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Historical Approach to the 400 Meter Dash

400m Round 1, Heat 2 (Photo credit: Sum_of_Marc)

Many long sprint coaches have either heard about or believed in a philosophy similar to this one:

The 400 should be broken into four segments, 100 meters each. Each 100 meters is run a certain way, especially the first three. I tell runners to run the first three my way and the last 100 their own way.

I have them run the first 100 very fast. They learn to come off the first curve as relaxed as they can, and they run the backstretch without slowing down, yet without using up too much energy.

The key is the third 100. This is where too many people slow down. Drill into your runners that, when they hit that second curve, they must start to work again. Everybody seems to think this is the place to slow down, so they will have power to come off that last curve and kick the straightaway.

Well, there isn’t anybody that is going to kick in on the last straightaway, because fatigue is setting in. Teach your 400 athletes to run that second curve hard. This is not easy to teach. Work on this all year long, on relaxing in that second curve and in that second curve running it fast.

Well, there isn’t anybody that is going to kick in on the last straightaway, because fatigue is setting in. Teach your 400 athletes to run that second curve hard. This is not easy to teach. Work on this all year long, on relaxing in that second curve and in that second curve running it fast.

For well over twenty five years, many track coaches have agreed with this assessment of the 400 meter dash. If we asked coaches today what they observe when high school athletes run this event, they will note a clear slowing down at the 200 meter mark. As a result, they will tell their athletes to run “fast but relaxed” through the curve, and they will also say something about maintaining form in the final 100 meters.

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400 Meter Training Programme

English: Jeremy Wariner. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

400 metre training is tough no doubt. This sprinting event is the one most likely to induce vomit and the training itself can be a gruelling task. The only issue is that training for this event is confusing. No one seems to agree with what works best. The following is a 400 metre training programme based on the methods of Clyde Hart. He was the coach of the great sprinter Michael Johnson and currently coaches the only white man in a long time to win the 400 in major meets like the Olympic games and world champs, Jeremy Wariner.

Many years ago it was stated that the 400 was 90% anaerobic and 10% aerobic. This thinking obviously led to coaches designing programmes that were almost exclusively anaerobic. Such programmes included flat-out sprints and long rests between repetitions. A typical 400 metre training session might include five 150s at maximum pace and finished off with two 300s. This leaves nothing in the tank at the end of the workout.

Now lets set the stage. Say you have a season lasting seven months starting July. Most coaches will try and make their athletes peak at one point during this season, generally at the most important race. 400 metre training the way Hart recommends, the athletes will peak and start again each time they have a major competition rather than just having one peak. Keep in mind that this programme includes only the running portion. It is recommended that you take one of our strength programmes and one of our plyometric programmes and perform both of these three days per week.

For the sake of this 400 metre training programme we will say that there is one major meet every six weeks. For this reason the programme will be of six weeks duration and will start again after every competition. The only part that should change is the strength and power training, which should obviously be progressive.

Keep in mind also that 400 metre training need not just be for 400 metre runners. This can often be a good running programme for those wanting to increase general fitness, lose weight or train for various team sports.

I must also state that this programme is based on elite standards. Following this programme as RXed is under the assumption that you are running a sub 52sec 400 at your peak. The volume and repetition times should be adjusted to suit your current level. For a sprinter with a 400 time of 52 – 58 sec you should scale back about 10%. For those running 58 – 64 sec, scale it back a further 10%. Any slower runners than this, including beginners, should scale back significantly and adjust interval times to about 85% of race pace over each distance, and it is advised that you also scale the volume of the programme back by 10% also as a beginner.

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