Last Updated on June 9, 2023 by Heather Hart, ACSM EP, CSCS
Looking to incorporate hill running workouts into your training? Coach Lexi Miller has you covered. In addition to being a certified running coach, Lexi also specializes in coaching skiing (uphill, downhill, and nordic) mountaineering, backpacking, adventure racing, and general mountain athletes.
Strong hill running is a superpower, and finding the proper workout for a particular goal race is crucial in unleashing the strongest athlete possible. All athletes, from flat short-course racers to mountainous ultrarunners, can benefit from regular hill training.
What are the Benefits of Hill Running Workouts?
There are many benefits to incorporating hill workouts into your training cycle. Most notably, strength, speed, and running economy are all seen to improve with uphill running. Let’s dive in a little deeper:
Build Strength
Hill work engages both muscular and cardiovascular strength in the human body. Uphill efforts improve lower body and leg muscle strength by engaging your posterior chain of muscles (gluteus muscles, hamstrings, calves, and low core and back muscles.) This chain is a powerhouse in running and is often overshadowed by the hard-working quadricep muscles in the front of the leg.
Not only are your muscles getting a good workout, but the intervals improve your VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold.
Increase Speed
Running uphill, and improving your power, quickens your cadence and improves strength to help an athlete run to their full potential.
As Olympian Frank Shorter pointed out, “hill work is speed work in disguise.”
Improve Running Economy
Running economy is defined as the relationship between oxygen consumption (VO2) and running speed.
Mechanics and gravity make it extremely difficult to run uphill with poor form. Hill work encourages the runner to hinge forward, land more on their forefoot, and shorten their cadence.
Practicing good uphill form will help a runner overall with their running economy, therefore lowering energy expenditure at a given pace.
Finding your uphill form
In working with athletes, I take the ground-up approach to finding efficient running form. Starting with the feet, it is ideal to land on the balls, not the heels or the toes. Most runners will not naturally heel strike while running at an incline. However, it might be easy to default to going too far onto your toes. It is helpful to pay close attention to your landing pattern and adjust as needed.
Next, start the uphill lean at the shins. No need to go crazy with the body angle, but let gravity do the work. Keeping the posture at a slight forward-leaning angle will minimize the amount one is working against yourself. Thinking of the lean as starting at the shins rather than the hips or waist will prevent you from hinging at the middle and shortening your diaphragm.
Keeping strong arms is also vital while finding your uphill efficiency and proper form. Keeping your arms at a 45-degree angle while avoiding tightening your shoulders or fists will keep your posture upright while relaxed.
Finally, keeping the eye-line a few feet ahead and looking where one wants to go will help provide an upright and open posture.
Types of Hill Running Workouts
Just like any workout on the track or in the gym, hill workouts can vary based on what your desired result of the workout might be. Hill work can range from short to long and continuous, from a steep grade to a more relaxed incline. For any of the below workouts, it is vital to warm up for at least twenty minutes with jogging and dynamic stretches before starting the intervals.
1. Short and Sweet for Speed
Short and fast hill work is best done on a slightly steeper grade, aiming for a 10-15% grade for this workout, keeping your time running up 15-30 seconds, and repeating six to ten times, depending on where the athlete is in their training cycle.
The effort for these high intensity hill repeats should be over threshold effort (think 5k or faster.) For this workout, it is essential that you recover for at least 90 seconds or as your heart rate starts to return to a rested state before starting your next interval.
Benefits of short and sweet hills
There are multiple benefits of the short and sweet hill work; most notably, it builds power and speed in the posterior chain. Engaging this chain helps strengthen and activate these muscles, preventing injury and improving efficiency, as well as providing more explosive energy akin to power-lifting.
Another benefit of this workout is that it engages all three muscle fiber types (Fast Oxidative, Slow Oxidative, and Fast Glycolytic.) This engagement creates a full body endurance and speed benefit, giving every runner the power to push in their next race, whether it is 400 meters on the track, a 10k road race, or spending 24 hours on steep mountain climbs.
The final benefit of this type of hill running is that it improves efficiency in your cardiovascular system. The short and hard effort improves your maximal stroke volume in the heart, increasing the amount of blood you can propel with each heartbeat. More blood means more power to your lungs, muscles, and mind throughout your next big race.
Incorporating in the Training Cycle
Short and fast workouts will have their place in every training cycle. If a runner is training for a short course event (track, 5k, 10k road races, or cross country) they will want to include in the specific competition preparation phase of their periodization. Half marathon, marathon, and ultramarathon runners will likely find more benefit from these workouts during the off-season or base-build phase of their training cycle.
2. Longer and Stronger: Long Hill Repeats
For long hill repeats, there will be a decrease in the hill’s intensity and steepness. These efforts are best done on a slope with approximately a 5-10% grade while running at threshold effort (think 10k speed.)
These intervals are usually 2-5 minutes, increasing the length of the interval as one gets deeper into thier season. As the intervals get longer, so should the recovery. Aim for at least two minutes as the heart rate starts to return to resting.
Benefits of Longer Hill Workouts
These workouts engage more slow-twitch muscle fibers, increasing endurance and running economy in the athlete. This muscle engagement is beneficial to any athlete that wants to be able to run harder for more extended periods.
While the short and fast intervals improve overall VO2 Max, the longer, more steady intervals improve the lactate threshold in an athlete. An improved lactate threshold improves general fitness, and who wouldn’t want to run faster at a lower effort?
Incorporating in the Training Cycle
For short-course athletes, this workout is best done early in their training cycle or during their off-season while taking a break from race-specific speed.
For road half and full marathon runners, this workout is perfect for the strength-building phase that often comes during the competition preparation phase (at or around the peak cycle.)
In contrast, ultrarunners will utilize this workout in their first build cycle before they enter race specificity.
3. Up and Down Intervals
In this workout, the athlete will spend time running hard, up and downhill, engaging different joints and muscles. Therefore, it is best to break this half, with the first part being dedicated to uphill running and the second part specific to hard downhill efforts. Just as the short and sweet and long and strong hill workouts, the length and intensity of these intervals can vary based on the distance and incline of the hill.
Benefits of up and down intervals
These intervals will engage different muscles and energy systems, as well as help an athlete find strength and efficiency while running downhill.
Incorporating in the Training Cycle
These are important to incorporate throughout the training cycle, especially for trail runners planning on a rolling race, or road athletes who might be training for a downhill course. So often, the muscles and joints needed for strong downhill efforts are overlooked, which is a crucial way to improve running economy.
4. Long Hill Runs
Long Hill Runs are sustained workouts where an athlete runs uphill anywhere from 3-10 miles. For these workouts, seek out continuous climbing with varying grades. Rather than incorporating intervals, as done in the previous workouts, this is all about holding a steady state and finding a regular rhythm.
Benefits of Long Hill Runs
These workouts are almost entirely dedicated to building the slow-twitch muscles in the body while improving the athlete’s VO2 max as well as strength and stride. Of all of the hill workouts, this will build endurance more than any of the others and provide athletes with the ability to build confidence in their hill climbing abilities.
Incorporating in the Training Cycle
While beneficial for any athlete, these workouts will live more in the world of long-distance training, especially for trail or ultra runners training for a mountainous course. Early in the training cycle, a runner can start on the shorter side, aiming for twenty to thirty minutes of pure climbing, building their efforts throughout the season.
FAQs about Hill Training and Hill Running Workouts
Here are some commonly asked questions and concerns we hear from runners:
My goal race is flat – should I still include hill running workouts?
Yes, even if you aren’t racing on a hilly course, you can still benefit from including hill running workouts into your training.
As hill training improves overall strength, speed, and running economy, these workouts will benefit any athlete, even if they plan on a racing on a flat course.
Furthermore, adding varied terrain and workouts can help prevent injury or overuse.
How often should I be doing hill work?
A short-course road athlete might only need a few hill workouts per training cycle, as they are mixed in with speed work.
Long distance runners, especially ones who might be training for more hilly half and full marathons, could benefit from including one or two hill workouts per month.
A trail or ultra runner, especially one training for a mountainous race, might want to have some form of hill work included each week in their training plan, especially if struggling to find enough vertical gain during their long runs.
What strength exercises can I do to improve running uphill?
Engaging the posterior chain in strength training will help with more substantial hill running. Squats, glute bridges, calf raises, and planks are all helpful in activation and power in running hills.
Can I skip my speedwork and just run uphill?
Speed work is essential for any runner, even if they are training for a long, slow mountainous race. Speed work is utilized the best if incorporated or alternating with speed work.
Do you have more questions about running hills, or hill running workouts? Leave a comment below!
Lexi Miller is a UESCA Certified Run Coach and Endurance Sports Nutrition Coach, as well as a TrainingPeaks Level 2 Running Coach. She works primarily with distance runners (especially those focused on the marathon and ultramarathon distances.) Lexi also specializes in coaching skiing (uphill, downhill, and nordic) mountaineering, backpacking, adventure racing, and general mountain athletes.
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