Why Muay Thai Nutrition is Behind MMA & Boxing

I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on The Muay Thai Show podcast, hosted by John Wolcott.

We spoke about a whole host of topics that fall under the umbrella of nutrition for Muay Thai.

You can watch the full episode here.

John did a really good job of summing up my mission in the show intro:

“James Nichol is a professional Muay Thai fighter and Mac Nutrition Uni certified nutritionist. His mission is to help you overcome your nutritional and psychological obstacles so you can level up your athletic performance. Discover how to properly fuel your body without making drastic sacrifices in this episode of The Muay Thai Show.”

In this series of articles, I’ll share with you some clips from our discussion, but make sure you check out the full episode to see the whole thing in all its glory!

Why Muay Thai Nutrition is Behind MMA & Boxing

In the below clip, we talk about how and why Muay Thai is lagging behind other combat sports such as MMA and boxing in relation to nutrition, and why there is a gap between the research and practice in terms of nutrition knowledge for Muay Thai.

We discuss the traditional nature of Muay Thai and how this culture can make it slow to adopt new practices. We talk about how better nutrition can be spread throughout gyms in the motherland of Muay Thai, as well as across the globe.

We discuss why, as a fighter myself, my opinion may hold more weight with fighters versus other knowledgeable individuals that may not know the intricacies, nuances, and the culture of the sport.

Muay Thai still has a long way to go in improving nutrition and weight cutting practices, but it’s my mission to have a positive impact on this aspect of the sport - no matter how slow and steady the process!

If you like what you hear, you can watch the full episode here.