Cant keep my hands up for to long ( with thai pads or gloves )

Discussion in 'Thai Boxing' started by MindTricks, Dec 7, 2012.

  1. MindTricks

    MindTricks Valued Member

    My shoulders start to burn and hurt after a while when holding thai pads
    and i also experience same sort of pain when i am keeping my hand up with boxing gloves on =[ i do shrugs, shoulder press and other exercises at the gym but i guess its not problem with my shoulder strength. I been doing thai boxing only for about 3 months, is it something ill get used to ? or maybe theres some drills i can do at home to get used to it faster ?

    Thanks in advice.
     
  2. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    If you have access to a speed bag, a few sessions on it in a week will develop your shoulder endurance in a hurry. When you do cardio try keeping your hands in your guard as well.
     
  3. MindTricks

    MindTricks Valued Member

    dont have access to speed bag unfortunately =[ but i have seen some on amazon for fairly cheap ( £15 + ) maybe a good idea to buy one.

    will start running in my guard now :D thanks for that
     
  4. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    It just takes time to condition yourself. Just keep focused on it.
     
  5. seiken steve

    seiken steve golden member

    And do more shadow at home.
     
  6. CrowZer0

    CrowZer0 Assume formlessness.

    What sort of time period are we talking here? I'm sat here with a bemused expression on my face holding up my hands trying to figure out where the pain would start and am left a little confused. Considering you can do other shoulder exercises just fine, what time period are we talking? 5, 10, 20 mins or more?
     
  7. Grass hopper

    Grass hopper Valued Member

    Maybe it's a technique problem. I don't do Muay Thai, (I do karate) but whenever I feel like dropping my hands I sort of rest my elbows on my body for a while while keeping my hands up, makes it almost effortless. Is that an option?
     
  8. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    A few things - most Thai pads are way too big and most guys have crap pad holding technique. It shouldn't be that hard to keep the pads up and you should keep them closer into your body. Most gyms have some random set of big ass pads and they're not that great to have to hold.

    Unless you're pushing 200lbs or have one hell of a kick - then you can easily get away with med. sized Thai style pads for almost everyone. I've held them for years and years and the large ones are just shoulder wreckers unless you are built like a tree stump.

    Much of the fatigue you have will be a combo of your upper body, your core and your anterior deltoid (the group of muscles on the front of your shoulder) - if you're doing muay thai and getting fatigued from holding pads - sort out your sleep, your diet and your weight training regimen.

    Also remember the closer you keep the pads to your body the less leverage they have on the joint and on your lower back and on your entire system. You want them over your hips - or at least the stress as close to your center of mass as you can. It's the same way a camera operator trys to carry a movie camera or the same way when you move a Kettlebell you want it to stay close to your center of mass. The load should be going down onto your hips and spine not levered out off your shoulder joint.

    Another analogy that works - when you wear a heavy ruck sack or backpack hiking say 50lbs and if you wear it only using the shoulder straps - it wrecks your shoulders, neck and traps and you fatigue easily... you won't cover much ground. However if you use the hip belt to get weight over your hips you can cover a massive distance with relatively little fatigue and there is no load on your neck or traps or shoulders.

    It's the same theory for holding Thai pads. You want them in close to your body. You want little space between your body and the pad/back of your forearm when are taking kicks... you want a solid stance and you want to preempt the kick a bit - meet force with force and develop your timing.

    All day long I see novice pad holders with arms way out in front of them getting kicked to bits and fatiguing because they haven't given it much thought and probably haven't really spent time watching the thai guys hold stuff.

    Food for thought.
     
  9. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    You can use a straw to fix this problem . . . . . . . and suck it the heck up!

    In all seriousness I know the feeling/problem and probably more so since I do boxing and EVERYTHING has shoulders in it. The speed bag, as mentioned is a good tool. Simple arm circles, variations of shadow boxing (throw 1,2 non-stop), and bag work also help. Stretching is also important. A lot of it is just your body getting used to it and putting a whole lot of work in. It goes away in time, comes back in small spurts for a week, goes away again . . . . just part of the game.
     
  10. MindTricks

    MindTricks Valued Member

    thanks for your help guys !

    they all look like standard size pads not too big. ( even tho i am not an expert )

    @ slipthejab, ill keep them closer to my body thanks for the tip ! that should rly help.

    @ CrowZer0 if ill put my hands up right now i can start to feel that discomfort pretty much straight away

    @ Grass hopper hmm im not sure how can i do that ?

    @ Ero-Sennin ill try some shadow at home , thx !
     
  11. Grass hopper

    Grass hopper Valued Member

    I'm talking only about the sparring angle, if your having trouble keeping your hands up, pin your elbows to your body for a bit and take a rest while using kicks to keep your opponent at a distance if need be. Works for me anyway.
     

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