{"id":117211,"date":"2019-05-02T13:34:13","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T13:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/?p=117211"},"modified":"2019-05-02T13:34:13","modified_gmt":"2019-05-02T13:34:13","slug":"muay-thai-thailand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/muay-thai-thailand\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Muay Thai training should be at the top of your travel bucket list"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe you\u2019ve been away for a while and haven\u2019t exercised in months. Or perhaps you\u2019re an active backpacker who\u2019s climbed all the mountains, trekked all the trails and is looking for a new fitness craze to try. Or maybe you want to escape to sunnier climes but don\u2019t want your health to fall by the wayside. Whatever your reason, it\u2019s time to head to Thailand and sign up for a Muay Thai training camp. Great for the mind, body and beer belly. Muay Thai is an ancient martial art that combines punches, kicks, knees and elbows with some intense HIIT style training to give you a workout that is worth going all the way to Asia for. If you still need convincing, keep reading and you will be packing your backpack in no time at all.<\/p>\n

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    It makes you feel healthy again<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    After five months of sitting on various beaches, beer in hand, consuming my body weight in rice and noodles, the travelling lifestyle was beginning to take its toll. I was permanently dehydrated, a bit sluggish and climbing more than ten stairs in a row was a struggle. My body was crying out for some exercise and I figured a Muay Thai Camp was exactly what I needed to get going again. Combining skipping, pad work, bag combos, millions and millions of push ups and the odd 8k run, Muay Thai training got my heart pumping. By the end of my time at camp I was powering through all 4 hours of the daily training, and I even had a bit of energy left for a beer at the end of the day. It wasn\u2019t just the fitness benefits I noticed. Sleeping well in a dorm room can be hit and miss. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love dorm life, but with people coming in and out constantly, stumbling in at 3am and rattling the bunk bed as they get up to go to the loo for the 4th<\/sup> time in the night you can fall way behind on your beauty sleep. \u00a0During training I was so exhausted that by the end of the day that I was finally getting my 8 hours in. I was sleeping like a baby, right through the nightly disruptions that are akin to 12 bed life, and I had bags more energy in the day because of it.<\/p>\n

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      It blasts you out of your comfort zone<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Going into training, I wasn\u2019t entirely convinced I would be able to do it. I\u2019d done a few Muay Thai training sessions before and they\u2019d completely wiped me out, so that first day was a bit scary. Easing myself in with two hour sessions in the first few days, I could barely drag myself out of my post-lunch, post-nap hammock sesh to do the obligatory stretching. You really have to push yourself to keep going and it\u2019s so rewarding when you start to see progress. After a few early rises, about a thousand litres of sweat and several million calories\u2019 worth of carbs, you\u2019ll be sailing through those 4 hours a day. You start to see the benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone and the fear melts away. Smashing out 200 push ups a day paves the way for newfound confidence to carry across into other travelling pursuits that you may previously have shied away from. Driving a moped for the first time? Why not. Swimming with sharks? Easy. Throwing yourself out of a plane at 20,000 feet? No worries.<\/p>\n

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        It\u2019s a great way to meet like-minded travel pals<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        You really get to know people in the gym. Whether it\u2019s the person you accidentally whip with your skipping rope during your first warm-up, or the person who whacks the sh*t out of your abs with a pad. At the end of the day, I can guarantee that any social barriers will have been broken down by the time you\u2019ve completed a couple of sessions. Going to training camp is a great way to expand your travelling social circles and the people you meet make a great addition to your hostel buddies. You bond over punches rather than bunk beds and you might even have more in common with your training pals than the people you\u2019re sharing a bathroom with. While most Muay Thai camps offer accommodation packages, I stayed in a hostel throughout my time at camp which was great because it kept training and chilling separate. Even though I still found myself having to make new friends every other day in the dorm, I was able to go to training and see familiar faces every day which took the edge off the transience of travelling friendships.<\/p>\n

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          It boosts your exercise confidence<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          In most training sessions they mix beginner and intermediate levels. Whilst this means that sometimes you\u2019re training alongside some guys and gals who really know what they\u2019re doing, more often than not everyone is at the same level as you, once you get the hang of the basics.\u00a0 Everybody trains at the same pace, spending the same amount of time on each section and working on the same combos. You get out what you put in and support is there across the board from everyone in the gym. You won\u2019t find any mirror-flexin\u2019 insta-posing as there\u2019s no time for it when you\u2019re all trying to struggle through a 2 minute plank. There\u2019s absolutely no room for ego in a Muay Thai training gym, and once people leave that at the door, what\u2019s left is a comfortable space of respect and encouragement. Realising you can do as many high kicks in a row as the beefy guy in a vest next to you is a huge confidence boost and I\u2019ll you can take your newfound gym confidence with you to wherever you choose to train next.<\/p>\n

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            It gives you a glimpse of the real Thailand<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Instead of spending your time in Thailand covered in UV paint drinking bucket cocktails, you get to engage with something that\u2019s integral to the cultural fabric of the country. You learn from trainers who have lived and breathed the sport from the minute they could walk. They go above and beyond to make sure you know not only what you\u2019re doing but why you\u2019re doing it. They take so much pride in what they do and I was honoured to be taught by them. The trainers are meticulous with every little detail – from the way they teach you to wrap your hands, to the aftercare advice they give you for your cuts and bruises (of which there will be many, just fyi). They make you work so hard you can barely stand up and painstakingly make you do things again and again until they\u2019re satisfied you\u2019re doing it right. And if you\u2019re still not doing it right, maybe a friendly little whack with a bamboo stick from the head trainer will kick you into gear!<\/p>\n

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            While there were days when all I wanted to do was stay in bed, and times when I thought I was very near actual exercise-induced death, I loved every minute of Muay Thai training. I\u2019m fully hooked (if you\u2019ll pardon the pun) and I urge anyone reading this to pack your gym kit into a backpack and head on over to Thailand ASAP. If you need some tips on where to start your search for the best place to train, have a look at our list below. See you in the ring!<\/p>\n

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            Best Muay Thai gyms in Thailand:<\/b><\/h2>\n