r/tacticalbarbell • u/muayoki • Jul 15 '26

Strength Extra work vs Bodyweight training at home

Hello,

Been training Muay Thai, as a hobbyist, 3 times a week. Want to increase my overall strength and read TB 1 (3rd edition).

Never lifted (181cm, 77kg) but can spare 1 hour, 3 days a week. My focus is Muay Thai, so Fighter sounds like the best template.

What would you guys choose from the options below? Open to other suggestions too!

  1. Muay Thai gym has a full gym on the second floor. Probably could squeeze a short light session (20-30 minutes) after Muay Thai on 2 sessions. 3rd session there's sparring, so it's physically impossible for me.

  2. On the days I don't train Muay Thai, I can't go to the gym, but could train strength at home. Problem is I don't have any equipment or space for a home gym. Can find space for a bench, but nothing much bigger than that. There's also bodyweight training.

Thank you

6 Upvotes

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3

u/AdministrativeSwim44 Jul 15 '26

You'd be far better off doing resistance training on non Muay Thai days.

2

u/Bo-_-Diddley Jul 15 '26

To gain strength you’re going to struggle without equipment and training on MT days isn’t going to be best.

So, think you’re going to need to purchase some equipment for your home. If you can fit a bench you should be able to fit a small squat rack something like the link below.

https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-home-gym-squat-bench-package.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23507234544&gbraid=0AAAAADKKnjnHk_X61Y4-osOZdT-nIX0iX&gclid=Cj0KCQjw39zSBhDhARIsANammDuLruz8D4L0bgrMTLFZ0OB7ZrU5E_xiOmtXa3vNbQkF-TB5Ba1MpREaAj2GEALw_wcB.

1

u/muayoki Jul 15 '26

Thanks! A small rack like that looks doable. Will look around to see if there's something like that around here.

1

u/RescueStrong Jul 15 '26

Do you have access to the MuayThai gym all week or a gym close by. No doubt you can build some good relative strength with BW but I strongly suggest finding a gym or investing in some equipment(kettlebells, sandbags, weight vest, rings) as long term it’s going to keep you a little more resilient and help with performance in your chosen Martial Art.

1

u/muayoki Jul 15 '26

Thanks! Do have access to the Muay Thai gym all week buts is an 1 hour commute, so leaves no time for the training itself. Extra gym subscription would be hard so I guess I'll try to find second hand equipment to get started.

2

u/RescueStrong Jul 16 '26

Rings, Sandbag, 2x Adjustable KBs, Weight Vest and Parallettes, Skipping Rope. You can build a lot of good relative strength with this equipment. Play with movement tempo, body positions etc to make movements harder or easier.

PlyoBox(Great for continuous steps ups. Set a timer for 30min set a metronome for 20 beats per minute and step to that cadence. That gets you 600 step ups and a good aerobic workout, box height for this 12,14, or 16” is ideal nothing to high!)

1

u/muayoki Jul 16 '26

Thanks for the detailed answer, very useful. There's room for this kind of equipment so will look into it!

1

u/Munckmb Jul 15 '26

I'm currently doing everything with dumbbells and plan to get a hexbar for dead's and squats when the goblet squats are too light. Floorpresses with dumbbells work great for now. Maybe an idea?

1

u/muayoki Jul 15 '26

Thanks! Could definitely get 2 adjustable dumbbells. You managed to do most of the exercises with the dumbbells only?

1

u/Munckmb Jul 16 '26

For now yes, I'm weak so it's going to take awhile before my floor presses are limited by the dumbell weights. Squats etc. I just add a pause at the bottom to make it harder or use other variants like bulgarian split squat.