Jogging or standing rest between 400 reps?

Active recovery or not, the more important question is how much time you’re giving yourself between reps.

My advice would be to focus on that, and only that. Jog if you want, stand, whatevs…just make sure that when the recovery time wraps up you are ready to roll into the next 400.

If you’re training for the 3km I would recommend jogging between intervals as this will make it tougher and also simulate an actual race better than just purely standing around. You can also slowly reduce the recovery distance jogged over a period of a few weeks so when it comes to race day running the pace you are aiming for for the entire race will be much easier.

Great tip. Personally been trying to do more jog recovery but workout always suffers. Important to remember the reps are the practice, recovery interval is for recovery.

MoVB

i would be moving (between literally standing vs. walk/jog). if you just stand you'll start tightening up and you'll spend a chunk of each rep trying to loosen back up.

among active choices, walk vs. jog tends to be about what is the purpose here. is the purpose switching gears back and forth while still running a la fartlek (jog) at the expense of some pace

or

is the purpose purposeful speed work on some degree of rest each time (walk).

purpose drives the recovery. i was a sprinter and we are wanting to do the stuff fast or at least at a pretty high percent rate. so we're gonna do the reps each fast and then try and catch our breath before the next one. distance to me tends to be a jogged recovery unless it's a long interval as the idea is shifting gears and working on the ability to burst midrace or kick at the end. and unlike a sprinter you won't be doing that from a standstill.

my 2 cents/

I would do push-ups.

i think walking rest is fine for most. jogging rest is something to work towards, and even then isn't necessary in all workouts.

some distance guys obsess over doing it all the time. I will see a post from a 50 year old guy who hasn't been running, talking about doing strides to work on turnover, and with jogging rest. A guy who can't run a 23 minute 5k at the moment. No! this is a place where walking is going to benefit you for the purpose of the workout.

Taking it in another direction, let's go back to the idea of the 400s at 3k pace. If you are a guy who is not quite aerobically developed, that jogging rest will lessen what you can do on the 400s. Are you better off doing 8 or 9x400 with 200 jogging rest, or 12 x 400 with walking rest? What if 85 with high humidity vs perfect running conditions?

All this to say im not sure there is one perfect, correct answer here.

Just depends on your goals for the workout. Standing rest is a little easier so you probably shorten the recovery time. Even with that, you should really be able to hit goal pace & run fast when you take standing recovery.

60s standing is probably good for 400s @ 3k pace. You could also do a super slow 200 jog that might take a little over that (maybe 75s).

If I'm doing a bog-standard interval workout (like 1000s at 5K pace, etc.) I usually mix it up. Finish the rep, decelerate to a walk, catch my breath, jog down and back on the straight, walk up to the line, go. I do think there is something to be said for a fartlek type workout where you "float" in between reps, but when you're on the track I think the most important thing is just being ready for the next rep however works for you.

What's the point of the session? If it's to develop speed endurance, then do a walk or standing recovery because you want to be fully recovered so you can maintain the speed for the next rep.

But you can also use 400s to develop threshold pace (Jakob does this, though he'd do 20 rather than 10), in which case, you don't want your heart rate to fully recover so a jog and shorter recovery time is best.

The old school Aussie way is to jog when focusing on long distances and full rest for 1500s.

i agree with the argument that whether to walk or jog the rest may also be a function of fitness. that for someone running a mid-20s 5k or worse, they aren't very fit and effort is a jog and rest is a walk. both to get them rest and for there to be a gear shift. versus if you're sub 20 you have the fitness to jog a rest and yet get rest, and there is a gear shift between interval and rest even if you jog it. and then i stand behind my breakdown on which types do what with rest -- among the fit -- as sprinters want to do them faster and fresher, so they walk, while distance runners want to work on lungs and legs and changing gears, so they jog. but i am thinking of track teams when i say this.

literal standing rest sounds like an excuse for getting stiff as a board between intervals. we were always encouraged to lightly mill about. slow walk, but keep moving.