Written by Coach Aaron Boike from Performance Running Gym – The Official Run Coaching Partner of The Loppet
It’s summer trail racing season and many of us are thinking about how to maximize our time on the roads and trails to get an advantage on race day. As a training modality, hill intervals and hill sprints have been used by top athletes for decades for their ability to improve power, increase aerobic output, and even improve running form when done correctly.
Hills Give You Power Without The Pounding:
Running uphill, or “climbing” as trail athletes like to call it, forces more power production per stride, helping to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibers. The mechanisms of uptempo uphill running are similar to plyometric strength training – helping you improve your muscles ability to produce fast and efficient muscle contractions. The best part? When you do your intensity work uphill, you reduce the “eccentric” muscle contractions and impact forces – meaning less injury risk than sprinting on flat ground.
Hills Supercharge Your Aerobic Engine:
Hill repetitions and sprints spike the heart rate and spike oxygen demand, helping you build your maximal oxygen uptake (V02 Max) and lactate threshold with far less pounding than flat ground intervals.
Hills Help You Fix Your Form:
Running on an incline forces you to fix many key form issues runners deal with. On the uphill your natural tendency is to increase your cadence and shorten your stride length – leading to improved efficiency, you also tend to emphasize your slight forward lean into the hill – helping you learn to keep your feet underneath your center of gravity when running, and lastly, you’re forced to produce more power through the glutes and posterior chain – helping you improve your running mechanics across all degrees of inclines and types of terrain.
How to Execute Hill Work:
Power Hill Sprints: Choose a steep grade (8-12%) and focus on short 10-20 seconds fast (think one notch below max effort) running up the hill. Take plenty of recovery between reps – up to 2 minutes of easy walking or very light jogging. This type of session builds raw power and improves muscle fiber recruitment. These can be done much like strides – during your regular runs in a set of 5-10 reps.
Classic Hill Repeats: Choose a moderate grade (5-10%) and do uptempo repeats lasting 60-90 seconds. Jog the downhills for recovery. This workout helps you build power, but the longer duration also increases the amount of lactate buildup that needs to be cleared from your muscles, helping your body adapt to running faster for longer. These are most often done as a dedicated workout with a warm-up, 15-30 minutes of repeats, and a cool down.
Long Sustained Hill Reps: Choose a sustained hill ranging from 3-10% and aim for a hard, but sustainable effort that lasts 3-8 minutes in duration. This workout has the double benefit of building muscular endurance and your lactate threshold, while also helping you learn to mentally deal with sustained harder efforts during your runs and races. For many athletes, these workouts will be a mix of running and powerhiking (another essential trail running skill) to sustain the uphill for the long duration. These are often done as a dedicated workout, preceded by a warm-up easy jog and followed by a cool down period.
No matter what your running goals – hill repeats have a place in your routine. Commit to incorporating hills 1-2x/week into your routine and you’ll feel the benefits for yourself!
Aaron Boike is the Owner and Head Coach at Performance Running Gym, a gym for runners and endurance athletes located in St. Louis Park, MN. He holds a B.S. in Kinesiology, is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise, and holds a running and ultrarunning coach certification through UESCA. Contact him directly at aaron@3clickfitness.com, follow him on Instagram @trainerontherun, or learn more about Performance Running Gym at www.performancerungym.com.