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Hill training builds leg strength. Also, hill training adds intensity to your workouts without adding more distance, time and speed.
When running/walking up a hill, extra muscle fibers are used to perform the extra work. These are not the same ones used while training on flat terrain. By adding hill workouts to your training, you are developing leg strength that will improve your running speed and endurance. Many runners storm a hill with their heads down and arms pumping furiously at their sides. If you lower your head and lean forward, you are constricting the flow of oxygen to your lungs at the very time your heart needs it most. The arms' main purpose is to keep you in a relaxed upright posture. All the power should come from your legs. As you run uphill, keep your posture erect and focus on a point straight ahead. Concentrate on maintaining relaxed, loose form and shorten your stride as the steepness of the hill increases. Keep your chest out and breathing relaxed. Ideally, try to maintain the same consistent pace throughout the entire ascent of the hill. Many people push the pace at the bottom of the hill and by the middle of the hill are struggling to keep running/walking. This pace should be challenging but not overwhelming. Start with four hill repeats and add one hill per week, working to a maximum of seven. As your body adjusts to the intensity of running/walking uphill, you should be able to increase your pace. As your leg strength improves, your pace should be the same on all of the uphill efforts during your workout. Each hill repeat should last anywhere from 90 to 110 seconds. As you are ascending the hill, your breathing should become harder as you near the top. If you are breathing heavily before you reach the middle of the hill, your intensity is too challenging. Use the downhills as your recovery. Run/walk very easy downhill. By the time you reach the bottom of the hill, your breathing should be relaxed again and you should feel sufficiently recovered to push your way back to the top. General guidelines to use during your hill repeater workouts: - Warm up for 20 minutes before running/walking your first hill.
- The first few weeks of hill training start with four repeats. After eight to 10 weeks you should comfortably be able to perform seven hill repeats at a challenging consistent pace.
- Two days of easy workouts should always follow hill repeat workouts.
- Always keep posture relaxed and upright.
- Cool down for at least 10 minutes after your hill workouts, and always stretch.
Although many runners/walkers find hill workouts to be challenging, there are many others who feel that running downhill is even more difficult than running/walking uphill. The key to preventing injury on the downhill is to let gravity do its job. Instead of leaning back on the downhill and putting on your brakes to ease the pace, try to pick up your pace by leaning slightly forward. By increasing your stride slightly on the downhill, you can pick up your pace without increasing your effort. Leaning back into a hill takes more effort and greatly increases your risk of injury. A very important advantage of hill training is that it improves muscular strength, power, and endurance all at once. Running/walking hills is a form of resistance training, like lifting weights. Although weight training is a great cross-training activity, it does not develop leg strength in quite the same way as running/walking. By working hard on hills, you force your leg muscles to overcome the incline and resistance of gravity. This strengthens the driving muscles in the legs - the hamstrings, calves, buttocks, and quadriceps. Ankles also strengthen as your feet push off the ground to push uphill. Add one day a week of hill workouts to your training schedule and not only will your legs become stronger, but you will not be intimidated by those hills on race day. Have a great week - keep moving and make the hill your training partner!
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