If you need to improve your running speed, then you’ll want to follow these 46 awesome 400m sprint workouts that I’ve put together into a complete program. This 7 week training plan is very challenging and will have you working 5-6 days per week, depending on how dedicated you want to be. Keep reading for full details.
Many coaches and athletes have stated that 400 m sprints are the most painful event in all of running. At the highest levels this will take athletes less than 50 seconds. It also happens to be the only sprint race where the athletes have only one job, not slowing down.
In the 100m, and 200m sprints, you really need to work on your maximum acceleration, building to a high top end speed. The race is so short that a well trained athlete can maintain top speed across the finish line. In the 400 m race, the winning athlete isn’t the person who runs the fastest, at least initially. They’re the athlete that can slow down the least.
As a result, a 100m and 200 m training program, will look quite different compared to a 400m program. Here’s a quick overview of these 46 400m sprint workouts.
46 Awesome 400m Sprint Workouts Overview
- 5-6 Days per week
- Complete gym and running program included
- Appropriate for experienced runners and athletes
- 7 Weeks in Length
- Full PDF included
Readers of this website know that I write a lot of fitness programs, including my popular series of premium programs. While many of them focus on functional fitness training, and hybrid training, this program is different.
It focuses heavily on 400m running, to the exclusion of most other goals. If you’re looking for a more balanced endurance program you can find that here. Remember, the best way to improve your fitness goal is to focus on it!
In my mind this program will benefit a few different types of athletes including early season track and field athletes that want to try a different style of training from what they do in season. It would also work well for tactical athletes who need to increase their ability to sprint over medium distances. Lastly, I think field sports athletes can use this training plan to increase fatigue resistance and running speed for their sports.
Before we get to the specifics of these 400-meter workouts, I want to review how you should approach this program, including general coaching advice. You can download the full PDF below
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL PDF
Program Overview and Coaching Advice
This is a high volume program, with a lot of running. If you haven’t been running consistently in the last few weeks then you need to ease your way into the program. When I coach athletes in sprinting I always encourage them to stay away from max speed sprints for a few weeks, especially shorter distance sprints.
You have to realize that max speed sprinting is just like hitting a one rep max on the deadlift. You wouldn’t want to step up to the bar after not deadlifting for a year, and try to pull a big weight. While most athletes know that isn’t smart, they will try and sprint right out of the gate. You’re going to pull a hamstring if you do this!
The program has you working around 90-95% sprint speed for the first two weeks, but it would be a good idea to slow that down to something like 80-85% if you’ve been away from running for a while.
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Gym Training Advice
The weight training workouts are designed to build some strength and plyometric stiffness in your legs. Research has shown that good 400-meter runners are strong and have stiff leg tendons. This will increase your ability to transfer force to the ground, thus increasing your max speed.
These are not high volume bodybuilding style workouts. While you will probably gain some strength, you aren't likely to gain a lot of muscle mass. If you need mass, you should check out this program.
There are only two gym days per week. Rest assured you will be working with heavy deadlifts, power cleans, and other barbell compound movements. However, you'll only be doing the minimum needed to support your overall goal of becoming a better 400 m athlete.
Lastly, I would ask that you read through the full program. I give specific coaching cues for each type of session across the subsequent weeks. It keeps me from repeating myself, but it does require that you read the whole thing before you begin. You don't want to find out 4 weeks in to this 400m training program that you've been doing the sessions all wrong!
46 Awesome 400m Sprint Workouts: Program
As you'll see in this program I've included a lot of running days and one optional / active recovery workout per week. Don't feel like you have to do this workout every single week. Its designed as a recovery run, that will build up your aerobic energy systems. Only add it in if you feel good that week. Now on to week one.
Week 1: 400m Sprint Workouts Testing
As the title implies this is a testing week. You'll see that I have the workouts listed by day. I don't care which day you do them, but you should try to keep the same pattern of rest days if you can. All you really need to focus on is getting all these workouts done each week. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good!
On Monday you'll start with a thorough warm up. Ideally you would do this on a track, but you can certainly run on pavement, it'll just be a little harder on your body. Even though this is a 400m sprint test, you should stay away from max speed if you haven't been training high speed sprinting recently. Remember 400m running is about speed endurance, not peak speeds.
On the next day you will be working up to a 3 rep max on the power clean, bench press, and back squat. Feel free to take 2-3 attempts at these lifts, but don't finish ugly reps. Your here to run fast, not set powerlifting records. I would also recommend taking a good long warm up with many warm up sets before going heavy.
Lastly, the WOD workout day is a full body work capacity test. Make sure you aren't short changing your range of motion. Use good form, and go hard for 10 rounds. For the optional workout you can jog easy, or do something low impact like the Assault Bike. Now on to week two.
Week 2: 400m Sprint Workouts Beginning
This is the real begining of the 400m track workouts. Last week was about setting your baseline performance levels in sprinting, strength, and work capacity. This week we get used to the overall program design.
If we look at Monday we can see that this is all about speed endurance. You're going to be doing a pretty standard sprint warm, followed by some accelerations.
This workout is about quality not overall quantity. Make sure that you are going at 90% speed for the 100m intervals. You should feel fully recovered between intervals.
You'll then move to special endurance with 3x200m at 85%. These should feel comfortably hard. With 8min of rest between, you should have full recovery between intervals. Now on to week three.
Week 3: 400m Sprint Workouts: Building
You mostly likely will feel pretty sore and not fully recovered from the previous week. That's a normal feeling when starting a new program that is this demanding. Rest assured the lingering soreness should go away in the coming weeks.
If we look at Tuesday, we can see that we start with bench bress and follow with hex bar deadlift. Both are 2RIR, working to 1RIR. It's important to know that RIR is reps in reserve. This means you select a weight that allows you to get the set finished leaving the specified number of reps left in the tank. It's an intuitive way of specifying the weight you should be lifting.
This is followed by the box jump. If you have strong legs with no lower body injuries you can do these rebounding style. Otherwise feel free to jump up and step down. Lastly, you will be working on a front plank, accumulating 4 total minutes. Rest as needed for these. Now lets get to week four.
Week 4: 400m Sprint Workouts: Increasing Volume
This week we really start to increase overall training volume. I generally find that most athletes start to acclimatize to the training plan by week 4. This is why we have to increase running difficulty as well as weight in the gym.
Turning our attention to Wednesday, we can see that this workout is all about running endurance and tempo work. You'll start with you're active warm ups, and then get to your 200m intervals. These should be at the same pace as last week, we're just adding in one more rep. With 10min of rest you need to be completely fresh between each one.
You'll then move the tempo work. This is 400m done at 80% of your max speed. It's important to note that you have only 3 minutes of rest. This is designed to help you buffer the waste products that generate over the race distance.
You'll hear coaches call this lactic acid but that isn't what causes your muscles to burn. It's a myth that just won't die! Finish up with your cool down. Now on to week five.
Week 5: 400m Sprint Workouts: Peaking Volume
In this week you'll really start to see an increase in training volume. By now you should feel like these 400 m workouts have improved your fitness, and maximum speed. Make sure you're doing a thorough warm up and cool down. You don't want to tweak something right before the end!
Looking towards Thursday's workout, we see that it involves a lot of plyometrics, and weighted plyometrics. These are probably the number one exercise you can do for sprint speed. Of course we've also included some heavy back squats as they're one of the best strength training movements for any 400 m sprinter.
It's important to note that a TM is a technical max. This is the heaviest weight you can move that day for the specificed reps, with perfect form. It's generally 10-20 pounds under you rep max, where you would expect some minor form break down.
You'll finish with the work capacity portion where you hit your calorie goal for time. Now let's look at week six.
Week 6: 400m Sprint Workouts: The Peak
This is the hardest week of the program. Get through it and you'll see that next week is much lighter as that starts your deload.
You can see that Friday is an optional easy training session. Depending on how you feel you may or may not want to complete the session. Make sure it doesn't go too fast. It's meant to be Zone 2, or bottom of Zone 3 work.
If we look towards Saturday, we see that we are working our speed endurance and aerobic endurance. Once you go through your warm up you'll move to those 5x200m intervals with 8min of rest. You should feel fresh for all intervals. Make sure you're giving a good hard effort on each one.
Take a small break then head towards you're aerobic intervals. These have limited rest, but are much slower running speed. Finally you'll finish up with your normal cool down. Now let's get to the final week of the 400m sprint workouts.
Week 6: 400m Sprint Workouts: Deload
This week is much easier in terms of overall volume. The purpose of a deload is to allow your body and nervous system to make physical repairs, and strengthen the muscles and tendons you've been stressing the last few weeks.
You can see that on the weight room days you still have heavy sets, you just don't have the additional back off sets. It's a similar story on the running workouts. They are designed to get you running fast for a few intervals, and thats it.
I recommend finishing this week of training, and then taking a few days of rest. You can then retest the 400m run, and your work capacity tests from week one to see how you improved.
Now that we've finished the program lets take a look at some options for your next training cycle.
Picking Your Next Training Program
If you've enjoyed this style of sprinting program, but want to build some more top end speed. You should check out my sprint program for a 200 m runner. It has similar gym work, but the running sessions are fairly different.
If you're looking to build some more strength and muscle mass then I would check out some of my hybrid programs. They will also build longer distance endurance. They'll keep you in good shape while building some mass and power.
Lastly if you're looking for a bodybuilding program, designed to maximize muscle mass, then check out this program, which is one of my most popular.
Final Thoughts
This has been a longer article for this program, but I want to leave you with a few thoughts. First, this is a lot of stress on your lower body. Be smart and scale things as you need. It is always better to get an easier workout in than skip a hard one completely!
I would also recommend checking out this nutrition article. You will need to eat a lot of carbs to properly fuel your body. If you have any questions, put them in the comments below and I'll get you an answer. Now get out there and get training!
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