LAST - Speed endurance assessment for 400m athletes

Les Archer explains how he assesses the speed endurance of his 400m athletes using LAST.

There are two types of 400-metre runners: Those with good 200m speed and those with good 800m endurance. It would seem that the top 400m runners will need both these attributes, although speed should always prevail. I firmly believe that for the top 400-metre runner to succeed the answer lies in speed maintenance or speed endurance. The ability to sustain top running speed without too much effort will lead to a good result.

The question always arises: When is the endurance on par with the shorter speed or vice versa?

The LAST (Lactic vs Speed Test)

Before undertaking the test, the athlete should first complete a reasonable amount of 'long' endurance training.

The test comprises two elements:

Have the athlete perform a 500-metre time trial as an endurance test.
At least 48 hours later have the athlete perform the following speed endurance tests:

50 metres @100% effort
4 minutes of recovery
100 metres @100% effort
4 minutes of recovery
150 metres @100% effort
4 minutes of recovery
200 metres @100% effort

Add together the times for each of the speed endurance test runs.

Assessment

As an example, lets us say that the time for the endurance test was 61 seconds and the total time for speed endurance tests was 68 seconds. The difference between the two times is 7 seconds. To me, this would indicate the athlete has more speed than endurance.

Why?

In my experience, the difference should not exceed 5 seconds. Any difference of more than 5 seconds indicates a lack of endurance and less than 5 seconds, would indicate a lack of speed.

Summary

This is just a test that I have been using with my athletes for the past eight years with some great success. Three men have run the 400 metres below 45 seconds, and one woman has run sub 51 seconds on this formula. This is not an exact science, but merely a tool to help you as a coach, as factors such as weather, strength levels, age, etc. are not considered.

Article Reference

This article first appeared in:

ARCHER, L. (2004) LAST - Speed endurance assessment for 400m athletes. Brian Mackenzie's Successful Coaching, (ISSN 1745-7513/ 16 / October), p. 10

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

ARCHER, L. (2004) LAST - Speed endurance assessment for 400m athletes [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni16a6.htm [Accessed 31/3/2025]

About the Author

Les Archer is a track and field coach in South Africa with experience from schools to the Olympics specialising in sprints and long jump. He is also the current strength and conditioning coach for the Golden Lions rugby union in South Africa.

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There are two types of 400-metre runners: Those with good 200m speed and those with good 800m endurance. It would seem that the top 400m runners will need both these attributes, although speed should always prevail. I firmly believe that for the top 400-metre runner to succeed the answer lies in speed maintenance or speed endurance. The ability to sustain top running speed without too much effort will lead to a good result. The question always arises: When is the endurance on par with the shorter speed or vice versa? The LAST (Lactic vs Speed Test) Before undertaking the test, the athlete should first complete a reasonable amount of 'long' endurance training. The test comprises two elements: Have the athlete perform a 500-metre time trial as an endurance test. At least 48 hours later have the athlete perform the following speed endurance tests: 50 metres @100% effort 4 minutes of recovery 100 metres @100% effort 4 minutes of recovery 150 metres @100% effort 4 minutes of recovery 200 metres @100% effort Add together the times for each of the speed endurance test runs. Assessment As an example, lets us say that the time for the endurance test was 61 seconds and the total time for speed endurance tests was 68 seconds. The difference between the two times is 7 seconds. To me, this would indicate the athlete has more speed than endurance. Why? In my experience, the difference should not exceed 5 seconds. Any difference of more than 5 seconds indicates a lack of endurance and less than 5 seconds, would indicate a lack of speed. Summary This is just a test that I have been using with my athletes for the past eight years with some great success. Three men have run the 400 metres below 45 seconds, and one woman has run sub 51 seconds on this formula. This is not an exact science, but merely a tool to help you as a coach, as factors such as weather, strength levels, age, etc. are not considered. Article Reference This article first appeared in: ARCHER, L. (2004) LAST - Speed endurance assessment for 400m athletes. Brian Mackenzie's Successful Coaching, (ISSN 1745-7513/ 16 / October), p. 10 Page Reference If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is: ARCHER, L. (2004) LAST - Speed endurance assessment for 400m athletes [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni16a6.htm [Accessed 31/3/2025] About the Author Les Archer is a track and field coach in South Africa with experience from schools to the Olympics specialising in sprints and long jump. He is also the current strength and conditioning coach for the Golden Lions rugby union in South Africa. Cookies This website uses cookies placed by third-party services that appear on our pages. Cookies are used for ads personalisation. You consent to these cookies if you continue to use this website. The site does use Google ads and Google have published information about Google’s use of information.