58 sec to 53 sec 400m

I was a 51-second 400 guy. The advice above about doing sprints and plyos is good, but no one had said yet that you need to get in the weight room in a serious fashion. If you want to drop 5 seconds from your 400 you need to be significantly stronger than you are now. A good program focused on squats, lunges, dead lifts, box jumps, etc. for at least 3 months will make you much stronger, which will translate to a big speed improvement.

Tired of average times wrote:

I think it would really help me as a mid distance guy to have better 400 speed especially for the 800. I belive my 800 and 1600 times would drop significantly if I had 53 sec 400 speed or below. Currently My pb is only 58. I am looking to move up to the next level and be competitive in the section/state instead of just my confrence.

This may sound like a dumb question but how do I get faster? How do people naturally run fast 400m times without much training? What kind of training do I need to do to drop my 400 time in addition to 45-55mpw I will be doing over the winter? (Outdoor starts in march and ends early june, no indoor)

Please read this recent thread on 5 x 60 meter repeats (and other things) for pure speed development:

Ok I will make sure to include these

Good Run wrote:

Whoever tells you that your sprint times cannot be VERY significantly improved, (especially since you are still in high school!), either does not want you to improve your times or is answering reflexively without any thought.

That makes more sense to me.

formerly faster wrote:

I was a 51-second 400 guy. The advice above about doing sprints and plyos is good, but no one had said yet that you need to get in the weight room in a serious fashion. If you want to drop 5 seconds from your 400 you need to be significantly stronger than you are now. A good program focused on squats, lunges, dead lifts, box jumps, etc. for at least 3 months will make you much stronger, which will translate to a big speed improvement.

I have started weight training last week and I will make sure to add in box jumps. Also should I focus on upper body at all, or is that unesesary?

Tired of average times wrote:

jamin wrote:

How many 400m races have you trained for and run? The 400m is a good weed-out distance. If you've run several around 58 then you just don't have 53 speed. I ran a couple 53s and concluded that I'll never run 50.

I ran 3 4x4 relays last spring, and they were all after doubling either 8/16 or 4x8 and 32. Also I didnt really do any 400 specific training.

Are you saying 400 is just natural talent then?

Not entirely. I was a long jumper triple jumper and when forced through a catastrophic motor cycle injury to quit those events, I ended up a 400 m runner and ran 46.4.

The guy above who gave you the 10 X 100's and speed endurance work is as close as you need.

Speed endurance is what you need. Running in rhythm is key. Running fast has far tighter technique demands than distance. Different than distance, but you can't be sloppy.

And if you are in high school then expect to run a bit faster each year. High school training is more about learning to run and race, without injury. Your natural maturation should take care of a lot of what you need.

In a 400 a guy like you can drop a second in the first 50 just by paying attention.

Good luck. 53 is not that hard, but you have to do the work

Tired of avrage times wrote:

I have started weight training last week and I will make sure to add in box jumps. Also should I focus on upper body at all, or is that unesesary?

You don't necessarily need to "focus" on upper body strength, but core strength is important to good form and injury prevention. I always used upper body work to both build some core fitness and as recovery time between leg sets.

mybabytakesthemorningtrain wrote:

Seems simple enough:

sprint training: 10x100 @ 95 percent of max speed, full recovery every week

Yeah, good luck doing that session properly

Tired of avrage times wrote:

formerly faster wrote:

I was a 51-second 400 guy. The advice above about doing sprints and plyos is good, but no one had said yet that you need to get in the weight room in a serious fashion. If you want to drop 5 seconds from your 400 you need to be significantly stronger than you are now. A good program focused on squats, lunges, dead lifts, box jumps, etc. for at least 3 months will make you much stronger, which will translate to a big speed improvement.

I have started weight training last week and I will make sure to add in box jumps. Also should I focus on upper body at all, or is that unesesary?

Every time you get in the weight room, train a hinge, a press, and a pull, plus some "core" work (abdominal folding or twisting).

Don't neglect your upper body. It doesn't take much effort to do some overhead pressing and some pullups, especially if it allows you to generate more power (better speed).

Wrong. Don’t let anybody tell you that’s your max. You can definitely build yourself for a 400m. My first 400m as a sophomore was 1:15 which was last year lol last 200m was sad for me.. My issue was I would gas out last 200m or 100m. And I basically did a extremely light jog to the finish line. My PR as a junior so far is 50.42. My PR at the end of sophomore year wa as 53 flat. I did a lot of weight training and endurance and speed training over the offseason. I would say yeah your gonna stall out, but not at 58 you can definitely keep improving. Improving your form and running on your toes and getting those legs strong really gets you over the top. I hit 50.42 as my PR and these past meets I’ve ran in the 51s. So you can sort of call that a decline. Now I’m working even harder because I want to get in the 49s. But Like a 48 flat is where that natural talent comes out lol. Anything over that is touchable.

jamin wrote:

Tired of average times wrote:

Are you saying 400 is just natural talent then?

Yes.

You’re an idiot

Upper body and core matter too.

Damn this was 2016 I’m lateee. Didn’t even see that lmaoo. Hope you got your time down