The 400-meter event is no different, in general definition, from any other sprint event. There is an acceleration to a level of maximal race velocity which concludes with the attempt to maintain the highest possible level of that maximal race velocity for the duration of the event. When training for any sprint event, velocities and…
Archives for 400m workouts
Speed vs ‘Strength’ For 400 Runners
Speed vs ‘Strength’ For 400 Runners Some people argue that the best way to develop your 400m runners is with a ‘strength’ (aka long to short) approach. This says that in order to get fast, we should run at sub-maximal paces at higher volumes and for longer distances. To me, this is a ‘run slow…
Why Usain Bolt Is So Fast
In past articles, I have discussed why stride length and stride frequency should never be taught directly. That they are byproducts of what really determines speed: The amount of force applied to the ground, as well as the length of time and the direction it is applied. To get a clearer understanding of what force…
Measuring what Matters – Guidelines to Evaluating Practice Times
Part 1 Is Your Sprinter a Diva or a Rock Star? By Carl Valle The purpose of this article series is to break down the 100m sprint and 200m sprint events into four testing qualities; Acceleration, Maximal Speed, Speed Endurance, and some specific work capacity. While this series is focused on the short sprints, other…
The Truth about ‘Peaking’
It’s Championship Season and, if you’re a coach, you’re hoping you’ve put your athletes in position to have their best performances during this small window of ‘win or go home’ meets. So at this time of year, I get a lot of questions about peaking. -What are the best workouts to get athletes to…
Q&A: Fixing running technique + 400m workouts
Before I get to the Q&A, here are two new programs/resources you don’t want to miss: 1. After years of requests, I’m excited to announce we’re taking registrations for the 2011 New England Sprints & Jumps Clinic. Register early! 2. If you can’t get enough Track & Field information, tips and ideas, you’ll be…
2011 New England Sprints & Jumps Clinic
The 2011 New England Sprints & Jumps clinic will be held at Brown University on Saturday July 23 and Sunday July 24, 2011. Click here for more information and to register for the event: 2011 New England Sprints & Jumps Clinic If you have questions about the event, please post them in the comment section…
3 Programs You Should Take a Look At
Yesterday I read the Riot Act to my group of sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. Why? We’re changing training phases and that means each event group requires more event specific training. My life becomes monumentally more difficult because instead of having individualized event training twice per week like we did during general prep, we now…
Spring Sale – Lowest Price Ever on CST2
When speaking/presenting at a clinic or conference, it’s customary to give the coaches in attendance a great deal on your programs. So, this winter, when talking to coaches at both the Wisconsin Track Coaches Clinic and New England Track Coaches Clinic, I gave those coaches the lowest price on Complete Speed Training 2 that I’ve…
2 Most Important Words for Coaches
A week or two ago, I sent out a survey asking if you’d be interested in a program based not on training (how many 30s to run or medicine ball throws to do on a Tuesday), but how to organize your program so you can manage large groups of kids (with a small staff) and…
Dealing with shin splints + Get your 100m training questions answered
As sprints coaches, shin splints invariably pop up. Sometimes we get through an entire season without dealing with it, sometimes it’s a few kids and sometimes it’s an epidemic. Here is a question on the topic that Coach Mangiacotti answered from a ‘Building the Perfect 100m Sprinter From Start to Finish’ customer: Question: Good morning…
Want faster sprinters? Focus on this.
Yesterday at practice I had my assistant coach lead the group of 100+ kids while I did some talent identification. Since it was about 30 degrees out and snowing, we weren’t exactly running fly 30s. So what was I looking for to determine who had innate athletic ability? This one skill. To your success, Latif…