Decathlon — Glossary

Every Decathlon term explained in plain language: technique, equipment, rules and slang – with tips on avoiding the classic mistakes.

Cross Step (Impulse Step) (Movement): The penultimate step of the javelin approach: flat and fast forward, torso deliberately leaning back. It carries run-up momentum into the throwing position.
Footstrike (Movement): How and where your foot lands when running — heel, midfoot or forefoot. What matters more is where it lands relative to your body.
Fosbury Flop (Movement): Today's high jump technique: you cross the bar on your back while your centre of mass can pass underneath it. Dick Fosbury took Olympic gold with it in 1968.
Grip height (Cheat code): How high you grip the pole — the dial that follows your approach speed, never the other way round. About 7.6 cm more grip height feels like a 2.3 kg softer pole.
Ground Force & Horizontal Force (Movement): Speed comes from force into the ground, not from faster legs: top sprinters push down and back with more than 2.5 times their body weight.
Plant box (Equipment): The wedge-shaped box anchored in the ground at the end of the runway, where the pole is planted. About three-quarters of severe pole vault injuries are connected to it.
Power Position (Slang): The phrase you hear on repeat in the throwing circle: the wide, low stance just before release, where the energy from the glide or spin sits stored.
Running Drills (A-Skip & B-Skip) (Cheat code): The coordination drills you run before a session. Of all the variants, the B-skip predicts sprint performance most clearly — the A-skip barely at all.
The Wind Rule (2.0 m/s) (Rule): Above 2.0 m/s of tailwind a long jump still counts for the competition but no longer for record lists. Wind is measured 20 m from the board, 1.22 m up.

General

Terms from training theory that apply in every sport.

1RM (One-Repetition Maximum) (Rule): The maximum weight you can move for exactly one clean repetition. The reference value behind almost every training plan.
BMR & TDEE (Rule): BMR is your basal metabolic rate at complete rest; TDEE is total daily expenditure including everyday movement and training. Nutrition targets always work off TDEE.
Cadence (Movement): Steps per minute when running, or pedal revolutions when cycling. For most runners, 170–180 steps per minute sits in the sweet spot.
Core Tension (Movement): Active stabilisation of abdomen, back and pelvis — the bridge that lets force travel between legs and arms at all.
Deload (Cheat code): A deliberately lighter week with volume or intensity clearly reduced, so adaptation can catch up.
DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) (Cheat code): Delayed muscle soreness 12–72 hours after unfamiliar load. Not a measure of training quality.
Knee Valgus (Movement): The knees collapsing inward during squats, jumps and landings. One of the key risk markers in technique analysis.
Progressive Overload (Cheat code): The one principle no training works without long-term: the stimulus has to grow over time, otherwise adaptation stops.
RIR (Reps in Reserve) (Rule): How many clean reps you had left at the end of a set. RIR 2 means two more were available.
RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) (Rule): A scale for perceived effort. In strength training it usually runs 1–10, where RPE 8 means you had two more reps in the tank.
Zone 2 (Aerobic Base) (Cheat code): The easy endurance zone where you can still hold a conversation in full sentences. The base of almost every endurance plan.