Muay Thai Nutrition

This is a guide only, geared mainly towards adults, please consult your GP before a radical change to your diet.

Carbohydrate in the Muay Thai diet

Have you ever noticed that the harder you train and the fitter you are – the more often you get sick!  

It's been described as walking a knife-edge between being incredibly fit/healthy and going down under colds, coughs and other mild but irritating illnesses. There are many things which you can do to balance all of this out and ensure that you are in good condition for training every day. One of the most important things you have to look after is your diet. Fads and information-overload can result in confusion but some basic things are essential. An intake of enough carbohydrate to ensure you are capable of training as hard as you want is the building block to everything else. This is in spite of the celebrity fad to avoid carbs – remember you are not a supermodel, you are an athlete; training at optimal intensity can only be achieved if you have high muscle-glycogen concentration from eating enough carbs. Carbs are stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver. As a boxer you will have higher levels of muscle glycogen than a normal person - and you need it all! The liver glycogen helps to control your blood sugar levels. Research indicates that 2 hours of high-intensity training (yes, kicking pads and sparring falls under that category ;) ) will almost completely deplete the glycogen in your muscles so you have to refuel straight after training. So, how much do you need? Your intake should be determined by the level and intensity of your training on a daily basis – harder training means more fuel is needed to keep going.  This is a suggested outline of how much you should aim for:

Light activity:       3-5 hours/week   4-5 grams/per Kg/body weight 
Medium activity:   10 hours/ week    6-7 grams/per Kg/body weight 
Elite boxers:         20 hours/week     8 + grams/per Kg/body weight

Lack of carbohydrates to fuel the recovery phase of training will result a drop in endurance, power and strength and due to tiredness you will probably be more prone to injury. You often hear boxers talking casually about "over-training" but it is actually extreme exhaustion caused by glycogen depletion. The traditional view of Carbs is a plate of steaming pasta or rice – but there's more to the story than that. 

The following foods give you about 30g of carbs in one go, as you will see many can be matched up:

Liquids

150-250ml of fruit shake/smoothies
300 ml low-fat milk 
200g yoghurt-drink 
500 ml sports drink 
250 ml fruit juice, soft drink
(try to avoid the latter as they are filled with empty calories)

Breads

2 slices of bread – whole-wheat is better than white! 
3 rice-cakes 
1 English muffin /crumpet
1 American muffin – small one not the massive chocolate one in the bakery! 
2 medium pancakes (watch the syrup and cream and …. )

Grains

1 cup cooked pasta
Half cup cooked rice 
150 grams baked beans 
1 and half cup cooked lentils (not just for hippies) 

Fruit/ Vegetables

1 cup thick vegetable soup 
1 large corn on the cob 
2 medium pieces of fruit 
1 large banana 
1 cup fruit salad
45 grams dried fruit

200 grams potato 
1 and half cups sweet potato

Other

40-50 grams chocolate 
3 tablespoons jam or honey 
2 tablespoons of sugar

GI Index – what is it? 
Not all Carbs are created equal; research has shown that certain foods have a high Glycemic Index (GI) while others are lower. Simply put this means that foods with a high GI are better for getting carbs at a fast rate into your bloodstream, these foods are good to eat just after training.  And foods with a low GI are good to eat before training as they will release their energy slowly over time. 

To be honest, there is a lot of debate as to whether this is an accurate science or not but in general low GI before and high GI after training is a good rule of thumb. 

Check out http://www.glycemicindex.com for GI food-values. Your main focus as a boxer should be on re-fuelling after training, especially for those of you training for fights and training 5-6 days a week. This means that if you don't eat enough carbohydrate on Monday, that shortage builds up over the week so that by Saturday you are even more shattered than you would normally be. The best time to begin re-fuelling is within 2 hours of finishing training -  so even if you have to rush straight to work after the morning session or are going to bed after the evening one  stop and eat ! You should look for high GI foods if you are training every day. Sports drinks, sports bars, breads, raisins and most breakfast cereals will do the job. The main thing to remember is that you are working out to a very intense level – whether training in Thailand or in your home country. Your body is working to full capacity and needs plenty of fuel in the form of carbohydrates. Eating a low-crab diet will result in a short-term weight loss (due to loss of water and glycogen) but this is not a smart way to approach your whole training programme. Eat well, train hard and fight to win!

"Muay Thai Building Blocks: Protein"

Muay Thai Training Diet. Part 1:  Protein.

Any conversation between Muay Thai athletes on diet brings up the issue of protein intake – too much, too little, where to get it from. Although there seems to be many different viewpoints amongst the general public, the scientific research indicates that when beginning a new training regime or when increasing your training load that your body's need for protein increases. This is a "spike" in need which may not transfer into a daily need. 
Also, in contrast to earlier times when protein supplements were recommended for all athletes, now it is more something for those whose diet is lacking or for a short-term use. Why do you need protein? About 20% of your body weight is made up of proteins. Your body uses it for growing new tissue, tissue repair , as a fuel for energy production, making body enzymes as well as playing a role in transporting other nutrients , carrying oxygen and blood clotting. So, quite a busy thing is protein and as you can see, many of these functions are vital for Muay Thai athletes making it essential that you understand how to fulfil your needs for this nutrient. Interesting fact: Tissue proteins are continually being broken down and released into the body, half of your total body protein is replaced in this manner every 150 days. Increase in Need: Heavy training causes an increase in protein needs so that as you get more into Muay Thai you will have to adjust your diet. 
Making the changeover from someone who trains a few times a week to fighting will involve a major diet over-haul and in the beginning you will need to eat more protein. 

This is not just for building muscle but also to cover energy use and recovery after the gym. 

If you are not eating enough carbohydrates, then you will also need extra protein or if your diet is otherwise lacking (i.e. vegetarian without proper supplementation or restricted due to allergies or if you are eating too many carbs.) Anyone who travels to train in Thailand will notice that the Boxers who have been training for a long time at a high level will find that their bodies adjust to the stresses of training and do not need to continue increasing protein intake. But the latest research shows that you do not need to take protein supplements if you are following a general change in diet. Most boxers eat far more than the general public anyhow and if this includes a balance of carbohydrate, protein and micronutrients then there is no need for extras. Take a look at the list of foods below and you should find that you are eating more than the recommended intake already. Excessive eating of protein foods means that you will not get enough carbohydrates or fibre from other foods. Eating too much meat will also result in increased fat levels which you don't need if training for a fight. 

All in all protein supplements don't seem to be needed by Muay Thai fighters at all – not to mention that they are incredibly expensive and you could spend the money more fruitfully on a ticket to Thailand. Recommend intakes:

***Teenagers 2 g per KG of body weight. ***

The best way to approach filling up is to look at carbohydrate and protein intake so that the foods can work together to benefit your training.

The following food items contain about 10 g of protein:

DAIRY

30 g of low fat cheese

70 g  of cottage cheese

1 cup of low-fat milk (or soy milk)

200 g low fat yoghurt

FISH

50 g fish  ( grilled or baked )

50 g canned tuna or salmon

GRAINS and BEANS

3 cups wholegrain cereal

Half cup of kidney beans or lentils

200g baked beans

3 cups of cooked rice or 2 cups of cooked pasta (whole-wheat)

60 g of nuts or seeds

SOY

120 g tofu

100 g soy meat

POULTRY

2 small eggs

40 g cooked chicken (lean)

MEAT

35 g of cooked beef, pork or lamb  (lean)

Training times and protein.

The research indicates that protein is used and broken down during training and then you need to build it up during recovery. A few hours banging pads will damage and stretch muscle tissue which needs to be repaired as soon as possible after training.

TO WATER OR NOT TO WATER

In the midst of training hard and eating lots of carb, it's too easy to forget about the humble water and cousins - sports drinks both hypotonic and isotonic. There are 3 main areas to look at - why to drink, when to drink and what to drink.

Why to drink?

You may have noticed that when you train, you get warmer and sweat! This is because about 75% of the energy your muscles generate when you work out is turned into heat and lost through sweat. Each litre of sweat carries with it about 600kcal of heat energy. To put that in perspective, an hour exercise in a cold climate will result in about 1 litre of sweat (an hour kicking pads in a Thai gym? unknown quantities but possibly as much as 2 litres) so a full work out is a fairly substantial liquid loss for your body. As the rate of sweat will vary from person to person and from situation to situation, you should weigh yourself before and after training to estimate your own loss - 1 kg loss is roughly equal to 1 litre of liquid. If you don't replace this loss, you will suffer from dehydration and possibly heat stroke. See figures below for details. Heat stroke is caused when your body is losing so much fluid that there is not enough liquid to both carry blood to the muscles and the surface of the skin. Reduced sweating results in increased heat and tiredness + heat stroke. But dehydration is not always a dramatic event - it's not just the marathon runner collapsing on the road or the boxer falling over the ropes. This situation can build up over a period of days, from one training session to another. Symptoms: tiredness (more than usual during and after a session), headaches, eating less, feeling like vomiting and a general light-headedness. And the most obvious, the colour of your urine - a concentrated dark-yellow colour is a danger sign and should be heeded.

When to drink?

To use an old adage, prevention is better than cure. Think about your training session during the day and hydrate yourself accordingly. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend about half a litre 2 hours before exercise and a further 125-250ml immediately before training. During training, you will have to experiment with how much you can take - for a session involving sparring and full contact; a full stomach is not a good idea whereas a weights session will be of less-impact. There is no point in simple drinking a litre of liquid right before a session as you will simply sweat or urinate the excess. Make it easier for you to sip during training by keeping drinks cool (not iced), in a container, which is easy, to open and accessible (not locked away in your gym bag, up the stairs in the changing room). Feeling ill when drinking during or immediately after exercise can be a sign of dehydration – your stomach movements will be out of synch with only 2% dehydration so you will feel bloated and nauseous. After the session, you should aim to drink about 1.5 times what you have lost though sweat. But not straight away, maybe 0.5 litre when changing and the rest as you make your way home. During the day, you need to balance the food intake and fluid so that you stay hydrated.

What to drink?

Water with solid food (not a mars bar unless you are desperate) is more than adequate but as carbohydrate is beneficial; a sports drink which gives about 1 gram of carb/per kg of body weight is also a good option.

There are 2 types of sports drink – those designed to simply replace fluid and those, which will increase energy levels also. Read the labels. Studies have shown that sports drinks containing about 6-gm/100 ml are the most effective for sports such as Muay Thai in improving performance and fluid replacement. Whether you drink "fizzy" (carbonated) or still drinks is really a matter of preference.

Regular soft drinks such as Sprite or Pepsi should be avoided as they increase dehydration! You may think you need the sugar but actually your body as to produce water to dilute this liquid therefore you are worse off than before (and they are incredible fattening anyhow). Diet versions are worse than useless as they contain so little sodium – though they are better than nothing if you are really stuck.

Caffeine drinks? Well, this is an interesting area. Yes, the IOC has banned caffeine as a stimulant but you would need about 8 cups of coffee or 16 cans of cola to be at this level. The caffeine will raise your performance to a certain extent and also your alertness for that end of the week training session. It does this by (simply put) improving fatty acid oxidation and lessening glycogen use. Reasons not to use it - it's a diuretic so you will lose fluid so therefore you need to drink more water or other liquid as you train. In many people it causes anxiety and faster heartbeat – and as your heart is pounding fast enough during a sparring session anyhow, maybe you don't need this too. Many canned drinks contain significant amounts of caffeine so check the labels carefully. As a guideline, a cup of "real" coffee will have 80-90 mgs/caffeine per cup, Nescafe (etc) will have 60 and a can of cola can have 40 or more.

Training in Thailand (and other humid countries)

Both temperature and wind speed can affect your performance so when in Thailand where there is lots of one and none of the other, you need to take extra precautions. Fast and rapid fluid replacement must be your priority.

Making sports drinks - you should dilute the mixture and make sure you drink more as you will clearly be sweating a lot more than usual. You will be losing vital minerals which have to be replaced; water is not enough in these conditions. Be very careful with caffeine drinks in these circumstances.

If you don't have powder for mixing your own in Thailand, try M-Sport, Gatorade or look in the chemists for re-hydration powders, which will work well after training. The sodium in these drinks sparks a thirst reaction in your body and makes you more aware of your needs.

This may sound obvious but avoid taking salt tablets. This is not a correct response to the excess sweat, as they will produce excess sodium in your stomach, which will slow down your re-hydration and recovery.

Alcohol and MUAYTHAI training

Should you drink alcohol before training – no. 'Nuff said. Drinking on non-training days (or after training once you are fully hydrated that is except for those old trainers you see in Thailand who seem to function wholly on whiskey-coke) is totally a personal choice. If you are training seriously for a fight, then avoiding it or drastically cutting down is the best option, if you are training to lose weight then beer will not help this goal at all. We all know that a little of what you like is good for you so … For those making weight for a fight, calorie counts for alcohol range from 200 for a pint of beer, 100 for a glass of wine, 50 for spirits before you add the cola and between 75-100 for liqueurs.

As a guide to measuring your intake, your liver can only process 1 unit of alcohol per hour (half a pint of beer, 1 glass of wine, 1 measure of spirits/liqueurs). When you do have too much, a half litre of sports drink before bed will help the morning situation as it begins the re-hydration process.

Training with a hangover is pretty much a bad idea. You are already dehydrated so staying in with lots of water and re-hydration liquids is a better idea. A walk will stimulate the process – and lessen your guilt about missing training. People talk about "sweating it out" but it's really not so smart.