If you’re looking for 7 weeks of the best 200m sprint workouts for maximum speed development then you’ve come to the right place. This program is designed for athletes who need to increase their running speed on the track, and for other activities. Moreover, this program covers more than just running workouts. You’ll find gym workouts, and other accessory work like plyometrics. Keep reading for all the details.
If you’ve read any of my other programs on sprinting you know that I think that speed workouts are incredibly important. As such, I’ve written this program to specifically develop your ability to run the 200 meter dash race at maximum velocity.
Like many of my other fitness programs, I’ve taken a lot of time to review the most recent research to make sure that this program is scientifically sound, and effective. Here’s a quick overview of this 7 week program full of the best 200m sprint workouts.
7 Week Sprinting Program Overview
- 6 Days Per Week of Gym or Running Workouts
- 4 Running Workouts Per Week, with 3 sprint specific sessions
- Great for Track Athletes, Field Athletes, and Tactical Athletes
- 2 Weight lifting workouts per week
- Appropriate for athletes with previous sprinting experience
- Easily modified for different fitness levels
As a coach, it can be difficult to write a sprint training program for the general public. While sprinting is a key component of fitness, it is routinely neglected by many athletes. Even athletes who participate in my hybrid lifting and running programs often don’t run any sprint events.
This means that your hamstrings and tendons may not be ready to take this level of impact. If you haven’t done a sprint workout in a while, I would recommend starting with my 9 Week Sprint Program. It still develops max sprint speed, but it’s less likely to cause injury, as it focuses on shorter distances and lower overall speeds.
Make sure you go through a thorough warm up prior to any workout in this program. I would also caution you to decrease overall running speed for the first few weeks, if you have any injury concerns. Understand that you follow this program at your own risk. Now that we’ve covered some preliminary information about the program, let’s get to the details of each week.
7 Week Program Sprint Program Basics
As was mentioned previously, this is a 6 day split program, with 4 running days, and 2 gym days. I know some of you reading this would expect my programming to have you weight training more often, but that isn’t necessary to become a good 200 m runner. Two days a week is enough to maintain your strength and muscle mass, while you really develop a lot of sprinting speed, focusing specifically on your anaerobic energy system.
While I list the workouts on certain days, it’s fine to move them around according to your training schedule. Do your best to keep them in sequential order, and you’ll find a lot of success with these 200m specific conditioning workouts.
I also want you to pay attention to your body. Some days you’re going to feel great. On those days it’s fine to push a bit harder to the finish line. On other days, you’ll be run down, and sore. It’s ok to dial back the intensity. Most smart top level 200 m sprinters would do the same.
Make sure you establish a good warm up routine, with some light stretching, prior to beginning any session. This will help avoid injuries. Now let’s get to the first week of the program.
Best 200m Sprint Workouts for Speed: Week 1
The first week of this 7 week sprint program, is a testing week. We will be testing your 200m sprint time on day one, followed by your strength numbers, in the first gym session. Lastly, we will be testing your work capacity, and muscular endurance on Friday of this week. The last session is a recovery session, designed to keep you moving and prepare you for the hard work to come.
On the gym days I want you to make sure that you are going through a thorough warm up. I normally recommend 3-5 minutes of easy cardio like Assault Bike or steady runs. You can then move on to some light stretching, and calisthenics based movements to warm up the muscle groups you’ll be using.
Once that warm up is complete you will start on the power cleans, working up to your heaviest 3 reps you can perform. You’ll follow this with bench press, and your back squat.
I want to emphasize that proper form matters here. Don’t sacrifice safe technique for a little heavier weight. This isn’t a strength training program. It’s a sprinting program. If you want to build maximum strength and endurance then check this program out.
Best 200m Sprint Workouts for Speed: Week 2
This is the first true work week of the program. You can see that each running day has a specific goal. Monday is a sprint acceleration day, working on the acceleration phase of the 200m dash, through short sprints. Wednesday is designed to work on your top speed. Friday is active recovery and aerobic capacity work. Lastly, Saturdays are speed endurance workouts, focusing on intervals of 200 m sprints.
In the gym I have you working with the reps in reserve (RIR) method. If you see a set of 5 reps at 2 RIR, that means you should select a weight that you could actually do 7 reps with, if you went all out. In effect, you’re leaving 2 reps in reserve.
I fully expect that many of you will have to experiment with the weight to find the right amount, according to the RIR guidance. That’s fine. Just keep in mind that I want you to prioritize strict form, and lifting the weight quickly, rather than maximal load. Let’s review week 3.
If you like this kind of content you should join the email list below. We’ll send you all the articles as soon as they’re released.
Best 200m Sprint Workouts for Speed: Week 3
Like many of my other endurance related programs I have continued with the same schedule. You’ll have very similar sessions on the same days in Week 3. However, I’ve increased the overall running distance or reps, as needed, to make sure that you continue to make progress.
Another big change in Week 3 is that I’ve added in plyometric movements on the gym days. Research has shown that plyometric exercises are great for increasing running speed, if performed with maximum effort, and good technique. If any of these plyometric jumps seem too hard, then you can modify them with less reps, or a less challenging movement.
It’s also important to point out that on the sprint workouts I have you running at a certain percentage of your max speed. This is more of a subjective metric to help you gauge overall effort. It isn’t meant to be an exact number. When you see something like 98% speed, that simply means that these are near maximal efforts. Don’t over think this. Now let’s move to week 4, the final week before we change the objective of each phase.
Best 200m Sprint Workouts for Speed: Week 4
This week is the last week of this specific style of training. As such you should expect it to be the most challenging yet. Make sure that you’re taking the full rest interval I’ve given you on the track workouts. You need this amount of rest to ensure full recovery for each rep.
I also want to emphasize that you can change your cardio method on the Zone 2 cardio days. It doesn’t always have to be steady continuous runs. I’m a big fan of the Assault bike, which is why I’ve written about it so often. Make sure you’re staying in Zone 2 by doing some nasal breathing for a minute or two every so often.
If you can’t breath through your nose, then you’re working too hard. Zone 2 work is easy aerobic specific conditioning at recovery pacing, designed to help recharge batteries. Next we’ll cover Week 5.
Best 200m Sprint Workouts for Speed: Week 5
Welcome to the next cycle of this program. Here you have the same overall schedule but the method has changed in the gym, and on the track. In the previous cycle we worked on increasing your ability on each discrete phase of the 200 meter dash. In this cycle we start to integrate those phases towards the goal of running a full 200 meters faster. You can also expect higher intensities for each interval.
We still keep the same overall goal for each day, but the interval length has changed. The acceleration workouts on Mondays are longer (50 m workouts), with a little more rest. Similarly, I’ve added in some longer intervals on Wednesday and Saturday, as a special endurance workout. These will really increase your sprint endurance, helping to maintain top speeds for longer.
You can also see the gym lifts are now predominately done for max reps, based off of your top set. Again, I encourage you to err on the side of caution, and good form. The term TM is technical max, or the heaviest weight you can lift with perfect form. Remember, you have a big running workout the next day, and you need to focus on that!
Best 200m Sprint Workouts for Speed: Week 6
I’m going to be honest with you. This week is hard. You will have a lot of running volume, and your gym sessions definitely aren’t a day at the beach. I always counsel my athletes to pay attention to the details when the program becomes challenging. Make sure you aren’t short cutting your warm up. Get enough sleep, and eat enough to support your fitness goals. In short, pay attention to your recovery, and you’ll make great training progress.
You should also note that by now you’re definitely running faster. As I mentioned previously, if you are feeling good on some of these workouts you can push a little harder. Don’t be a slave to the stop watch. If you want to go for it then go hard on a few reps. Now let’s review the final week of the program.
Best 200m Sprint Workouts for Speed: Week 7
This is the last, and most challenging week of this training plan. Continue to be diligent with the details of your training plan, and you’ll get through the week just fine. By now you should definitely notice some big changes to your sprint speed.
After this week, I recommend taking 3-4 days off prior to retesting your 200m dash. You’ll want to be fully recovered before trying to set a new PR. You can follow the same warm up routine you did to set your initial time way back on day 1. Now let’s finish this article up.
If you want to increase your ability to sprint in the long term then you need to get stronger. This program will do that.
Final Thoughts
This program is a great idea for folks that want to work on their ability to sprint over longer distances. You don’t have to be an Olympic hopeful to benefit from this program, as any good athlete should be able to maintain the ability to run over any reasonable distance.
If you want an awesome follow on program, I would recommend checking out these programs. Some are designed to build more muscular strength and muscle mass through anaerobic training, where as others are designed to increase your overall work capacity.
If you have any comments or questions about this type of training, put them in the section below, and I’ll get you an answer. Now get out there and get training. Don’t forget to join the email list.
The opinions and information expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not affiliated with any corporation, group, public or private entity. This web site is not endorsed by, directly affiliated with, maintained, authorized, or sponsored by Crossfit Inc, Zwift, or Assault Fitness. All product and company names are the registered trademarks of their original owners. The use of any trade name or trademark is for identification and reference purposes only and does not imply any association with the trademark holder of their product brand. Furthermore it’s recommend that you consult a medical doctor prior to exercise. Always exercise under the guidance of a qualified professional. All links to Amazon are affiliate links.
