On my Tuesday Training sessions my athletes love it when I announce ‘It’s hills tonight’ – the collective groan that goes round is music to my ears ;-). However, an hour later they (in their own way) announce how much fun it was, hard but fun – so below are some reasons why you should put a hill session into your regular running plan, regardless of distance or speed.

Hill Running

Choose the Right Hill

• Not too steep and keep it short 10-60secs.
• Recruiting more fast-twitch muscle fibres by overloading muscles  for a short time

Keep It Quick

• Resist the urge to slow down maintain fast legs
• Try and land on your forefoot – spring back off the ground to reduce ground contact
• Landing on heels slows you down, less efficient, more tired

Don’t Lean

• Relaxed shoulders (don’t hunch), high pelvis, look forward
• Leaning shortens the stride – angle towards the incline
• Bending at the waste constricts the movement and drains the energy away

Don’t Forget Your Arms

• Faster your arms move, the faster your legs will move !
• Arm-swinging works for power generation. (Tone it down on the flats for greater efficiency)

Watch Your Step

• Look up and ahead to spot your next foot placement rather than looking directly at the floor.
• Gait will change and balance, activating and conditioning stabiliser muscles that don’t normally get a look-in on the road will be used

Enjoy The Downhills

• Don’t lean back it wastes energy
• Increased stride rate trains the brain

Benefits of Hill Running

Burns the Calories

• The extra effort means you’ll be calling on your body’s reserves at a much faster rate, while also strengthening your muscles

Prevents Common Running Injuries 

• Regular road running places a lot of pressure on shins and knees (often resulting in persistent niggles). Running uphill can help you avoid exacerbating those issues.
• Running uphill calf muscles, quads, hamstrings and glutes are used to propel you forward
• Your knees feel more strain on a flat or declining surface than your posterior muscles do.

Improves Endurance

• No flat run feels easier than the first flat run after a hill session.
• Uphill running requires more effort and puts your muscles fibres to work, in time your overall running stamina and form will improve.

Increases Speed

• Running both up and down hills helps strengthen the muscles in your legs so if you feel the need for speed, work those hills !

Now if this hasn’t inspired you to go out and find the nearest hill, then get in touch and come along to one of the Tuesday sessions and run up some hills for fun as a group.

See you soon.

Paul