Jessica Ennis – World Heptathlon Champion – Her Workouts

Jessica Ennis has won Britain’s first ever heptathlon gold medal at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. She dominated the entire competition from start to finish. The 23-year-old from Sheffield was just awesome in Berlin, and completed the Heptathlon event by winning the 800m to finish on 6731 points, 238 clear of Germany’s Jennifer Oeser.

So, what does it take to be a World Heptathlon Champion?

The Heptathlon consists of 7 track and field events:

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100m Hurdles
The High Jump
Shot Put
200m Sprint
The Long Jump
Javelin Throw
800m

Only the best all round athletes can compete in the Heptathlon. Contestants require strength for the javelin and shot put, plus speed and agility in the high jump, hurdles and 200m sprint, and endurance for the 800m.

Circuit training is going to play a large role in conditioning for a heptathlon event. Lots of bodyweight training, including push ups, pulls ups and core exercises. Weight training is needed to increase upper body strength for the shot put and javelin throws.

Obviously running will have to play a large part. A lot of stretching is also required to prevent injury, and to train the body to remain supple throughout an event. Ceasing up before the 800m could turn a gold medal contender to a loser in a matter of minutes.

Weight Training Routines foe Heptathlon (can also be used in other events such as Decathlon)

Without doubt weight training is a key part to successful heptathlon training. The whole body needs to be worked to ensure a high level of athletic strength and muscular endurance. It is best to split the body up into sections so that weight training workouts can be split to allow skills training (jumping, throwing, sprinting) and endurance training, without risk of overtraining.

Arms:

Biceps: Perform various curls, including standard bicep curls, hammer curls & concentration curls
Triceps: Triceps power the arms, so perform tricep dips, tricep kickbacks, tricep extensions, and skull crushers

Upper Body:

Chest: A mixture of Bench press, Chest press, Chest fly, Pushups to build functional strength in the chest
Back: Push ups, pull ups, rear flyes, bent over row, straight legged dead lifts
Shoulders: Perform lateral raises, front raises, military presses, overhead presses

Core:

Abdominals: Core strength training is always vital – Weighted crunches, Bicycles, Hanging leg raises

Legs:

Glutes, Hamstrings and Quads: Squat, Lunges, Walking lunges, Straight leg dead lifts
Calves: Calf raises and toe raises

Obviously every athlete will require different workouts, and do not forget that good nutrition is vital to ensuring that you get maximum gains from your workouts, and achieve the fastest recovery possible.

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