It's that time of the year again.
The Decathlon, an event that crowns "Wall Street's Best Athlete," is taking place over the weekend of June 11 and 12.
The annual event brings together the fastest and strongest people working in finance.
The event raises money for pediatric cancer research and treatment, and, as you might expect, it gets very competitive.
Athletes compete across 10 events, including an 800-meter run, a 500-meter row, bench press, football throw, and a 40-yard dash.
Julia La Roche, a former Business Insider reporter now working at Yahoo Finance, is taking part this year. (You can sponsor her here.)
She asked some of the previous participants from the event to share their workouts, and Business Insider published their answers last year.
Because the event is taking place again on Saturday, we thought we would run the story again to highlight how hard the competitors train. Take a look. Their training regimes are pretty intense.
Laura Placentra, Citi. Wall Street’s Best Female Athlete 2015.
"In the months leading up to the Wall Street Decathlon, I trained five to six days a week, focusing on cardio and upper-body strength training. My regimen included boxing, rowing, stationary biking, paddle boarding, and free weights. I do Pilates twice a week for flexibility, core strength, and injury prevention, and I also box on a weekly basis.
"As for weight-room activities, I can’t recommend box jumps enough. They’re unmatched for improving quick-twitch strength and explosiveness for sprinting.
"My favorite fitness activity, though, is coed flag football. I’ve been in a really fun league for several years. It’s a great overall workout, and I really enjoy the competition. Of course the hardest part of training is finding ways to fit everything in with a busy Wall Street schedule, so it’s best to stick to activities that you really enjoy."
Collin Zych, Greenhill Cogent. Second place in 2015.
"I work out six days a week, usually one to two hours during the week and two to three hours each weekend day. During the week, I work out in the mornings — usually get up around 5:30. My work hours sometimes get a little crazy, so this is the only time I know I have available.
"Also, nothing beats the post-workout feeling as I sit down at my desk in the morning. I like to schedule a workout on Saturday morning, mostly to keep myself from drinking too much on a Friday night. If my body is too sore, I will take a day off. I used to try to train through the aches and pains, but it just isn't smart. The last thing I want to do is get hurt.
"I belong to a local CrossFit gym, CrossFit Deep, where I do most of my lifting. I don't always agree with their programming — burpees are stupid — but I can lift heavy and drop weights and be loud there. There are also some great athletes to compete with.
"I have a football training background, so that makes up the meat and potatoes of my training. Bench press, Olympic lifts, heavy squats, and deadlifts. I do not do body-part splits. 'Arms day' is stupid. Every day is leg day in some shape or form."
1. I do two to three days of sprint work per week. This consists of jumping/explosiveness drills, flexibility work, and 100% effort starts and short sprints. I do this at the local track or in parking garages (great for hill sprints) if I'm stuck at the office. I'm terrified of not being fast. It's weird.
2. I will spend a little time on skills every day — things like rowing form, jump rope double-unders, handstand holds. My most recent projects are muscle-ups (a pull-up into a dip on hanging rings).
3. I try to do some dedicated conditioning two to three times per week. To me, this means running (treadmill interval sprints, 100-yard sprints, etc.). I also do CrossFit circuits as part of the gym's programming (refuse to call them WODs [workout of the day] or METCONs [metabolic conditioning]) which incorporate combos of lifting, running, jumping.
Will McHale, Axiom International Investors
"I try to work out six or seven times a week. My routine involves some type of interval cardio and some weight lifting. I roughly split the weight sessions between upper body and lower body, but do my best to keep my training balanced and hit the whole body every workout.
"My cardio sessions are always interval-based. It is way more efficient than just jumping on the treadmill for an hour. Keeping the workout intensity high is a great way to maximize time. I also think it is important to mix things up. The body can plateau when you are doing the same movements, reps, and sets over and over. Also, a boring workout is more likely to be a skipped workout.
"Lastly, I try to always remember that even doing a little something is better than nothing. Everyone has days when going to the gym is the last thing you want to do. Those are the days when you really get better."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider