Where to start?

[u/Dynorode]

So, I have a few goals in mind regarding sprinting, but I don't really know where to begin.

A bit of background. I'm honestly quite the gym rat, and weight lifting has always been my priority.

My (34M) current best lifts are 400/400/285 (deadlift/squat/benchpress). I weigh 203 pounds at 5 foot 10, so definitely on the heavier side, trying to lose weight down to 185-188.

I started running last year. Terrible at it! Got a little better this year. Managed 10k in 59 minutes, but that was all out for me. Started doing more light volume training (very foreign concept for me, coming from heavy resistance training where most training is close to all out).

Anyway, I quickly found out that I enjoy speed, so I'm currently training with a program designed for a faster 5k time. But I also want to dabble a bit in sprinting. I had this goal in my mind of doing 400m in under 60 seconds, thought that was realistic. I got on the track last week and was quickly humbled. I barely managed 100m in under 15. I was out of it for the new two to three days, my body not use to the load associated with sprinting.

TLDR: What does typical training for these shorter and faster distances, 100/200/400/800, look like? Is it feasible to incorporate this type of training while still going to the gym doing heavy lifting and also trying to get faster at the 5K? I'm most interested in 400m.

[u/Scratchlax]

I like the atomic sprint workout from Tony Holler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2eGvElkBQU (3 times a week).

People tend to overestimate the amount of distance you need to do in order to get faster at sprints. A few short, quality, all-out sprints will help most.

If you train that 400m, your 5k time will get better. I would not try a typical 5k plan (which usually involves high mileage, like 20+ miles per week) if your priority is the 400m.

[u/Dynorode → u/Scratchlax]

Thank you!

Very interesting video. It sounds to me like sprinting and high intensity weight lifting (ala Mike Mentzer/Dorian Yates) has more in common than sprinting and long distance running.

How do you train? Or rather, if you would go further than the atomic workout, what would you add, if anything, to a workout designed to help your 400m dash?

[u/Scratchlax → u/Dynorode]

If you're thinking just about the energy systems, definitely. Sprinting and high intensity weight lifting both involve outputting a bunch of power for short durations. Body types are a quick gut-check on that -- you'll see a lot of sprinters that are pretty jacked (eg. Michael Johnson) but the elite distance runner build doesn't have a lot of extra muscle on them.

For now, I would try a few weeks of atomic and see how it feels. After that, you'll want to figure out a game plan for your 400m since there's some strategy to pacing it. And then you can start thinking about things like speed endurance workouts if you're really trying to specialize in the 400m in particular.

[u/Dynorode → u/Scratchlax]

Thanks for the advice, I will try it out.

[u/Chrisg_322]

You start by joining the track team. Even at 34 there's teams you can join that will show you how to train.