Running advice for the 400 m. dash needed!?

Question

I recently ran a 400 in a 63. I am an eight grade girl, but im really small. How can i train and build muscle mass to be faster. Is this time slow for my age im almost 15. Please give me tips i have to start training this summer more i would like to get a 59 by my freshman year or less!! =)

Answer 1

63 seconds is pretty fast for an 8th grade girl. youll find that youre in the top runners on  your high school team. what youll want to do this summer is build up youre indurance so that not only will you have a fast push at the start of the race but more in the end as well for the final sprint.

go to the local track or even roads around your house that arent busy and start running a few miles every other day.

for instance on monday, wednesday and friday run 2 miles just for distance and pace, and see if you can get faster by a few seconds every time you do it. on tuesday, thursday, and saturday go to the track and do repititions. run a lap, get down right when youre done and do 10 push ups, run another lap and get down and do 15 sit ups, 3rd lap do 20 crunches, then repeat, do at least 6 laps which is 1.5 miles.

what that does is it strengthens your legs on the long distance day to last throughout and entire track meet for several events, and on the repitition days, it teaches your legs the race distance of your choice and the push ups, sit ups and crunches will help teach your other muscles to help push at the end of race.

in highschool you want to focus on 2 or 3 events as most track stars do. if you run the 400 meter, id say you should probably try running the 800 meter as well, those are two races that arent run too much differently. and the training program will work out for both!

Answer 2

First, you are going to hear a lot of advice. Run faster, hit the weight room, etc. You will gain a training effect from almost any program. For example, you show up at the beginning of the season having done nothing. You go through a program and you will improve by the end of the season. Most of the time you will improve -- it is called "training effect".

For serious athletes, there are 2 ways to get faster. One is to make your movements more efficient (think of a distance runner who tend to "bounce" when they run and arms sometimes are out of sync). The other is to put more power into the ground (Coach Isaac Newton said for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction).

Efficiency of movement - out of your blocks. You are going to explode out of your stance at approximately 45 degrees. In order to do this you are going to have to ensure that you are strong enough. Some exercises that you can do is to lean against a wall at a 45 degree angle . Bring up one of your knees and that ensure that your legs are parallel. This is the position that you will be in out of the blocks. Over the next few steps you will go from 45 degrees to a slight lean forward as you move from accelleration to a max velocity run. Your striking foot in front of you should land approximately 6 inches in front of your body. Many people strike in front of this because they point their toes. You want your feet to be dorsiflexed (i.e. picture an ankle with a good taping). This will ensure that you are "pushing" yourself forward using your glutes, rather than pulling yourself forward using your quads. Remember what Coach Newton said!

Power: explosive power. Full body movements are key. Think of cleans or snatches. Even plyometric jumps are goods. You want to focus on higher weight and lower repetition. You are not going to be doing 10 reps, but rather more like 4-6. Focus on getting your hips and glutes involved (the explosiveness of your hips moving forward is what brings the weight up). This will help with getting your hamstrings involved too. Think about the pelvic tilt of a world class sprinter. They look like the strut everywhere they walk. It is actually because they have strengthened those muscles so much it has tilted their hips.

Efficiency is the best methodology.  If you are efficient in your movements, you will run less tired.  The 400m is a very grueling race (I was a state finalist when I was in high school).  Stay away from mileage type workouts.  If you are running 2-3 miles at a time, you are working your slow twitch muscles.  You want to be a fast twitch machine!  Instead look to be in shape.  In the summer (off season), do cross training.  When you get to the mid-late winter time, then you need to focus more on your event.  Get some endurance work.  Run no more than 800 meters at any one time.  Run some multiple 400m and 200m at about 60-75% of your best time.   As you get closer to the season, you will run less but at a higher speed.  This will be closer to 80-90% of your best time.

Hit the weight room.  Focus on developing your glutes, hamstrings, and obliques.  You can do secondary exercises for arms, calves, shoulders, etc, but focus on primary!

Remember - efficient movements and dorsiflex for power.

Good luck!

Answer 3

That is not especially slow, but it is not very fast either.

The 400 is a sprint so you must develop conditioning to be able to run the entire race at a fast speed.

This summer you should run 3 miles 3 times each week.

Two days do plyometric exercises, along with stadium bleachers and 100 meter strides.

One day you can run longer distance, and one day take off.

This will give you the strength to be able to handle the stress and speed training to be able to run a good 400 next year.

Answer 4

just run a lot and you will get faster like maybe this summer run like every other day or something and stick to it and try to run faster everytime or farther

GOOD LUCK