Each Monday, for the next 12 weeks, I’ll be
posting a preseason training program for
developmental 400m runners.

I get so many questions about this event I’ve
decided to share what I’m doing. This way
you can copy it, pick it apart (respectfully),
or flat out steal it. Use it and see just
how much your athletes improve.

Of course, feel free post your comments and
questions below. I can’t guarantee I’ll
answer all of them, but I’ll do my best.

If you want more detailed information about
program design for 55-400m sprinters,
click here.

——————–

HS 400m Training
Pre-season - 12 weeks
Mesocycle 1, Microcyle 1
General Preparation

M: 10 x 20m accelerations from various
positions @ 90%. R = 2’.
10 x 2 Standing Long Jump into pit

T: 10 x 100m @ 65-70%. R = 45” Bodyweight
circuit (10 exercises @ 30” on, 30” off)

W: Mile run. 3 x 250m hills. Walk back
recovery. 800m warm down

TH: 8 x 200 @ 70% B: 34-35, G: 39-40
R = 2’

F: 15’ run @ just above conversational
pace. Bodyweight circuit (10 exercises @
30” on, 30” off)

Sa: Off
Su: Off

Click on the player below to hear my audio
break down for Week 1 of this program.

In track,

Latif Thomas, USATF II (Sprints, Hurdles, Relays)
2005 MSTCA Coach of the Year
Complete Speed Training
Complete Program Design for Sprinters

Follow me on Twitter!:

http://twitter.com/latif_thomas

Imagine you’re the parent of a young athlete
who is not getting the quality of instruction
you expect from their coach. Or, perhaps, you
don’t think your son or daughter is performing
at the level you know they’re capable of.

You’re fed up, so you go online to search
for some training information that will
help you put your athletes in a position
to succeed and take advantage of their
ability.

But, you’re thinking, “I’m just a parent.
I’m not sure I have the background, knowledge
or experience to put a safe, effective
program in place for my child.”

During your search, you come across a program
that looks good. It shows numerous success
stories. The creator is getting good results.
But the program is a little more expensive
than you initially expected to spend. And it’s
got 5 DVDs and 3 hours of information. So you
start thinking maybe you just don’t know if
you can pull it all off.

You read a few emails and articles. You
get a bit overwhelmed and, in the end, you
decide not to order. Maybe later, you say.

Maybe when the price drops (it has) or
after you read a few more articles. Or
when you have a bit more time.

Your kid goes back to their regular team
and coach. But nothing changes. They’re still
doing the types of workouts you now know
aren’t going to help. Your kid still isn’t
getting faster. You can see the frustration
on his face, but you still can’t bring
yourself to take charge of the situation.

The end of the season comes and it’s time
for the big meets. But you know your child
isn’t prepared. And so does he. The gun
goes off and you know how it’s going to turn
out. He tries his best, but just doesn’t
have the speed, strength and technique to
place or run a personal best. He walks off
the track, head hanging low. You’re
heartbroken. As you stand watching the award
ceremony, you have to witness athletes with
inferior ability smile and accept their
awards knowing it didn’t have to be this way.

This isn’t the experience you want for your
child again this year, is it?

After all, *you* can make your athletes faster
because you’re as intelligent as anyone else.
And it’s really not as complicated as you think.

If you could go back in time, knowing how
the season is going to end for your child,
would you still choose to roll the dice on 
their performance?

Or would you take a chance on that proven
program?

Because Marcus Harris is a parent who chose
not to sit back and watch his son flounder
in mediocrity. Instead, he took action
and, well, the results say more than I
ever could here.

Listen below to a voicemail Marcus left
earlier this week. And, below it watch the
video of his son, Marcus Jr., winning the
Youth Division AAU National Championship.

If you think you’re ‘just a parent’ or ‘just
a youth coach’ and you can’t get these kind
of results, it’s time change the way you
think:

To your success,

Latif Thomas
Complete Speed Training
Program Design for Sprinters

We live in a ‘results now’ society. So,
when teaching your athletes new skills,
it is tempting to blast through the
fundamentals and start doing the complicated
multidirectional drills, fly runs,
bounding and jumping exercises that are
fun to watch and fun to do.

But you can’t do it. You must discipline
yourself and your athletes to stick to
the basic fundamentals until they’ve
acquired the technical proficiency and
consistency of execution to move on to
the next level.

Acquiring athletic/movement skill is a
process and that takes time with your
developmental athletes.

In fact, I wrote a couple of articles on
the 4 stages of skill acquisition that
I recommend you read:

Click here for Part I
Click here for Part II

It even takes time when you’re a more
advanced athlete. For example, I take
Muay Thai and Krav Maga. When we’re
learning a new combination or defense,
we learn it in sections.

For the first month of a rotation, we
practice everything at a slower pace
so that we can ingrain the movement patterns
into our head/body to the point of being
muscle memory.

In month two, we get to practice at a
faster pace in order to get the feel for
the technique in a competitive situation.
This allows us to see where our technique
falls apart.

Month 3 is ‘performance month’ where we
deliberately practice the techniques,
particularly the parts we can’t do well
so that when we test, it all comes
together.

It seems like a laborious and slow process,
but after a few months we can react without
proper technique and without thinking,
which is what you’re trying to teach your
athletes to do.

Sure it’s more fun to run fly 30s than
it is to do 20m accelerations.

And setting up cones to do plyo step to
acceleration to lateral shuffle to
backwards run to acceleration to hockey
stop is a fun drill for athletes to do.

Every athlete would rather do alternate
leg bounds for distance than stabilization
jumps.

But putting the cart before the horse is
never the answer. If you want to ensure
a safe training situation *and* facilitate
an optimal acquisition of technique and
efficiency, athletes should progress only
when they can demonstrate a movement
pattern to your satisfaction.

It’s commonly called a ’skill based
progression’ and in my opinion it’s the
best way to teach new skills, drills,
exercises, plays and patterns.

Some athletes are going to progress faster
than others. So you’ll have different kids
doing different things.

But one thing is for sure: No one likes
to be in the remedial group.

The easiest way to get young athletes to
practice on their own is to prevent them
from ‘graduating’ to the more advanced
drills. Especially when their friends
and teammates are doing them.

They’ll stay late. They’ll come to practice
early. They ask if they can show you the
drill or movement before practice starts
so they can join their friends. I call
it ‘tricking kids into training’ and
it’s a highly effective technique.

But it still boils down to the fact that
you have to walk before you can run. So
only let your athletes go as fast as they
can, not as fast as they can’t.

To your success,

Latif Thomas
Complete Speed Training
Program Design for Sprinters

Last year when I wrote an article on training
for the 200, the biggest question people asked
was:

Can you write a similar article on training for
the 400?

(I told you the 200 was the Rodney Dangerfield
of the sprint events!)

Last week when I wrote an article on whether or
not sprinters should run cross country, the
biggest question people asked was:

If I don’t have my sprinters run traditional cross
country this fall, what do I have them do?

Well, my friend, I’ve got the hook up.

So here’s what I’m going to do for you.

Starting next week, I’m going to post a 12 week
fall training program for 400 meter runners.

To stay current with my updates, sign up here:

Program Design for Sprinters

If you have your athletes start it during the
second week of September, it should take them
right through the beginning of the winter track
season.

(If you don’t have winter track where you live,
start it during the winter and it will take you
right to the start of spring track.)

Why am I doing this?

It’s simple really. I know that the number one
area of weakness most coaches have is in the
realm of program design.

And the hardest sprint event to write an effective
progression for is the 400.

The reason we started this company was to help
athletes train safely and maximize their ability.
We didn’t get to experience either of those things
as developmental athletes and your kids don’t
have to follow in that tradition. Because you’re
not going to let them.

When you see that program design is not too
complicated for you, whether you’re a parent
training your son or daughter or a coach realizing
your athletes are falling behind the competition,
you’ll quickly develop the confidence and
ability to help your athletes succeed *because* of
your coaching, rather than *in spite* of your
coaching.

For example, in January of 2008, when I started
coaching at a new school, the school record in
the boys 4×4 was a 3:33.90.

By June of 2009, the kids ran 3:23.10.

Some coaches treat their training programs,
workouts and progressions like they’re guarding
the Holy Grail.

I don’t believe in that. Because every coach’s
system is simply bits and pieces of their favorite
coaches’ systems. I’m simply showing you what I
continue to learn from other top coaches and
successfully apply to my own situation. I’m getting
great results and you will too.

That said, I’m not trying to pull the wool over
your eyes either. Because you’re a good coach,
you’re not expecting a hand out.

So I’m going to present the program in two ways:

Each Monday, I’ll post the workouts here on my blog.
So you’ll know what workouts to run each day
for 12 weeks.

I’ll be posting even more information for my
Complete Program Design for Sprinters coaches.

Simply log in to the site and I’ll not only show
you all the workouts, but the reason why it’s
being done, the goal of each workout, the training
goals of the week, what to look for *and* I’ll
answer your questions.

So you can come in at whichever level you’re
currently at.

By the end of the 12 weeks, you’ll be fully
ready to take the information in Complete Program
Design and flow right into your regular season.

And, I promise, *all* of your athletes will set
new personal bests this season.

A bold claim? If you say so. But how many other coaches
do you see putting their money where their mouth
is? 

Click here to sign up.

To your success,

Latif Thomas