The Effects of Olympic Weightlifting Derivatives on Muay Thai Roundhouse Kicking Performance

The purpose of this study was to identify performance measures in roundhouse striking, by the implementation of Olympic Weightlifting Derivatives (OWLD) with Muay Thai fighters. Forty male subjects were recruited, with twenty male subjects placed in the experimental group (EG)and twenty male subjects in the control group (CG) and were randomly assigned to their groups. Mean 26 years 3 (± 3.2), weight and height 82.4 kg (± 12.2), and 180.7cm (± 3). Pre- and post-intervention and control group testing included roundhouse strike impact power, measured using the PowerKubeTM, a dynamometer that identifies the impact power used to produce striking potential. Countermovement jumps were recorded using a single PASCO force platform one axis PS2141. The EG subjects were prescribed an eight-week training programme that was carried out prior to their sparring with twenty minutes rest to recover. The control group were instructed to carry out traditional training that involved the same volume of sparring, cardiovascular fitness, and circuit training as the EG. Within-group post test results showed the EG and CG group demonstrated significantly different results in RHK performance (p ≤ 0.01); however, no significant differences were observed between groups. Results in the countermovement jump were, however, highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) in the EG (within group), but not significant in the CG (p ≥ 0.05); again, no significant differences were observed between groups. Meaningful differences were seen in the EG with a 7.41% increase in roundhouse kicking performance and 7.54% in countermovement jump height, compared to the CG that elicited negligible differences of only 1.56% in the roundhouse kicking performance and 0.33% in countermovement jumper, demonstrating OWLD would improve the performance of the Muay Thai fighter.