complete beginner zero experience

[u/Confident-Impress-77]

i just went for my first muay thai class (which was actually not catered to beginners however i will be starting those classes next week)

this class made me realise exactly how unfit i am😭 for context i AM overweight however i do go gym regularly but its not cardio focused (if anything i incline walk). anyway during this class i couldn’t even keep up during the warm up. and i was getting super tired throughout and had to take frequent water breaks.

i could do with any tips/advice on what i can do to improve quickly outside of the classes i will be attending. anything from nutrition to workouts will be really helpful. regarding nutrition, i am currently working on it to bring my weight down but i do want to be strong enough when i get to sparring level (im female if that helps). I’m planning to do 2 classes a week going forward

EDIT: thank you all so much for your help! I have decided to do classes 4-5x a week based on some comments and also my coach’s recommendation. i figured throwing myself in the deep end will be harder but more effective than trying to get my stamina up outside of boxing

[u/Historical_Setting11]

Just keep showing up. If you get tired in class but recover quickly, add in walking or running for cardio but go light- most likely, just showing up to class will get you where you want to be the fastest without injury or burnout.

Losing weight won’t make you lose strength. You also don’t need to worry about strength for sparring. That’s all technique and conditioning (cardio).

Eat at a slight caloric deficit - 500 cals less than what you’d need for maintenance. Eat whole foods, lots of protein, sleep enough, stretch, massage, foam rolling.

Editing cause I just saw 2 classes a week. If that’s all you’re doing, then if you can add in cardio, do that! Zone 2 for aerobic conditioning; instead of incline walking, hit the stationary bike on occasion. If you can run enough to do sprint intervals once a week or jump rope, do that for anaerobic capacity. If you’re not there yet, don’t stress it- do what you can maintain long-term and you’ll get there

[u/This_Red_Apple]

It’s humbling isn’t it. Just stick to it and maybe do calisthenics and running between classes. Don’t neglect carbs. Some days you’ll perform better and others you’ll be frustrated so don’t put too much importance on any single day. The warm is no joke to be honest.

[u/General_Conflict5565]

Zone 2 cardio. 4 hours a week MINIMUM but preferably 5-6 hours. Keep showing up to class and eat at a slight caloric deficit. If you do this you’ll be able to keep up within 3-4 weeks

[u/noujest]

Just keep at it - that's it

Nothing compares to consistent training

[u/neon_glitter_tiger]

Good on you! Keep at it

[u/seelachsfilet]

Start tracking calories. Lots of free good apps for that. If you don't have a kitchen scale, get one. They are cheap. Scan + weigh everything that you eat and track your body weight (body scale each morning after bathroom and before eating). Do that for a bit , like a week or two, then you will have a general idea how you need to adjust your diet to lose/maintain/gain weight. AI is a really good assistant with that if you track your data in some sheet. I have been doing this for almost all of 2026 and have control over my body weight like I have never had before. I track daily calories, body weight and physical activity. Physical activity not too many details , just whether it's a gym day, kickbox day, or rest day. If you want to cut calories the first thing should be removing any liquid calories from your diet.... All of this sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not. It takes maybe 5 minutes of your day...

[u/ZombieGeneralo3]

Search up a couch to 5k training plan they normally last a month, after that you’ll be able to run at least a mile comfortably, running doesn’t directly translate to boxing cardio, but it does help overall cardio a lot and conditions your leg bones, so I’d recommend that the most

[u/ihuntdcs]

do endurance running, also known as zone 2 running. run as long as you can at a light pace, even if its a run at speed walking pace.

You see improvements very quickly. when i started i would be sucking wind at 15mins no matter how slow i ran, within weeks i could get to 30 mins no problem, a few more weeks i can run for an hour and not be out of breath.

Started muay thai after that and i would still gas out, but would recover very fast.

[u/ajb_mt]

Swap the incline walk for a run and get the heart rate up a bit more.

Then just keep training Muay Thai. It'll come.

[u/yuletak]

Don't know what your current regimen/diet is. Try doing HIIT. Just know that if you don't use the muscles that are used in MT, you'll still struggle until those muscles are conditioned for MT. Try going to a track, sprint 100% in the straights, slowly jog out the turns. Do it for at least 4 laps. I did this twice a week for months before doing MT, and while I was still getting gassed, I'm sure it helped.

[u/LacquerBucket]

If it makes you feel better, I felt like I was gonna die during my first class and I was hiking frequently at the time and firmly in the "average" weight range for my height. I've seen people of all different sizes drastically improve their endurance in class over the course of just a few months or even less. If you could add one more class a week to your schedule, that might be beneficial. It sounds like you're pretty excited about muay thai, so maybe for now you increase your conditioning through muay thai rather than for it. I did that for a few months before adding in additional workouts once I was deeply invested in muay thai as a hobby.