Hey man love your videos and this is coming from a professional Paralympic sprinter, I would say if you don’t mind my critique I worry you guys don’t do fast enough speed endurance work. Going sub 48 means you’re most likely hitting the first 200 at a sub 23, that’s gonna be very hard to hit if you’re never going that pace or near it during practice, those 3x200s will definitely make you fit but not fast for the 400 especially at a 47-48 pace it, those 300 by 100s are goated though, did those every Tuesday got me down to a 48 🫡
I don't mind the critique at all, and I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos! I totally see what you mean and I agree with what you're saying. Sometimes it feels so difficult to fit that into our training schedule but I completely agree that it's vital, especially with how fast I need to open up for my 48. I would like to think that the 300s + 100s workout does hit that stimulus, and you'll see we cranked some pretty fast 200m repeats the week after this. I will put a word in with my coach for sure and see if we could focus on that stimulus a little bit more It's so cool to have someone who competed in the paralympics watching my stuff, thanks a ton for your comment and for stopping by
Hey, wanted to share some thoughts on your mechanics. First thing that stood out to me was youre not opening up very much. You’re basically just pushing straight down with a bent knee. You want to be able to get to a more extended and opened up position while at top end speed. Not that you want to just kick straight out in front of you but opening up that stride and being more effective with the foot strike will help. I think it helps to think about it more like a pull back into the ground rather than just a push down. What we see from the fastest athletes is theyre able to get their feet out in front of them a good amount while in the air and really getting an aggressive pull back under their com. This allows them to have a much shorter gct as well as pick up much more distance. I looked at your gct and they were consistently around .11 seconds which is not ideal. A better time would definitely be .1 or under. I think you should try doing Switches but more like a b skip, really getting that hard extension and pull back from the hips.
That first workout seemed pretty tough, it was nice how you guys powered through. To get my arms in the right place, it took some time, but what I fid is whenever I had free time I stood in place, leaned my upper body forward a little then quickly moved my arms once or twice in the running motion. I always made my arms were at a 90 degree angle. Can’t wait to see how your outdoor season goes! For mine Ive moved over to the 800 and 1600 distance and it’s going pretty well. I go to a fairly small school but we ended up winning a meet that was only for D4 and D5 schools. I’m not getting faster in the 400 but I hope you do! Good luck!
Absolutely, it's always tough 😭 That's a good idea, just slowly burn it into your brain through repetition. I'll have to try it out! That's exciting, the 800 and the 1600 are still two of my favorite events, I might even go back to them one day. What are your goals in those events? Thanks for the support 🙏🏻
@@SimonShawk5 My goal for the 800 is to get the school record which I have to run under 2:11 which isnt too bad. For the mile I would like to do the same which will be a sub 5 minute mile
I'm struggling with my arm swings as well, my teammates say I'm crossing my arms across my body, I don't notice it either but, I've been helping that by when I do striding pace work in the 200 or 150 I focus mainly on my arm swing instead of speed
Have you tried stretching your left arm out? I’ve seen loads of videos saying it makes you more efficient to be symmetrical. Do you really need to extend your arm for 400? Try experimenting to see which style you’re more efficient with.
As someone with a similar goal, how do you stay motivated while still being far away from the goal. I am hoping to return from injury next week and to me it seems like a sub 48 is going to be impossible before the season is over.
It certainly isn't easy to stay motivated and if can be really disheartening to have set backs and not be where you want to be. For me, I think there are a couple of things. First, I can continually see my practice times getting better and better and closer to where they need to be for my goal, so I know I'm at least getting closer and closer to it. Second, I tend to be overly optimistic about what I'm capable of, as most athletes are. Those together are enough to keep me pushing, even if reaching my goals is unlikely. And at the end of the day, my main objective is just to get better, and so I can get joy + motivation from every single meet or practice PR
for your right arm, do you have a different ROM capacity for your two arms? I have a similar issue and it seems it's because my right arm ROM is far worse; with my elbow at my side and pushing my forearm inwards behind my back, I can go straight up to near the base of my neck with my left arm but only up to where my chest is on my right
I have non-scientifically tried to check for a ROM difference and it feels as though my shoulders are very close with maybe slight restrictions on the right side. It doesn't seem like enough of a difference to cause the drastic deviation but it certainly could play a role, and I will look into some shoulder mobility work. I really appreciate that input and I'd be curious if you've found anything that helps your issue?
@@SimonShawk5 Just been stretching a lot haha, i try to spend 5 minutes before bed stretching. Also I've been sleeping on my other side or my back as much as possible
I have, and I have taken it for a few months at a time multiple different times. I honestly haven't felt or noticed any difference in my training when taking it and so it's been hard to stay consistent. I think that I am either a non-responder (which is actually more common than you'd think) or perhaps I'm just not observant enough. But, worst case scenario is just that it doesn't help me, so I really should start taking it again in case it does. Thanks for the suggestion!
@@SimonShawk5 of course!! Yes I have noticed you have to stay super consistent if you miss a day you have to do a double dose the next day, and drink a ton of water. And it should help!
I don't currently have anything I am offering but my coach and I have some very exciting things we are working on together that will probably be available toward the end of the summer. If you want some suggestions before then, the most important thing is to train your max speed while you are fresh 1-2 times per week, spend some time working on acceleration, and at least once per each 7-10 days do some 400m specific work for most of the year
I don't understand the logic behind training max speed the day after a lactate workout. The max speed work is primarily meant to train the CNS, PNS, and NMJ. When you're so fatigued from the lactate workout the day before, your muscle fibers are far more limiting than the neurologic/neuromuscular components of the activity. In other words, you're not able to produce or demand the force required to test/stimulate nervous adaptations. You still gain something from the workout, but it comes at a premium (e.g. heart rate spiking & abandoning workouts later in the week). An analogy would be testing bench press max the day after doing 4 sets of 8. You'll gain something from doing the 1-rep max, and you'll gain something from doing 4 sets of 8, but you're not going to bench press for a week after that; and you'd gain more from spacing the two out to allow sufficient adaptation and recovery. In the Feed the Cats program, Tony always follows a lactate day with a rest day. And his lactate workouts aren't even as intense as this one is. That may be something you'll want to consider. Btw that comment you made about the 30 second 200 repeats causing lactate buildup... you were spot on. That commenter might not have understood the concept very well.
I really appreciate this detailed and thoughtful feedback. I think you are spot on with everything you are saying The reason we have been trying this out is because of something we heard from Ernie Clark, who is a very successful collegiate 400 and 200m coach who found a lot of success for his athletes this way. Just like us, he noticed they were often "flat" and didn't perform well on Mondays, so he tried structuring the week differently and it worked for them They are higher quality athletes than we are, though, which is worth considering With 0 disrespect toward my coach (he's the best coach I've ever had and does a great job) if I had full control over my own training, I do think I would structure it differently. Id probably do speed day, lactate day, then rest day, and then repeat Perhaps this is something we will switch up later in the year, and it will be very interesting to see if my performance changes as a result Thank you again for your comment, I enjoyed reading it and thinking through your points!
@@SimonShawk5I see value in this idea of doing an endurance workout to “wake up the cns” this doesn’t work for everyone as you said. I think the main point of their comment however is that doing lactate workouts the day before a speed workout with no rest days between gives too much fatigue. This could be hindering your top end speed. This could also be why you’re chronically injured despite rehabing and doing recovery exercises youre not actually recovering and resting between workouts.
The lactate sessions improve the ability to produce lactate (which is a fuel source for the body) and buffer acidity (which is released as a byproduct of lactate). So this type of training allows us to produce more fuel, and to "fight the burn" or keep the acidity away as we try to run fast over long distances such as 400m
On that specific workout, you take your goal 400m pace, and then figure out your "coming home" speed, or the speed you'd run the second 200m in. So I want to run 48 flat or faster, and I know there's a 2 second differential in the 400m usually, so I'd have to run 23 seconds and come back in 25 seconds, therefore 25 is my coming home pace. Then the first 200 is just 6 seconds slower than that, and the second is 3 seconds slower than that. This is a really specific and difficult workout though so I'm not sure id suggest it for everyone. A more standard workout would be aiming for roughly come-home pace for 5-6 x 200m with 2-3 minutes rest, and If that's too difficult then doing 2 x 200 2-3 minutes rest, then resting 5-10 minutes, then doing it again
@@SimonShawk5 awesome!! Thanks for the advise. I just started track and field this year. I was able to run the 400 in 56 seconds. Going to watch your channel from now on. Cheers
A well trained middle distance athlete would produce lactate running 28-30 for 200m with a minute recovery - but not enough for there to be any great accumulation of lactate in the blood. Think about it; 30 for 200 is not quite 4:00 mile pace. If a 200 in 30 produced significant amounts of lactate nobody would ever run a 4:00 mile!
That's very true! I should've been more specific about how different people with different levels of fitness would accumulate lactate differently. With that being said, for someone like me, the workout that we do (200 in 31, 28, 25 with 1 minute rest) is certainly plenty to get a massive build up of acidity!
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Hey man love your videos and this is coming from a professional Paralympic sprinter, I would say if you don’t mind my critique I worry you guys don’t do fast enough speed endurance work. Going sub 48 means you’re most likely hitting the first 200 at a sub 23, that’s gonna be very hard to hit if you’re never going that pace or near it during practice, those 3x200s will definitely make you fit but not fast for the 400 especially at a 47-48 pace it, those 300 by 100s are goated though, did those every Tuesday got me down to a 48 🫡
I don't mind the critique at all, and I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos!
I totally see what you mean and I agree with what you're saying. Sometimes it feels so difficult to fit that into our training schedule but I completely agree that it's vital, especially with how fast I need to open up for my 48.
I would like to think that the 300s + 100s workout does hit that stimulus, and you'll see we cranked some pretty fast 200m repeats the week after this. I will put a word in with my coach for sure and see if we could focus on that stimulus a little bit more
It's so cool to have someone who competed in the paralympics watching my stuff, thanks a ton for your comment and for stopping by
This weekend coming up will be my first 400 this season
Keep up the grid bro, love the videos
Thank you so much! I'll never stop 🔥
Keep up the great work!
Thank you, will do!
Hey, wanted to share some thoughts on your mechanics. First thing that stood out to me was youre not opening up very much. You’re basically just pushing straight down with a bent knee. You want to be able to get to a more extended and opened up position while at top end speed. Not that you want to just kick straight out in front of you but opening up that stride and being more effective with the foot strike will help. I think it helps to think about it more like a pull back into the ground rather than just a push down. What we see from the fastest athletes is theyre able to get their feet out in front of them a good amount while in the air and really getting an aggressive pull back under their com. This allows them to have a much shorter gct as well as pick up much more distance. I looked at your gct and they were consistently around .11 seconds which is not ideal. A better time would definitely be .1 or under. I think you should try doing Switches but more like a b skip, really getting that hard extension and pull back from the hips.
That first workout seemed pretty tough, it was nice how you guys powered through. To get my arms in the right place, it took some time, but what I fid is whenever I had free time I stood in place, leaned my upper body forward a little then quickly moved my arms once or twice in the running motion. I always made my arms were at a 90 degree angle. Can’t wait to see how your outdoor season goes! For mine Ive moved over to the 800 and 1600 distance and it’s going pretty well. I go to a fairly small school but we ended up winning a meet that was only for D4 and D5 schools. I’m not getting faster in the 400 but I hope you do! Good luck!
Absolutely, it's always tough 😭
That's a good idea, just slowly burn it into your brain through repetition. I'll have to try it out!
That's exciting, the 800 and the 1600 are still two of my favorite events, I might even go back to them one day. What are your goals in those events?
Thanks for the support 🙏🏻
@@SimonShawk5 My goal for the 800 is to get the school record which I have to run under 2:11 which isnt too bad. For the mile I would like to do the same which will be a sub 5 minute mile
I'm struggling with my arm swings as well, my teammates say I'm crossing my arms across my body, I don't notice it either but, I've been helping that by when I do striding pace work in the 200 or 150 I focus mainly on my arm swing instead of speed
That's smart, I might start implementing something similar as well. Thank you for the idea!
Try doing the faster repeats in spikes. Really gives that extra boost that is needed to run the faster paces
Definitely a good idea, although it would be hard to get spikes on in less than a minute. Thanks for the suggestion!
great video bro I’m also a track athlete and I run at the D2 level and tryna go 50. Or 49
Thanks for the support 💪🏻 and good luck at your meet, run hard!
Have you tried stretching your left arm out? I’ve seen loads of videos saying it makes you more efficient to be symmetrical. Do you really need to extend your arm for 400? Try experimenting to see which style you’re more efficient with.
You we flying on those accelerations.
Thanks man I appreciate that!
As someone with a similar goal, how do you stay motivated while still being far away from the goal. I am hoping to return from injury next week and to me it seems like a sub 48 is going to be impossible before the season is over.
It certainly isn't easy to stay motivated and if can be really disheartening to have set backs and not be where you want to be.
For me, I think there are a couple of things. First, I can continually see my practice times getting better and better and closer to where they need to be for my goal, so I know I'm at least getting closer and closer to it. Second, I tend to be overly optimistic about what I'm capable of, as most athletes are. Those together are enough to keep me pushing, even if reaching my goals is unlikely. And at the end of the day, my main objective is just to get better, and so I can get joy + motivation from every single meet or practice PR
for your right arm, do you have a different ROM capacity for your two arms? I have a similar issue and it seems it's because my right arm ROM is far worse; with my elbow at my side and pushing my forearm inwards behind my back, I can go straight up to near the base of my neck with my left arm but only up to where my chest is on my right
I have non-scientifically tried to check for a ROM difference and it feels as though my shoulders are very close with maybe slight restrictions on the right side. It doesn't seem like enough of a difference to cause the drastic deviation but it certainly could play a role, and I will look into some shoulder mobility work. I really appreciate that input and I'd be curious if you've found anything that helps your issue?
@@SimonShawk5 Just been stretching a lot haha, i try to spend 5 minutes before bed stretching. Also I've been sleeping on my other side or my back as much as possible
Have you ever thought about taking creatine? I am a track athlete and really love it!
I have, and I have taken it for a few months at a time multiple different times. I honestly haven't felt or noticed any difference in my training when taking it and so it's been hard to stay consistent. I think that I am either a non-responder (which is actually more common than you'd think) or perhaps I'm just not observant enough. But, worst case scenario is just that it doesn't help me, so I really should start taking it again in case it does. Thanks for the suggestion!
@@SimonShawk5 of course!! Yes I have noticed you have to stay super consistent if you miss a day you have to do a double dose the next day, and drink a ton of water. And it should help!
Do you have like a monthly or yearly program for 400m training
I don't currently have anything I am offering but my coach and I have some very exciting things we are working on together that will probably be available toward the end of the summer. If you want some suggestions before then, the most important thing is to train your max speed while you are fresh 1-2 times per week, spend some time working on acceleration, and at least once per each 7-10 days do some 400m specific work for most of the year
@@SimonShawk5 thank you, how often do you implement weight training
I don't understand the logic behind training max speed the day after a lactate workout. The max speed work is primarily meant to train the CNS, PNS, and NMJ. When you're so fatigued from the lactate workout the day before, your muscle fibers are far more limiting than the neurologic/neuromuscular components of the activity. In other words, you're not able to produce or demand the force required to test/stimulate nervous adaptations. You still gain something from the workout, but it comes at a premium (e.g. heart rate spiking & abandoning workouts later in the week). An analogy would be testing bench press max the day after doing 4 sets of 8. You'll gain something from doing the 1-rep max, and you'll gain something from doing 4 sets of 8, but you're not going to bench press for a week after that; and you'd gain more from spacing the two out to allow sufficient adaptation and recovery.
In the Feed the Cats program, Tony always follows a lactate day with a rest day. And his lactate workouts aren't even as intense as this one is. That may be something you'll want to consider.
Btw that comment you made about the 30 second 200 repeats causing lactate buildup... you were spot on. That commenter might not have understood the concept very well.
I really appreciate this detailed and thoughtful feedback. I think you are spot on with everything you are saying
The reason we have been trying this out is because of something we heard from Ernie Clark, who is a very successful collegiate 400 and 200m coach who found a lot of success for his athletes this way. Just like us, he noticed they were often "flat" and didn't perform well on Mondays, so he tried structuring the week differently and it worked for them
They are higher quality athletes than we are, though, which is worth considering
With 0 disrespect toward my coach (he's the best coach I've ever had and does a great job) if I had full control over my own training, I do think I would structure it differently. Id probably do speed day, lactate day, then rest day, and then repeat
Perhaps this is something we will switch up later in the year, and it will be very interesting to see if my performance changes as a result
Thank you again for your comment, I enjoyed reading it and thinking through your points!
@@SimonShawk5I see value in this idea of doing an endurance workout to “wake up the cns” this doesn’t work for everyone as you said. I think the main point of their comment however is that doing lactate workouts the day before a speed workout with no rest days between gives too much fatigue. This could be hindering your top end speed. This could also be why you’re chronically injured despite rehabing and doing recovery exercises youre not actually recovering and resting between workouts.
It sucks that you have to do speed after lactate but hopefully a good recover sesh helps
Yeah it isn't how I'm gonna do things next year for sure but that recovery day does wonders
What is the goal behind the lactic sessions ? How is it going to help you ?
The lactate sessions improve the ability to produce lactate (which is a fuel source for the body) and buffer acidity (which is released as a byproduct of lactate). So this type of training allows us to produce more fuel, and to "fight the burn" or keep the acidity away as we try to run fast over long distances such as 400m
@@SimonShawk5 Thank you for answering. How does one pick their number ? For example you picked 31 28 and 25 seconds
On that specific workout, you take your goal 400m pace, and then figure out your "coming home" speed, or the speed you'd run the second 200m in. So I want to run 48 flat or faster, and I know there's a 2 second differential in the 400m usually, so I'd have to run 23 seconds and come back in 25 seconds, therefore 25 is my coming home pace. Then the first 200 is just 6 seconds slower than that, and the second is 3 seconds slower than that.
This is a really specific and difficult workout though so I'm not sure id suggest it for everyone. A more standard workout would be aiming for roughly come-home pace for 5-6 x 200m with 2-3 minutes rest, and If that's too difficult then doing 2 x 200 2-3 minutes rest, then resting 5-10 minutes, then doing it again
@@SimonShawk5 awesome!! Thanks for the advise. I just started track and field this year. I was able to run the 400 in 56 seconds. Going to watch your channel from now on. Cheers
Only thing I’m noticing is you are over extending your right are when sprinting
Yeah that's for sure. I'll probably just start really focusing on it each rep and see if that brings any improvements
A well trained middle distance athlete would produce lactate running 28-30 for 200m with a minute recovery - but not enough for there to be any great accumulation of lactate in the blood. Think about it; 30 for 200 is not quite 4:00 mile pace. If a 200 in 30 produced significant amounts of lactate nobody would ever run a 4:00 mile!
That's very true! I should've been more specific about how different people with different levels of fitness would accumulate lactate differently. With that being said, for someone like me, the workout that we do (200 in 31, 28, 25 with 1 minute rest) is certainly plenty to get a massive build up of acidity!