Weight training for the decathlon

The Decathlon is a strenuous event that takes place over the course of two days. The specific events involved in the decathlon are: 100 meter sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meter run (day one), on day two it is 110 meter hurdle, discus, pole vault, javelin, and, as the last event, the 1500 meter run. Clearly this a demanding sport that requires both quickness and endurance. Those two conflicting needs are one of the reasons that the decathlon is such a challenge. Weight training can be very beneficial to the decathalete for a variety of reasons. Strength gains will help in the throwing events, such as javelin and shot put, while muscular strength in your calves will help in the jumping events. Muscular gains in both your upper and lower body as well as your abdominals help to maintain your form when you are fatigued.

The problem with developing a weight training routine for the decathalete is that due to the sheer number of events that the athlete must train for, fitting in the time to lift weights can prove difficult. By taking the time to plan your schedule, you should be able to make it work. The most important factor to keep in mind is not to skimp on rest. If it comes down to skipping a workout and getting some sleep, you should err on the side of caution. Adequate rest can many times prevent a niggling pain from developing into a full blown injury. Pay attention to your body. If you are dedicated enough to practice and compete in the decathlon, you should trust that you are not lazy, or you are not wimping out, if you feel like you need the rest, take it.

When developing a weight training workout, think in the long term. Not what you are going to do this week, but what you will be doing next year. Begin your weight training sessions during the off season. This will be the time when you do most of your strength gaining activity. Once track season starts, you will only be looking to maintain your gains. There are a variety of weight training programs available, but to be most effective during the off season, work each body parts two times a week, with at least 24 hours between workouts. There are different ways to split this up, depending on your situation. If you can only make it to the gym twice a week, clearly you will need to do a full body workout each time. The only real problem in doing two full body workouts a week is that it can take so long that fatigue sets in and your form starts to suffer. If you have some free weights at home, you could do a few body parts each day. Basically you want to do 2 different exercises for each muscle group. Do 2 to 3 sets of each exercise, and do 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise. For example, if you where working your biceps you could choose to do bicep curls and hammer curls. Lift enough weight that the curls are difficult by the time to you get to the 8th one, but try to pound out a few more. Do your bicep curls, rest about thirty seconds, do another set of bicep curls, rest for thirty, do your last set of bicep curls, then move directly to hammer curls. That is three sets of bicep curls.

ere is a list of body parts, and some good exercises to target them. Some exercises target more than one body part, which is fine, it counts for each part. If you need step by step instructions on any of the exercises, be sure to search the web, as there are a variety of picture tutorials for all of the listed exercises.

Biceps: bicep curl, hammer curl, concentration curl, preacher curl

Triceps: tricep dip, tricep kickback, tricep extension, skull crushers

Chest: bench press, chest press, chest fly, pushup

Back: push up, pull up, rear fly, bent row, straight leg dead lift

Shoulders: lateral raise, front raise, military press, overhead press

bdominals: crunch weighted crunch, bicycle, hanging leg raise

Glutes, Hamstrings and Quads: squat, lunge, walking lunge, straight leg dead lift

Calves: calf raise, weight calf raise, toe raise

Once you move onto the competition portion of your year, cut back on the weights on each exercise, move back to exercising each body part once a week, and increase your repetitions to 12 to 15. This will help you maintain the muscular gains that you have made without overworking your body. Do not forget to keep track of your performance for each event , so that you can track the effectiveness of your training.