300m hurdle advice

Well we don't know your exact fitness and PR's so I'd say something along these lines (and I'm no expert so don't take everything 100%.

You want to work on sprint speed definitely so you'd want to do drills like 30-50 meter repeats with full rest. You also want to work on speed endurance so do 100s,150s,200s, etc. Allow 48 hours between any hard sprint sessions or you greatly increase the risk of getting injured. You also want to work on strength so get in the weight room. Do weights, squats, push-ups, everything. Also you want to work on plyometric before the season. Do boundings, skips, jumps, etc. I'm not sure for you but for some individuals some aerobic work helps them for longer sprints so maybe go on a jog around 30 minutes or so once a week. And it's important you practice hurtling frequently to work on form and prepare yourself to race.

My PRs are 24.78 for 200 and 55.06 for the 400 I'll probably work on my aerobic conditioning with an easy jog in the mornings until school starts. I also play football and we lift after prsctice two days a week, would that be enough? Also I'd probably do striders the other two days two stay in shape.

Lifting two days a week is good. Since you play football I wouldn't be super concerned as that will keep you in shape and help you improve but just keep in mind some of the stuff I said. Good luck.

redfin204 wrote:

My PRs are 24.78 for 200 and 55.06 for the 400 I'll probably work on my aerobic conditioning with an easy jog in the mornings until school starts. I also play football and we lift after prsctice two days a week, would that be enough? Also I'd probably do striders the other two days two stay in shape.

Sorry, but that is hopelessly inadequate. What benefit is aerobic conditioning for a 40 second race?

Where is your speed development? How old are you - 16? Plyos like speed bounding, sleds, short hills, box jumps, other resistance etc.

Where is your anaerobic work - starting longer and getting faster?

What about hurdle drills? Who is teaching you how to hurdle?

What sort of lifting does the football team do? Does it involve cleans, squats, overhead squats, hamstring bridges, dead lifts etc?

You need to:

- get faster over the 100, including track work, gym, plyos and resistance work

- work on anaerobic endurance

- improve your hurdling, on both legs

- as the comps get closer, work on your stride pattern

Are you saying I should do speed work after football? I know I'm not the smartest, but I'm certain that will lead to injuries. I'm not gonna be able to do any hurdle work until indoor, but we work a lot with hip flexibility. Our lifting will most likely be something like

Clean pulls

Squats or bench

Back and core work.

The lifting is usually easy because we are working on mostly maintaining strength and preventing injuries.

I think your plan of supplementing football with a few strides and a day or two of easy running is good. Throw in some hurdle work if you can find some hurdles out at a nearby track.

You don't want to overdo it while practicing also for football.

I'll try to see my coach on Saturdays but I probably won't be able to. If I can't I'll work on my stride pattern and flexibility. Also how many steps should I take between hurdles? I've heard 13-15, but I want to hear what y'all think.

I ran XC as an intermediate hurdler, but I definitely don't think aerobic training is necessary--improvements in your 200m will lead to the greatest improvements. If your football practice is anything like it was at my HS, it's plenty strenuous and I wouldn't recommend much if anything in addition. Obviously talking to your hurdle coach would be best. You can't work on technique without supervision, but you can do some hurdle drills and wall drills on your own once someone's shown you how to properly do them, just to get used to barriers and use some running-specific muscles.

But I wouldn't worry about training until you finish football. As far as steps, I would expect 15-17 at your speed, but wouldn't work on this until spring track.

If football training is at all strenuous, then do not do sprints after it.

If it IS strenuous meaning you don't have time for anything else, why are you asking us?

You need the right sort of work. You need to think about what you do at football training, and supplement it where necessary. Here are some general rules:

- don't work the same energy systems two days in a row

- only do alactic/CNS sprint work when you are fresh - ie have a day off before

- a lactic session can follow the day after a predominantly alactic session, but it shouldn't follow a gym day or another alactic day

- the best progression is day 1 sprints, day 2 endurance, day 3 gym, day 4 off, then repeat. To shorten it to a 3-day cycle, do endurance in the morning of day 2, gym that evening, and have day 3 off.

To work out your stride pattern, you just need to run it and find out. I'd say though it will be 15 or more at your speed.

honestly most HSers shouldn't even worry about stride pattern, because they start falling apart after the second or third hurdle. Learn to get to the first hurdle fast and the rest of the race will take care of itself. Train to get faster over 400m, and do some hurdle drills (working with higher hurdles may help with your form as long as you don't hurt yourself).

If you can run a good 400, then you should be able to cope with a 300H without falling apart.

I'm starting to wonder if 400H is as hard as everyone says. If you're fast enough, it becomes easier.

The reason Im working my aerobic conditioning is because I've worked with the hurdlers on our team once and I was gassing for air. What do y'all think is a reasonable goal for me?

redfin204 wrote:

The reason Im working my aerobic conditioning is because I've worked with the hurdlers on our team once and I was gassing for air. What do y'all think is a reasonable goal for me?

This is improved by running fast repeats, not slow miles. I'd say, if you're not dead after football practice, something like 30 minutes would be okay, with a mile or so warmup jog, then drills (normal and hurdle). But listen to your body, and don't start real work until you've finished football. Like Karma Police said, be sure not to stress the same system/muscles two days in a row. If you do heavy squats today, don't sprint tomorrow.

I also strongly agree that the more pure speed you have, the easier the same pace will feel. Also, once you're in the race adrenalin will take over. And as you peak, the race will get much easier/faster. 300m really isn't that long, and unlike in the 110H, where technique is about speed over the hurdle, in the 300H/400H it's about efficiency--lots of HSers get tired because they lunge into the hurdle and lose momentum or take 12 steps in the 6 meters leading up to the hurdle. Once track comes around, train like a 2/4 guy, however that is at your school (in college we'd do pure speed Monday, hills Wednesday, sprint endurance Friday, plus lifting after these sessions, and hurdling before the sprinters arrived daily).

Your goal will be to improve on your opening time. I really don't know...my first meet I ran 53.5 and 43.9 (and 23.9 in the deuce the next meet), so you might open up in 45, but it depends on many factors and you will see great improvements as you race more.

Thanks. I have only one more question. Is 5'8 too short? I've read online that you have to be at least 5'10 to do it.

redfin204 wrote:

Thanks. I have only one more question. Is 5'8 too short? I've read online that you have to be at least 5'10 to do it.

You have to get over the hurdles to do it. I wouldn't complain about having Bershawn Jackson's career.

redfin204 wrote:

Thanks. I have only one more question. Is 5'8 too short? I've read online that you have to be at least 5'10 to do it.

Definitely not too short. In the 300m hurdles in high school, if you are reasonably fast and can learn not to stutter every single hurdle like the majority of your competition will be doing, you'll do well.

At 5'8, you should have about a 29 to 30 inch inseam. That means it only should take you a little bit of lean to clear a hurdle with an otherwise natural running stride.

kimani wrote:

redfin204 wrote:

Thanks. I have only one more question. Is 5'8 too short? I've read online that you have to be at least 5'10 to do it.

You have to get over the hurdles to do it. I wouldn't complain about having Bershawn Jackson's career.

Felix Sanchez won two Olympic golds at 5'9.

I coach a 16yo who will go 51 or faster this season, for 400H. He's only 5'10. Those hurdles are only 2'9. Old school thinking was that you need to be built like Ed Moses to be a 400 hurdler. Not true.

Thanks for all the help