How women can get the physique of an Olympic triple jumper.

If you have ever watched the women’s triple jump at the Olympic games, you would have seen athletes whose physical frames are slender, toned and feminine. Most of these athletes have the physique that most women dream of having. They train hard to condition their body for Olympic competition and to achieve their dream of winning an Olympic medal. However, the working class lady, stay at home mum or the ordinary girl next door can get a similar physique by doing an Olympic workout at home, work or your local gym. In order for the athletes to maximise their performance, they need to do base training to condition their muscles for the intense workouts that will put their body through in the future. Below are the types of training that you will need to for the first 6 weeks of your training.

Condition your body by improving your stamina.

Building up your muscles stamina will allow you to push the boundaries with your training. Triple jumpers don’t usually need a lot of stamina compared to endurance athletes. However, the stamina should allow them to exert a high amount of power and intensity over a short period of time. (On the runway, this is usually no longer than 15 seconds) The best way to improve your stamina is by doing cardiovascular training on the treadmill as a time trial or by setting a distance goal. Running on the track, road or cross-country helps, however you will be able to monitor your progress more accurately by running on a treadmill. You should aim to run for up to 40 minutes to increase your heart rate to 140 bpm or more and build your stamina.

Condition your muscles with strength training.

It’s important that you condition your muscles for the intense explosive workout that you’ll need to do as a part of your training. You’ll need to strengthen your core and your legs. Squat movements will make up the bulk of your exercises. We recommend the following.

• Back squats – 3 x 10 repetitions at 80% of your maximum weight.
• Front squats – 3 x 10 repetitions at 80% of your maximum weight.
• Step-ups – Barbell
• Power clean – Barbell

It’s advised that you use a squat rack or power rack when doing these exercises.

Improve your muscles elasticity with power exercises.

These are the exercises that will improve your power, strengthen your core and improve the shape of your legs and bum. The brilliant thing about doing plyometric exercises is that it adds up to 7 times the force of your body weight on the muscles. You will need to train your muscles with explosive exercises. Initially, you can start doing these exercises with your body weight. However, when the resistance feels too light, you should apply extra weight when it is possible. You should aim to do these exercises 2-3 times per week.

• Skipping rope – 3 sets of 100 skips.
• Bounding – 3 sets of 10 repetitions
• Hopping – 3 sets of 10 repetitions

You can see both the bounding and hopping demonstrations in the video below.

Sprints training.

Triple jump is about harnessing the speed on the runway and transitioning it into power that will allow you to leap great distances. You should incorporate 2-3 sprint sessions per week. These include:

• 5 x 50m sprints
• 4 x 80m sprints
• 10 x 30m sprints

After 3 months of training, you should feel more powerful and your physique should start to resemble one of an Olympic athlete. The more you train, the more conditioned your body will be. Image credit: Alchetron