I had this question included in another post, but as it wasn't really related to the main topic of that post I thought it might be a good idea to give it it's own post. I am planning on starting Muay Thai training soon. Hopefully sometime in November. The sooner the better. So I was thinking about getting P90x to supplement fitness training between classes. Is this a good idea or will the instructor give me a training regimen for the time between classes? I would like to be doing some form of training every day. I was also thinking of doing yoga or thai chi on Saturdays. Something low impact that I can involve my girlfriend in. Would this be beneficial? If I had to I could use it as a warm up for my regular training that day.
I'm no expert but ive been trainig for a while now. Personally i just jumped straight into training, because in my opinion the best thing for muay thai fitness is muay thai training itself. your instuctor wont necessarily give you any training regime for the time betwenn classes but im sure if you ask him him will hapily give you some things to do. A guy at our gym just left for uni so our instructor gave him some things to practice train with while he there. Mainly with someone so they can hold pads or on a bag if you have access to one. I tried yoga for a while but found it wasnt really for me, ive read in some articles that its good for flexibilty but that will come the longer you train. So thats up to you try it and find out or ask your instrutor he maybe able to advise you. Somebody else may be able to give you some more/better advice. Hope this helps.
Personally, I'd say say away from P90x. Anything that charges you nearly $200 for some dvd's is always going to be a ripoff. They market themselves as being new and groundbreaking, but what they sell is nothing that you couldn't find out for yourself by reading some good fitness books, or even scrolling through the health and fitness section of MAP, where there is a wealth of information. If you seriously want to get fit and have the kind of money, then I'd suggest finding a personal trainer, which woud ffer great value for money, and is far supreme to anythng tha you may find on the internet. Of course, if you are looking to do a home workout, again there is a vast amount of free information on the net, especially the Ross Enemait ebook's which are floating around all over the net and are a brilliant place to start. Basically, anything that looks at charging that kind of money is likely a scam. On another note, the whole premise upon which P90x is founded is somewhat controversial. The 'muscle confusion' that they talk about is completely flawed. Your body grows in response to progressive overload i.e. progressively lifting heavier weights. Simply doing different exercises doesn't cut it, you need progressive overload. Granted, some variety is always good, in order to introduce a new stimulus to the body, but if the same weight is being lifted, the gains will be minimal at best. So, all tha muscle confusion acheives is adding variety to your workout, but nothing else. If you go onto bodybuilding.com, you can find literally thousands of exrcises and articles that will allow you to introduce variety to your workout for free. With regards to yoga - this is something that is often overlooked, mainly because it seems somewhat effeminate. However, the benefits of strecthing, and well yoga in general really, are amazing. They not only help keep the muscles supple, but allow for greater blood circulation to all the muscles, which is vital for building strength/mass, and also for recovery. By doing yoga, you are introducing your body to a low impact activity that will allow it to partcipate in the high impact stuff like muay thai much easier, with less risk of injury, and better gains in strength due to the greater ability for blood circulation. Regards Em
Thanks to both of you for your responses. Empress, I really appreciate your opinion on P90X. I would normally never even consider purchasing a workout program that is advertised on T.V., but I've been looking for a way to add structure to my workout routine. Especially now that I'm looking to start Muay Thai. I think your right about a personal trainer being a good option. I hadn't considered it before because it always seemed to be out of my price range, but I will look into it. Right now I'm still trying to find a good Muay Thai gym. Once/if I find one I will look at my budget and see if a personal trainer will work.
