400m enquiry!

DangerMouse27

Hi all,bit of advice needed.

Im stuck between joining a talented group of athletes and plugging away on my own.They are a sprint group where as im coming down from 800m/mile etc.My biggest bug bear is that they lift heay weights and then hit the track...cleans and squats etc and then 8x200 etc etc

I have a seperate prog which suggests i do weights on seperate days and leave the hard running sessions on their own to maximise the quality.

Also one of the guys from the group says he does no core work as cleans etc at heavy weights sorts out the core..not sure if i ever want to train with anyone who thinks that.

So what do i do? the schedule i have to work on my own is tough but quality but im also doing it on my own..which is tough for advice etc..

RoyMcC

Calling Mr Tingle...he'll have some learned advice I'm sure.

Racing Flat

DangerMouse27 wrote: »

Also one of the guys from the group says he does no core work as cleans etc at heavy weights sorts out the core..not sure if i ever want to train with anyone who thinks that.

If he's doing the wieghts correctly, with good posture, he's spot on. Not alone will he work the core, but he'll work it in a more functional manner, or one that is probably more transferrable to 400m running anyway than floor type core exercises.

athletics

DangerMouse27 wrote: »

Hi all,bit of advice needed.

Im stuck between joining a talented group of athletes and plugging away on my own.They are a sprint group where as im coming down from 800m/mile etc.My biggest bug bear is that they lift heay weights and then hit the track...cleans and squats etc and then 8x200 etc etc

I have a seperate prog which suggests i do weights on seperate days and leave the hard running sessions on their own to maximise the quality.

Also one of the guys from the group says he does no core work as cleans etc at heavy weights sorts out the core..not sure if i ever want to train with anyone who thinks that.

So what do i do? the schedule i have to work on my own is tough but quality but im also doing it on my own..which is tough for advice etc..

Whereabouts are you based dangermouse? - and how far would you be willing to travel for a training session if you felt it was meeting your needs?

Domer

Plugging away on your own is not a good way to proceed. Like the herd of antelope you see travelling through the Serengeti, there is strength in numbers. I used to do a lot of 400/800 running and I found that running in a group is far easier then running solo. Try work out the weights stuff, but definitely do the track sessions with the group. Its as close as we runners get to running in a slipstream, or freewheeling.

One observations would be to ask why are they doing 200m reps in the winter if they are training for 400/800? I would think that longer intervals to build up strength and stamina would be more prudent. Of course it depends a lot of the recovery they are taking.

thirtyfoot

DangerMouse27 wrote: »

Im stuck between joining a talented group of athletes and plugging away on my own

In this case I would always say join the talented group, too many people train on their own and (not saying its the case in your case as I don't know you) faff around and don't get the most out of themselves.

Say to them you can't do weights beforehand, just do the running. If they say you must do weights beforehand if you wish to train, then try it once or twice and see how it goes. I've tried do weights before running and find it very hard and affects my running. I am a runner afterall and not a weightlifter so running is my priority and not getting good numbers in the gym.

On the core ideological issue, I don't think that should stop you training. People (even in training groups) will often have differences of opinion on everything. If you were Jewish and one of the guys in the group rocked up with a swastika on his chest then you might have some ideological differences and look to go elsewhere!!

On the core, to do squats and cleans you need strong core anyway. I'd agree with Racing Flat in that cleans and squats will tick off most of your core requirements once you are strong enough to do them correctly in the first place.

Join the group, in 6 weeks or 6 months or 2 years you'll be following the groups training exactly and be converted. People train with us who only do bits and bobs of our training and not all sessions or all parts of all sessions.