your behaviors and emotions will reflect your negative thoughts, you become what you say.

Brian Tracey even stresses using an affirmation to remove emotion from bad events, and even see the benefits in problems.

Let’s say you have a shin injury and cannot kick. If you train your mind to see the positives in everything with meditation and positive self-affirmations, you would use the time constructively and focus all your effort on footwork and Boxing, working with what you CAN do rather than what you cant!

Muay Thai Positive Affirmations

Say these randomly throughout the day repeating one around 5 times but it’s good to do these when your wakeup and go to bed. Be consistent with your mediation and positive affirmations, and I ensure you, you will see benefits and improvements across your entire life.

  1. I will succeed in everything I choose to put my mind to
  2. I will improve my Muay Thai every day and become the best fighter I can possibly be
  3. I am confident in Sparring and stay calm and collected in every situation
  4. I will learn from every problem and outcome and come out a better more well-rounded fighter
  5. I will allow any losses or bad moments to wash over me like rocks in a river

Daily Solo Home Training Routine

This is the daily training routine that I do to improve my Muay Thai, when you do it, start small and do a few of the things every day until it becomes a habit.

If you aim too high and end up not accomplishing your goal, you will feel unmotivated so start small to build a habit as you will build momentum and create something called the compound effect, based on a book of the same name by New York best seller Darren Hardy.

You can buy the eBook yourself on Amazon right here or watch a summary of the book in the above video.

But basically, the idea is Daily Consistency= Massive Results, so start small doing my routine maybe start committing to jump rope in the morning and stretch, and eventually, it will become a habit that will build success.

Muay Thai Training A

  1. Wake Up and jump rope for 5 minutes do Yoga, Followed By Meditation & Positive Self Affirmation (40 minutes)
  2. Run 5k/(3.1 miles)
  3. Do 10×100 meter sprints 
  4. Do 100 hip rotations(see Slyvies video) and 100 shadow kicks on both legs(10 minutes)
  5. Shadow Box (10 minutes)
  6. Do Don Heatrick Mobility Work(15 minutes)
  7. Hit the bag(20 minutes)
  8. Do 100 hip rotations(see Slyvies video) and 100 shadow kicks on both legs(10 minutes)
  9. Shadow Box (10 minutes)

Muay Thai Training B

  1. Wake Up and jump rope for 5 minutes do Yoga, Followed By Meditation & Positive Self Affirmation (40 minutes)
  2. Do 100 hip rotations(see Slyvies video) and 100 shadow kicks on both legs(10 minutes)
  3. Shadow Box (10 minutes)
  4. Perform One Of Don Heatrick’s Muay Thai full-body workouts
  5. Hit the bag(20 minutes)
  6. Do 100 hip rotations(see Slyvies video) and 100 shadow kicks on both legs(10 minutes)
  7. Shadow Box (10 minutes)

Interested in Muay Thai? Check Out My Recommendations

Looking For Gear To Use When You Train?
If you are interested in training Muay Thai, here is some of the gear I recommend:
Best Mouth Guard
Best Gloves
Best Shorts
Best Shin Guards
Want To Learn To Fight, But Don’t Want To Go In Person?
CoachTube has online training videos for Boxing, Karate, MMA and more. And best part is you can do it all from your home allowing you to go at your own pace. Check them out here.
Interested In Training Other MMA Fighters?
Click here to check out the MMA Conditioning Association and see what you need to become an MMA conditioning coach and begin training fighters.

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