Training
How sore will I be in the first week?
Updated 2026-09-01
The short answer
Very, and in places you did not expect. Shins and the tops of the feet from kicking, hip flexors from knees and teeps, and shoulders from holding a guard. It usually peaks around day three and eases as the second week starts.
Shin conditioning is the one people are unprepared for. Kicking pads for the first time leaves bruising and tenderness that makes the second day genuinely unpleasant, and it settles with exposure rather than with rest.
Skin is the other early problem: the tops of the feet, the insteps, and the knuckles under wraps. Blisters and mat burn in constant humidity heal slowly, so treat small breaks in the skin early rather than training through them.
Ordinary soreness that eases as you warm up is normal. Sharp joint pain, anything that changes how you walk, and swelling that does not go down overnight are not, and are a reason to stop rather than to push.
Worth knowing
Nothing here is medical advice. A camp trainer is not a physiotherapist and an injury on day three ruins a trip that a rest day would have saved.
Still deciding where to go?
Six questions, and we will tell you which camps fit and which facts about them we have not confirmed.
Vocabulary
The words on this page
Roundhouse kick
The signature Muay Thai kick, thrown with the shin rather than the foot, turning the hips all the way through so the whole body carries the strike.
Techniques and stylesCheck
Lifting the shin to block a kick so the incoming leg hits bone instead of ribs or thigh. Done properly it hurts the person kicking more than the person blocking.
Techniques and stylesNamman muay
The heating liniment Thai fighters rub into their legs and shoulders before training. It warms the muscle and it is the smell you will associate with every gym you set foot in.
Gym languageShin conditioning
The process of getting your shins used to hitting and being hit, which happens through kicking pads and bags over time rather than through any specific drill.
Gym language
Training
Asked alongside this one
What does a day at a Thai camp actually look like?
Two sessions, morning and late afternoon, with the middle of the day left alone because of the heat. Each session runs roughly two hours: warm-up and skipping, shadow boxing, pad rounds with a trainer, bag work, then clinching or sparring, and conditioning at the end.
Do I have to train twice a day?
No. The two-session day is what the camp offers, not what you owe them, and nobody checks. Most people who arrive untrained do better on one full session a day for the first week, then add the second when their shins and hips have caught up.
Do Thai trainers speak English?
At foreigner-facing camps, enough for training: technique is taught by demonstration and correction, and the vocabulary you need is small. Conversational English varies enormously between camps, and at local Thai camps you should expect very little.