Hello bto you all! Sorry to start with a whine but it really gets on my nerves that my local Muay Thai school incorporates fitness drills into its normal classes.

Most of us are not fighters. The club has separate fighters' and fitness classes for those who're interested. I used to fight many years ago but have got back into it because punching and kicking is a great way to get fitter.

I also do my own fitness work (mainly running and kettlebells) away from class which fits my manual lifestyle. It's okay the instructor getting us doing 10 squats and 10 burpees over and over saying "Your legs will feel it tomorrow" but if I have a 12 hour warehouse shift tomorrow I don't really want to!

I also don't want vlaubale class time spent sprinting up and down a gym and hitting 10 jabs and crosses.

I also feel that it is an easy option for an instructor - it is easier to smoke someone out than teaching technique, going around a class, for an hour.

Anyone who wants separate conditioning can do this at home without paying for the privilege or join one of the conditioning-focused classes.

Does anyone agree? Or am I talking out of my hat?

I agree it sucks.

Sure does. An easy cop-out for instructors.

It's part of it I'm afraid you can't pick and choose which parts you like. To learn real Muay Thai takes pain and sacrifice. It's the hardest sport on earth arguably ..

i think if a gym does too much fitness prior the technique/ practical stuff, its because the instructor hasnt got much in the way of actual training to pass on ..knacker the students out for 30 mins then give them 15 mins pad work and then 15 mins warm down and stretch and then hometime. 10 mins skip should be enough at the start ifyoure doing your own stuff outside

I hear you Marko,and tiredness through 10 left kicks, 10 right kicks for 3 minutes is great, but surely people are paying for MT tuition, not to sprint up and down a gym and do pressups/squats as part of a main class?

If your at a good gym with ranked fighters then they know what they are doing, but like above said, many coaches don't know what they are doing so fill it with military excersises.
Sit ups, press ups pull ups lunges and running all have a place in Muay Thai but if your learning nothing new and just doing hard work then yea id look for a better gym

I've seen a lot of the established fighters
MT gyms with world class fighters do this

One local gym do this a lot. 30 mins running around doing exercises,
30 mins or so doing loads of stretches
The last 30 mins will be 10 mins of technique work and the
Last part will be 3x3 mins padwork then change over
( well something like that anyway) using maybe two techniques

At the classes I teach, exercises etc are kept to a minimum
My students even at beginner level spend 75% of the lesson hitting the pads

As a coach I make my people do the work and run class longer. Instead of a one hour class it needs to be 90 minutes or even longer sometimes. I have to make the class do the running, jump roping, squats etc.... because it's a necessary part of Thai boxing (being conditioned) and most of the people wont do the work without the accountability of a coach watching them and making them do it.

If you don't want to do something, it's more then likely the exact thing you need to do. The first 30 to 45 minutes should be spent waking the body up with exercises and stretches. All the top Muay Thai trainers I've trained with do this and their success speaks for itself.

I trained with Ajahn Suchart (Muay Thai trainer of the year, Simon Marcus coach from Glory) and he makes his class do the same 45 minutes of jumping jacks, stretching, sit ups, stretching, push ups, stretching every time. There are some coaches that just make you do a million burpess just to get you tired and get you out the door but the real ones are doing it for a real reason and there success comes from that hard work and dedication day in and day out.