Workout of the Day: 10 x 400m
10 x 400m
Intensity — 1500m date pace
Recovery — 2 minutes walk/jog after each rep
Exertion — 8/10
Context & Details
Roger Bannister. Seb Coe. Hicham El Guerrouj. Alan Webb. Just a few of the many record holder and champion milers who made this workout a cornerstone of their training. Why is 10 x 400m a go-to session for so many coaches and milers throughout history?
I think two reasons stick out:
It’s efficient. The workout takes only 30-40 minutes to complete.
A familiar context. Since almost every miler does this workout, it provide very clear feedback to a coach about an athlete’s fitness.
This workout was made popular by Bannister because he had only 1 hour to workout during lunch breaks while in medical school. His coach, Franz Stampl, had to find a way to train Bannister’s speed-endurance, aerobic power and stamina qualities in an efficient manner. His answer was 10 x 400m.
The session is tailored to help the miler effectively meet the demands of their race. It trains event specific stamina by asking the athlete to endure 4,000m (~10 minutes for a 4:00 miler) at mile speed. It trains running economy by requiring the athlete to express mile speeds under an increasing state of fatigue, much like what is experienced in the 2nd half of a mile race. Speed-endurance qualities are enhanced by manipulation of recovery times. The baseline work-to-rest ratio begins at 1:2. As fitness advances, the work-to-rest ratio can advance progressively all the way to 1:1/4. There is little need for most runners to increase the volume of the session, instead focus on stabilizing the speed for the 400m reps to mile speed while shortening recovery times after reps.
10 x 400m has endured as a cornerstone workout for milers because it is a simple, effective, and efficient session which successfully helps the miler meet the complex demands running 4 laps at their upper limit.