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The 6x200m Workout

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March 25, 2013 by Jimson Lee 13 Comments

Last Updated on January 3, 2017 by Jimson Lee

Here are 4 different 6x200m workouts to start your Monday.

Tom Tellez 6×200 Workout

Special thanks to Pierre-Jean Vazel for this rare find on YouTube.  In the video, we see Carl Lewis and Mike Marsh doing a classic 6x200m workout in about 28 seconds (circa 1992 or 1993).  You don’t see the the recovery periods, as that are edited from the video, but it’s 90 seconds.

Check their form throughout each of the runs.

Kids, don’t try to attempt this at home, at least not at that pace.  Remember, these guys have 200m PB’s in 19.7 so they are running them at 70% speed.

I can do this exact workout today but if I did, I assure you I am running them close to medium intensity (~85%) and lactic acid would set in at the 4th run! (more on this later).  That’s not the point of this workout.

The starting point would be 200 meters in about 70-75% speed (21+ 200m sprinter would do them 70-75% or about 28-30 seconds, depending on the conditioning of the athlete).  This tempo workout was meant to provide “aerobic conditioning” to “get through the rounds”, among other things.

Here is the full 6 week cycle:

  1. 6×200, 29 seconds, 90 sec recovery
  2. 6×200, 29 seconds, 75 sec recovery
  3. 6×200, 29 seconds, 60 sec recovery
  4. 5×200, 28 seconds, 90 sec recovery
  5. 5×200, 28 seconds, 75 sec recovery
  6. 5×200, 28 seconds, 60 sec recovery

The above workout time are intended for 200 meter sprinters with a PB of 20-21 seconds!

The beauty of this workout is that it’s over very quick! Your lungs may be on fire afterward, but you’ll recover soon enough. If you have a group of athletes, rotate who takes the lead (like in the video, you see Lewis and Marsh alternating lead).

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The secret is running relaxed and efficient. .. arm action, knee lift, frontside mechanics, backside mechanics, triple extension, the whole 9 yards.

[Tweet “4 different 6x200m Workouts from Tom Tellez and Clyde Hart”]

The Clyde Hart 8×200 Workout

For men,
8 x 200m in 28 seconds with a short recovery.
as the season progresses, then…

7 x 200m in 27 seconds, but with a bit more recovery.
then…

6 x 200m in 26 seconds with even more recovery.

Do you see a pattern here?

For more info on this workout, see the article Clyde Hart’s Monday 200 meter Repeats.

For women, note the times are adjusted accordingly by adding 3 seconds.  Again, this is another one of Clyde Hart’s Train SLOWER to get FASTER philosophies.

We used to do 5 or 6 x 200m in 25 seconds in our training flats (no spikes) by the spring time (medium intensity workout), walking 200m back to the starting line. The second to last one always “hurt like hell”, but the last one seems to be the fastest and most relaxed despite the lactic  acid acidosis in our legs and butt.

And remember, no racing in workouts! (This concept is hard to teach to youngsters, which is why I do my 2 x 325m or 2 x 40 seconds workout individually like a time trial)

The Descending 6×200 meters

This is a single 6×200 workout where each interval and recovery are as follows:

  1. 29 seconds, 75 sec recovery
  2. 29 seconds, 60 sec recovery
  3. 29 seconds, 45 sec recovery
  4. 29 seconds, 30 sec recovery
  5. 29 seconds, 15 sec recovery
  6. 29 seconds, puke

As you can see, this workout is a slight variation to my turnaround or greyhound workouts, aka tempo workouts where you run 100 meters on a grass surface, slow down, stop, turn around, walk to the line, and run another 100 meters.  Rinse and repeat.  If you want to melt excess fat, or add conditioning, add 10 pushups on one end, and 10 sit-ups on the other end.

See also  400 Meter Training - A Scientific Approach

This workout also resembles the Tom Tellez 6x200m workout above.

Like losing weight, the secret is the INTENSITY.

My only caveat would be seeing coaches increase the speed of the 200 meter times and this ends up being a medium intensity butt-locking lactic workout.  It depends on your overall training philosophy of long to short vs short to long.  Garbage can (or puke bags) required.  Some may even quit track if performed early in the season.

If you really want to train “aerobic conditioning” to get through the rounds, that’s one thing, but NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF YOUR OTHER ENERGY SYSTEMS.  Don’t tax your speed and CNS or overall recovery if you kill your athletes with too much medium intensity training with high mileage.   The recovery demands are just too high.  Low intensity training should be at 65-75% of top speed.

So if you are going to attempt this workout for a 22 second 200m sprinter, I would start at 33-34 seconds (i.e. 22 x 0.65) but no faster than 29-30 seconds (i.e. 22 x 0.75).  I would also do these on a grass surface, either as a long straightaway, or inside Lane 1 of a track if possible.

Clyde Hart’s Backwards J’s 200 meter workouts

When you do 200 meters in workouts, where do you start?

I wrote about 400 Meter Training Workouts – the Descending 6×200 meters as well as Clyde Hart’s Split 400 meter Workout.

Usually, they start across the field at the 200m start line, and finish at the regular finish line.

On windy days, you can start at the finish line, and end at the 200m start line.  It’s still a curve-straight combo.

See also  Enough of Clyde Hart and John Smith! What about Tom Tellez?

(SIDENOTE: speaking of wind, some coaches prefer having the wind at your back whenever possible.  This helps you attain top speed faster and more efficiently.  This is MY preference.  Other coaches, especially high school coaches, have them run INTO the wind whenever possible for mental toughness, except for time trials.  This way, on race day, if it’s windy in your face, no worries, it’s just like practice Coach!  Like the old cliché, your mileage may vary.)

But we all agree we start on the curve followed by a straight, just like a real race.

Clyde Hart does something unusual, and that is start from the 350 meter mark to the 150 meter mark.  It’s still half a lap, just not the half that you are used to.  It is still 200 meters and resembles a reverse “C” or a backwards “J”.  It ends up being a 50m-100m-50m curve-straight-curve combo.

If you really want to be super accurate, you could use 1st hurdle to 7th hurdle, which would be 45m to 255m,  or 210m total.  Then just mark off 10 meters using a measuring wheel or tape measure..

Or just run halfway on the curve and use the field goal posts as your guide.  If you have a Freelap, it’s very easy to measure splits.

Anyway you slice it, it’s still 200 meters.

The Pros and Cons

It does teach you to run curve-straight-curve…

It does teach you to mentally “pick it up” as you approach the 2nd curve (see Clyde Hart’s Event 300 meter workouts)

It does break up the mental programming of 200 meter sprinters with just the curve and straight.

For those who have tried this, please post your comments below.  Sometimes you have to think out of the box.  In this case, out of the oval.

Category icon400 meters,  Coaching,  Track & Field,  Training Tag iconCarl Lewis,  Clyde Hart,  Mike Marsh,  Tom Tellez

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fabien says

    March 25, 2013 at 9:57 am

    I noticed that Lewis has a really low heel recovery. On the contrary Marsh has high heel recovery. Any thoughts?

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      March 25, 2013 at 2:55 pm

      @Fabien , My initial thoughts are height and stride length. When they run on the straightaways, you can see Marsh’s cadence slightly higher. I am sure Tom Tellez, who is closely watching the workouts, is using their strengths and pre-disposed biomechanics for the optimal running stride. Then again, they are running 8-9 seconds slower than their sprint speed.

      Reply
      • Jimson Lee says

        March 27, 2013 at 3:05 pm

        just thinking about this some more, and there **is** an optimal speed for tempo runs.

        See:
        https://speedendurance.com/2010/08/18/optimal-speed-and-tempo-runs/

        Reply
  2. Rod says

    March 26, 2013 at 1:30 am

    We (including myself) do 5x200m in 27.0-27.5 with 2:15 sec rest plus 15sec per rest period. 400m athletes all over 44yo. Tough session.
    27.0
    2:15 rest
    27.0
    2:30 rest
    etc

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      March 27, 2013 at 2:24 pm

      @Rod, wow, yes, that sounds like a good workout. I find split 400s tough, even if it’s race modeling, like 2x200m (60 sec rec) with the 1st 200 1 second slower than 200m SB, just like a real 400m.

      Reply
  3. Eric Broadbent says

    March 27, 2013 at 7:46 am

    I love doing the 6×200 or 2x3x200 workout for long sprinters earlier on in the season…usually at 80-85% w/ 3′ rest. 6×200 @70% might be a nice one to do later in the year when competitions are in place because like you said it is short and sweet and total volume isn’t too high. Get in and get out on that recovery day. Of course earlier on this type of workout could work as well. I like Rod’s idea of increasing recovery slightly on each rep as it might allow for same quality/time for work as fatigue and acidosis starts to creep in.

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      March 27, 2013 at 2:52 pm

      @Eric, there are plenty of variations to the theme. As long as they are customized to the athlete, they are all good (depending on the goals of the workout)

      Reply
  4. ABHILASH REDDY says

    April 3, 2013 at 9:13 am

    It was very nice experiance durin training time

    Reply
  5. Jack Skelton says

    April 3, 2013 at 4:01 pm

    Hey Jimson! What about Mike Hurst’s 6x200m workout? I know these paces/recovery above are more intensive tempo (except for the later Hart workouts) than special endurance. But after your interview with Mike, I have been attempting his 6x200m workout at 400m (second 200m) goal pace with 200m jog recovery (no more than 2min). I have run all the workouts above, and I can say that Mike Hurst’s workout is BY FAR the most mentally and physically challenging workout I have ever attempted. My goal pace is 24.mid/high for the 6×200 by the end of the year (currently I have only completed 5×200 at that pace). So far, however, I have noticed a strong translation onto the track for both my athletes and myself. I would highly recommend! But take Mike’s advice and work up to the 6×200 (2x3x200 with 10min between sets, then 5×200 later in the season, finish with 6×200) because this workout will seriously challenge any athlete.

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      April 9, 2013 at 5:53 am

      @Jack, yes, sorry, I forgot Mike’s 200m sessions because I have never done them myself (I email him directly and apologized!) Mike has a good resume of accomplished 400m sprinters with his program. The beauty of Mike’s program is it builds supreme confidence and makes you “game ready”|. On another note, how is the Freelap working out?

      Reply
  6. Ray says

    April 9, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    Jimson – Would Coach Tellez 200 workout benefit a pure 60/100m sprinter in a 6-8 week fall “gpp” phase or would you recommend more traditional short tempo?

    Reply
  7. Jack Skelton says

    April 28, 2013 at 6:25 pm

    Hey Jimson, the Freelap system is working great. It is especially useful for specific endurance/speed endurance/fly workouts. Since all are at high speeds, having an accurate time really helps me understand exactly what my athletes abilities are. For the athletes I train, most crave instant feedback and love knowing what paces they are hitting. It is hard for a lot of college aged club/unattached sprinters to find motivation in their workouts, so having a tool like Freelap gives us an extra boost.

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      May 1, 2013 at 3:37 pm

      @Jack, I am glad to see the device help out. At the end of the day, you just want results! So anything that helps get results is key. (if you had 10 transmitters, you could get nice 10m splits for all your athletes. You’d be surprised how fast they really get to top speed)

      Reply

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