A javelin thrower has a high mesomorph score as they have a muscular body, strong arms and thighs and not much body fat. This means they are able to continue this strength by doing muscular endurance training. As a javelin thrower strength and power are essential, therefore doing muscular endurance training will build up their muscles and ensure that they can exert a lot of force for a long period. When your muscles can’t work properly any more, your arms and legs become weak or heavy and muscle fatigue sets in. Slow twitch muscle fibres get tired less quickly so it’s easier to improve your muscular endurance.
Being strong/having a lot of strength will improve your muscular endurance. When throwing a javelin you cannot rely on entire strength and power. You wouldn’t think it but to be a successful, international javelin thrower you have to be quick. If you have ever seen a javelin thrower training you will realise that it doesn’t solely consist of weight training and technique work however of quite a large element of speed work such as short sprints to get the different muscles needed, working. The main reason they include speed work in their training programme is that on the run way speed converts into distance.
A test that can be carried out to prove this is to simply launch the javelin for a stationary position several times and record each accurate distance in a table and then to do the same but with the added component of speed. Again record your results and then compare. 9 times out of 10, you will find that the throw with the added run up will give you a greater distance. This is why speed is such an important competent of fitness for a javelin thrower. Another very important component is balance. The reason for this is whilst you are sprinting down the runway you have to control the javelin and ensure that your upper body is stable.
This also link with muscular endurance and strength training as your core muscles need to be able to control the movement (to a minimum) of the upper body to make sure that it is balanced while the throw is in process. In the latter stages of the run up the thrower is required to do several cross over steps whilst the javelin is extended in the preferred arm. This also endures good balance as without it the athlete would more than likely become unsteady resulting in the javelin being released at the incorrect angle and in the wrong direction, which will cause a foul throw.