Anyone who’s trained Muay Thai at least once knows that it’s best done in the gym with a trainer, or with a sparring partner. But, the truth is, that’s always possible and even if it is, it’s not always the best way to train. Now, this isn’t to say that sparring nor training with someone isn’t going to help you. Rather, this just means that training alone at the gym or even at home sometimes can do you good.
If you ever need a good reason or two, here are a few things that training alone can help you with.
- Focus. If there’s one thing that a Muay Thai fighter needs, it’s focus. When training alone, lack of focus will lead to little or no gains at all and will end up just being a waste of time. And, the best way to improve this while training alone is through your shadow boxing and through the heavy bag.
If you set your mind right and are focused enough to think that you’re in a real match even when you’re just shadow boxing or through a heavy bag, training alone will help you as much as training with another fighter would.
- Combinations. Combinations, whether they’re possible or not, are hard to practice when you’re sparring with someone or when you’re working with a trainer. Why? Because the human mind is the most creative when its alone. If you’re training alone, you can think of many scenarios and find ways to handle them. It may all just be in your mind, but with shadow boxing, your body will also be moving with you. In time, everything will become a habit and make you a much better fighter.
- Conditioning and strength training. If you’re alone in the gym and don’t want to shadow box, practice your combinations or play with the heavy bag, you can still improve your skills without doing those. The secret to that is conditioning and strength training. You can lift weights and focus on muscle endurance or you can also choose to use the treadmill to focus on your stamina.
There are plenty more benefits of training on your own and these three are just some of them. Then again, training with someone, especially a trainer who’s much more experienced than you are is still definitely recommended.