100m training tips, advice, equipment, gear, and more.

The 400m hurdles is one of the most challenging events in track and field. It requires the athlete to have speed endurance, acceleration, and an explosive ability to jump over the hurdles without losing their cadence, tempo, or velocity during the race.

The race is one of the most technical events in track and field and running the race is both tactical during the running of the race, and strategic when planning how to train and peak in time for the major athletics events.

How can an athlete run the 400m hurdles?

Always lead with the same leg over the first hurdle.

Count the amount of strides that it takes for you to reach the first hurdle. You must always lead over the hurdle with the same leg. If you have an even number of strides, then it’s likely that your starting leg on the blocks will be the same one that you lead with. If it is an odd number of strides, then it will be the opposite.

Count the amount of strides that you take in between the hurdles.

Your success in the 400m hurdles depends on the amount of strides and consistency that you maintain between each hurdle. Knowing the exact number of strides will allow you to focus on accelerating off each stride, attacking the hurdle as you approach it, and accelerating off the landing off the hurdle.

It will also reduce the risk of you clipping or hitting the hurdle.

Know which leg you will lead with over the hurdles.

Ideally, you want to use the same leg to jump over each of the hurdles. Because your body will fatigue, it is easy to swap legs during the race. You want to train and have a plan of action so that you know which leg will be used at which hurdle.

For example.

Accelerate off each stride.

Because the 400m focuses on strides, you want to be as explosive as possible so that you can increase your acceleration. Focus on exploding through the ground and through your toes so that you can gain extra distance off each running stride.

Approach the hurdle straight, not on a lean.

As you approach the hurdle on the curve, you want to line yourself up to run straight over the middle of the hurdle. This is so the force from running the bend won’t throw your bodyweight to the right and off your stride and potentially out of your lane.

Hold your running technique and form during the race.

In the 400m hurdles, it’s incredibly important that your running form and technique doesn’t breakdown. Should it breakdown, it will lead to a rapid loss in your velocity, changes in your stride length, changes to the hurdle approach which may force you to jump with the wrong leg and possibly hit the hurdle, and ultimately ruin your race.

Finish the race strongly.

Once you jump over the last hurdle, maintain your form and accelerate as much as possible towards the finish line.

How many hurdles are in the 400m hurdles?

There are 10 hurdles in the 400m hurdles.

What kind of training do you need to focus on to be successful in the 400m hurdles?

You will need to focus on doing 400m training, which will focus on:

• Speed development
• Speed endurance
• Stamina training
• Tempo training
• Explosive training and plyometrics

The athlete needs to have quick, but powerful reaction times off the ground. But needs to maintain a high velocity whilst running the event.

Tempo runs that focus on strides with and without the hurdles will form the base of the athlete’s training.

What are some other things that you should consider when training for the 400m hurdles?

Flexibility

Flexibility in your hip flexors is important so that when you are jumping over the hurdle, you don’t clip it. Hitting the hurdle can ruin your stride pattern and destroy your race plan. You want to focus on getting over each hurdle cleanly.

Nutrition

The 400m hurdles is very physically demanding on the body. You will need to fuel your body with carbohydrates and protein so that your muscles remain lean, but strong and powerful. And also have the energy sources for you to use so that you can perform in your training and on your race days.

Would you like to improve your 400m time?

Click here to learn more about the 400m program.

Need spikes for the 400m hurdles?

Click here to view the top spikes for running the 400m.

Other useful resources

The Phases of a 400m Hurdle Race

How to develop a 400m hurdler

Effective Workouts For 300/400 Meter Hurdlers

400m hurdles training videos

The quick answer is you don’t need to get another set of spikes to run indoors since the surface will be similar to what is used outdoors. The main thing you will need to account for is that there are no weather conditions affecting the track since it is indoors.

So a few things that you should keep in mind is that:

• The surface will always be dry.
• The surface won’t be affected as much by heat changes compared to tracks that are in direct sunlight.
• Wind won’t affect the way that you are running.

You will mainly need to think about the way your foot and spikes strike the ground.

It is worth practicing in your spikes in an indoor track. If you do want to get a separate pair for indoor competitions, you can if it is a preferance.

Many people that start running find themselves short of breath and unable to maintain the intensity that is required for their run. There are a couple of things to this.

1. Your body will adjust and you will develop a breathing pattern that will suit your running style and intensity demand.
2. You will use a rhythm to control your breathing while running.

How can you improve your breathing technique while running?

Inhale through your nose

You want to inhale as much oxygen as possible in through your nose. This will go into your body and muscles, which will help you perform.

Inhale steadily so you can feel the air fill up your lungs.

Exhale through your mouth

Exhale air through your mouth (not your nose). Exhale as much of the carbon dioxide out through your mouth so you can inhale the new oxygen through your nose to fuel your body and your muscles.

Inhale and exhale based on your stride pattern.

You want to inhale and exhale steadily. E.g. 1 second in, 1 second out. 4 seconds in, 4 seconds out, etc.

You will need to train your body to control your breathing pattern.

It is easier to inhale and exhale based on your striding pace. So inhale on steps 1-4, then exhale on steps 5-8. Then repeat.

As you build up your cardiovascular endurance, you will be able to increase the inhale and exhale timings and pacing.

It’s really important that you understand how your body works so you can minimize the risk of injury. One of the things that runners will experience is lower back pain.

Unfortunately, runners won’t understand why or how they are getting the pain in their lower back. And when the pain comes, what they need to do to resolve the pain.

When lower back pain comes, people think that they need creams, ice packs, pills, or physio.

It’s more likely that the lower back pain is coming from tightness in your muscles. There are things that you can do to prevent this, without having to opt for expensive treatments.

If your lower back is sore, check for tightness in the following muscle groups.

Sore lower backs usually occur from tightness that pulls the muscle attached to the lumbur spine. The muscles pulling muscles that will affect the tightness will either be:

• Hamstrings
• Glutes
• Hip flexors
• Quadriceps

The first thing you need to do is work out if the muscle groups are tight and if they are responsible for pulling the muscles in your lower back.

If you have tight hamstrings, it isn’t the hamstrings that need to be stretched. It is actually the hip flexors or the quadriceps that need to be stretched since they are rotating the hips forward.

Stretch your hip flexors

You can do this by doing lunges on the ground. If you are unable to go forward, your hip flexor is too tight. So you need to work on getting the muscle to relax.

Stretch out your quadriceps.

A quadricep stretch will help. Sometimes, you need to keep on stretching and waiting for the muscle to relax over a few hours or days so that it stops pulling on your spine.

Stretch your glutes

Stretch your glutes and also get them to relax.

Do dynamic stretching with lunges.

Simply lunge forward until your knee touches the ground. Then stand/power straight up so that the movement goes through your glute. This will dynamically stretch the hip flexor, quads, and glutes.

Do weight training to help you overcome any lower back pain.

Squats, Deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats, and reverse lunges are great for strengthening the core and stretching out the muscle groups. Even though you will feel the pain and you think you won’t be able to do the exercises, it is actually one of the best ways to help you recover.

You will need to strengthen your abdominals and hip flexors for running.

It’s likely that you’ve got a sore back because you are weak in your abs and your hip flexors. This means you need to do core exercises that will allow you to build the strength endurance with these muscle groups.

Hanging leg and knee raises will be key, but you will need to train them so you can do them at a high volume.

Once those muscle groups fatigue when you are running, it will incorporate other muscle groups including your lower back, which will lead to lower back pain.

Train yourself to run with high-knees

You can focus on developing your running technique so that your abs and hip flexors won’t tire and start using your lower back muscles. A simple trick is to keep running with your ankles going over your knees.

Pay attention to make sure that your lower back isn’t being used. If you find that your lower back is being used, lower your knee movement and running pattern. Make sure that your core remains engaged at all times.