i know charlie has stated multiple times that most high school athletes should not do special endurance over 150 meters.
my question is what fills this gap with 400m/200m sprinters? does he suggest intensive tempo in place of where special endurance runs would be?
how does one work with preparing for a 400m without going over 150m?
i just dont understand why no SE runs over 150 and what to do in place of them?
ideas, thoughts, are greatly appreciated.
I’ll bump this up. I’m interested in what Charlie has to say.
I guess that Intensive tempo along with Speed endurace is a very good combination!! I just believe that if done with the right mix then great results could be achieved.
General fitness and special endurance are not the same thing. I qualify the SE limit for those under 16- not for all. General fitness, including extensive tempo, fitness exercises like med ball, sit ups, pull-ups, etc. I’d avoid intensive tempo.
Racing also plays a big part in prep for other races, especially for HS kids, ie 100s and 200s as pre for the occasional foray into the 400m. I found considerable success with this approach, especially for girls, where speed reserve is so important. My best example, in 5x 400m runs from April to June, a drop from 59.0 to 53.12, and with 4 x 400 the subsequent HS season a drop to 52.33 (both bests done with heats and finals on the same day- not ideal.)
Year one had no SE beyond 150, but with some comps at 200m, and year 2 had mostly SE at 200m. Movement to 300m began in College.
the above improvement is impressive…the mom and dad better have paid the big bucks!
I’m sure the cheque’s in the mail.
Dear Charlie,
Can I say that you don’t like Intensive Tempo ?! ( I mean for everyone, no age limit )
There might be some limited circumstances that would require its use, but, generally, I’d prefer to avoid it, as it is medium intensity- too fast to recover from easily and too slow to be specific.
So for sports with repeated anaerobic efforts (basketball, football), you still support general fitness + speed work with no intensive tempo?
Yes. Definitely, and, also, there is no requirement for Special Endurance in those sports, though the need for extensive tempo is certainly there.
Thanks. I guess this means the popular gassers and wind sprints are pretty worthless? I assume you believe “sport specific” conditioning would come from practicing the sport, so extensive tempo/BW circuits + speed sessions (more acc. focused) would be suitable for most athletes. Just modify volume in/off season.
That seems right to me.
Thanks man, I have been wasteing some good time out there. Lets say it was a real hard time too
You can train plenty hard without entering the intermediate speed zone!
Charlie correct me if i am wrong but are you saying that you do not use special endurance runs over 150 meters for high school athletes? And why?
Also you think that extensive tempo as well as speed endurance and accel./max velocity work is enough to get high school 400 runners to reach there potential?
So no special end. over 150m and no lactate work?
yeah I understand. I’m not saying that I’ll skip the hard work. I just meant that I was spending so much effort on little gain in return. Now I can spend same or more with proper return 
1: I’m talking about kids up to 16. After that, the special end distances can increase.
2: HS kids usually have a pretty good selection of meets, so you can count early competitions as prep for the tougher competitions further down the line.
3: The amount of general conditionning that can be done via explosive and high rep med ball work, abs, extensive tempo, etc, will be plenty tough enough!
4:Quality is the name of the game with SE and mediocre SE over longer distances doesn’t add to the picture.
Thank you very much.
Also is it safe to say that speed endurance work such as 3x3x50 with 2 misn rest and 7 between sets can also get them ready for the 400?
Not without a whole lot of other work! Split runs can be done in much larger numbers. Example 5 to 6 x (3 x 50, run in both directions with no break between runs ) with 7 min breaks between sets.
To do this run 50m down and cruise to a stop approx 25m further on. Set up a cone there and run back to a new cone set 50m back and cruise to a stop at the original start line, and back to the original finish line again.
ok so a workout like that in addition to special endurance up to 150 meters, with some accel/max velocity developement and that should be sufficent for them to run a 400.
Not in the same session of course.