Training Design for 400M Sprinters & Hurdlers

with Vince Anderson,
2025 USTFCCCA George Dales Award;
Texas A&M Sprints & Hurdles Coach - 2004 through 2019;
while there, Aggies won 9 NCAA Outdoor National Championship titles (5x for the Men's team, 4x for the Women's team) & one NCAA Indoor National Championship title (2017 Men's team);
trained Phyllis Francis (2017 400 meter World Champion & World 4x400 Gold Medalist in 2017 & 2019) and also trained Jessica Beard (4x400 double Gold Medalist at the 2019 World Championships - 4x400, mixed 4x400);
University of Tennessee Sprints & Hurdles Coach from 1988 through 2004 (Jumps Coach from 1996 to 2004);
while there, the Vols won the 2001 Men's NCAA Outdoor National Championship title and the 2002 Men's NCAA Indoor National Championship title;
started his coaching career as a volunteer for Tom Tellez at the University of Houston in 1986

In this video from the Championship Virtual Track & Field Coaches Clinic, former Texas A&M and Tennessee assistant coach, Vince Anderson, teaches you how to program for the 400 meter sprint and 400 hurdles. Coach Anderson touches on three main topics: important training components, determining proper pacing for workouts, and creating spine workouts.

Important Training Components

There are many ways to organize 400 meter training. Coach Anderson details the critical components required to help long sprinters excel at their craft. In this segment, Anderson shares the critical components that coaches should include in all phases of training. He includes sample preseason and in-season training weeks, plus ways to include competitions into the overall developmental model.

Determining Proper Pacing

When training for the 400, pacing in practice is a critical component to help athletes excel. Coach Anderson breaks down his three training zones and how to craft paces for training at each one. By sharing his formula and absolute threshold for training, Anderson will help you break down a variety of workouts with proper pacing to help athletes run the times needed to improve from week to week.

Creating Workouts

How do you know when your athlete is improving, or when it's time to make a change? By creating workouts that are performed at biweekly intervals throughout the year, coaches can monitor their athletes' improvement each training cycle. Coach Anderson shares a couple of his favorite workouts that he weaves throughout the season to periodically monitor his athletes' progress.

Throughout this video, Coach Anderson shares his insights and formulas to create the ideal training program for your quarter milers. He also provides his views on extensive tempo workouts and concerns about how high volumes of non-descript training is both ineffective and actually limits athlete progress.

This is a high-level schooling of how to prepare and train your long sprinters and hurdlers for high performance. Coach Anderson uses mathematical calculation, science, and many years of experience to demonstrate to coaches of all levels how to bring their athletes to their best performances in the 400M sprints and hurdles.

54 minutes. 2021.