Workouts for Sprinters | Track And Field

Workouts for sprinters, track and field sprinters in particular, can be hard to develop. It takes an understanding of human anatomy, experience in preparing for competitions, and an understanding of how the body adapts to stress.

Here at ATHLETE.X, it is our goal to provide everything from the information you need to develop your own sprint training program, as well as high quality programs themselves which you can purchase and implement right away.

What Types Of Workouts For Sprinters Are Best?

Whether you run the 100m dash, 200m dash, or the 400m dash, your program should consist of similar qualities. Workouts for sprinters should include some of the following types of workloads:

• Acceleration Training
• Speed Training
• Speed Endurance Training
• Special Endurance Training
• Aerobic Training
• Strength Training

How Does Training Differ Between Sprinters?

The shorter the race, the greater the demand will be for acceleration and speed, while having less of a demand for endurance. Alternatively, longer sprints such as the 400m require more endurance and less top speed. Regardless, your ultimate performance capability in even the 400m dash will be limited by your ability to run at high speeds.

Workouts For Sprinters - 100m Dash

In training for the 100m dash, workouts for sprinters will often consist most of acceleration training, speed training, and shorter speed endurance training.

• Acceleration workouts may consist of distances of 10m-40m depending on the speed of the athlete, and will usually be done for a total of 200-300m of total volume.
• Speed workouts may consist of distances of 30m-60m depending on the level of the athlete, and will also be completed in volumes ranging from 200-300m of total volume.
• Speed endurance workouts for 100m dash sprinters will range from 60m to 150m, depending on what the athlete needs and their level of conditioning. These workouts are usually 250-500m in total volume.
• Special endurance is not always necessary for 100m specialists, but should be used as described below if you perform both the 100m and 200m dash.

Workouts For Sprinters - 200m Dash

In training for the 200m dash, workouts for sprinters will often consist most of acceleration training, speed training, and all distances of speed endurance training. These will be similar or the same as workouts for 100m dash sprinters.

• Acceleration workouts may consist of distances of 10m-40m depending on the speed of the athlete, and will usually be done for a total of 200-300m of total volume.
• Speed workouts may consist of distances of 30m-60m depending on the level of the athlete, and will also be completed in volumes ranging from 200-300m of total volume.
• Speed endurance workouts for 200m dash sprinters will range from 80m to 250m, depending on what the athlete needs and their level of conditioning. These workouts are usually 300-600m in total volume.
• Special endurance workouts for 200m sprinters will range from 150m to 300m per repetition, with total volumes of 300-600m per workout.

The main difference between 100m and 200m sprinters will usually be in the form of how much speed endurance work they perform, as well as how long those repetitions are. 100m sprinters can do shorter repetitions, while 200m or 100m/200m sprinters will need to perform longer work in the 120-250m range.

Workouts For Sprinters - 400m Dash

In training for the 400m dash, workouts for sprinters will often consist most of speed endurance training, speed training, and some acceleration training.

• Acceleration workouts may consist of distances of 10m-40m depending on the speed of the athlete, and will usually be done for a total of 200-300m of total volume.
• Speed workouts may consist of distances of 30m-60m depending on the level of the athlete, and will also be completed in volumes ranging from 200-300m of total volume.
• Speed endurance workouts for 400m dash sprinters will range from 80m to 250m repetitions, depending on what the athlete needs and their level of conditioning. These workouts are usually 300-600m in total volume.
• Special endurance workouts are also important in the training of 400m dash sprinters, and will occur over distances of 150m to 500m depending on the athlete and the time of year. These workouts are usually 300m-600m in total volume, but can be more or less at times.

As you can see, the focus on endurance is much greater for a 400m dash sprinter, and as such the workouts for sprinters of this type will be different than that of a 100m or 200m specialist.