Hill Workouts--Learn to Love 'Em!

Hills. You either love 'em or hate 'em. Most hate 'em. I tend to be in the minority and actually look forward to the hills in a run. Granted a flat course is great for a PR, but my body actually tends to fatigue quicker on a flat course. I think I need those hills to activate different muscle groups while giving the "flat-road-running muscles" a break. Sometimes a well positioned hill is just what I need to pull out of a running funk. Of course, you need to be conditioned to those hills, so when they appear they'll be a help and not a hindrance. I think it's many runners' avoidance of hills that make them dislike them so when the come upon one. Their bodies aren't ready for the physical demands of running a hill.

There are a variety of hill workouts that are great to sprinkle into your training mix. Actually, even if you're not in training for a race, adding some hills to your regular routine can really do wonders to your endurance and pace. It can also jack up your metabolism and help you avoid that extra weight gain that often comes with constant low-intensity mileage. Running hills involves all the leg muscles--calves, glutes, hamstrings and quads. When running the hill, you repeatedly fire all these muscles with basically no rest until the walk back down the hill. This builds speed and muscular endurance. It also involves activating some muscle memory so during a race when you come upon that sudden hill, your muscles won't be shocked that you're asking them to run up the hill at full force.

Google "hill workout" and you'll get a zillion different versions. I have three that I like to use with my runners--short hill repeats, intermediate hill repeats and long hill staggered intervals.

Short Hill Repeats:
Find a hill that has a 5-10% grade that's about 100m. (Not sure how long that is? It's a hill that takes about 30-45secs to run.)  Before the workout, do a 1/2-mile to 1-mile easy warm-up run to get your heart rate up and warm-up your muscles. (Never hop out of the car and charge a hill. That's a hammie pull just waiting to happen.) After the warm-up, position yourself at the bottom of the hill. Run to the top as fast as you can. Think 5K-race pace. You'll be running in or close to an anaerobic state instead of an aerobic state, so you're lungs may feel like they're burning and your breathing will be pretty rapid. Try not to let your breathing rate get out of control. Even though you'll "feel the burn" your breathing should consist of good deep inhales and exhales. Once at the top of the hill, turn and walk back down. This is your recovery period. Once at the bottom of the hill, turn and charge back up. A 4 x 100 workout would mean you're doing four 100m uphill repeats (doesn't count the walks back down). I recommend starting with the 4 x 100 and work your way up to a 10 x 100.

Intermediate Hill Repeats: 
This workout is basically the same as the short hill workout but it's done on a longer hill. Not a steeper hill, but one that has about a 6% grade and will take you about 90 secs to run (about 200m). Begin with the warm-up described in the short hill workout. After the warm-up, position yourself at the bottom of the hill. Your pace will be fast, but not quite as fast as the short hill repeat workout. Think 10K-race pace. Once at the top of the hill, turn and walk back down. This is your recovery period. Once at the bottom of the hill, turn and charge back up. Don't forget to use a good strong arm swing as you run up the hill. Arms bent at 90 degrees, swinging beside not in front of the body. A 4 x 200 workout would mean you're doing four 200m uphill repeats (doesn't count the walks back down). I recommend starting with the 4 x 200 and work your way up to a 10 x 200.

Long Hill Staggered Intervals:
This is a tough but awesome workout. Find a long steady hill that's about a 1/2-mile long. The grade can be about 5-7%. Before the workout, do the warm-up described in the short hill workout. After the warm-up, position yourself at the bottom of the hill. Your pace will be fast, but not quite as fast at the short hill repeat workout. Think 10K-race pace. Run up the hill for 30 seconds, then turn and walk back down the hill for 30 seconds. Because you're walking, you won't make it back down to where you started. After the 30-sec recovery-walk down the hill, turn and run fast back up the hill for 30 seconds. Repeat this staggered interval process until you reach the top of the hill. For the first workout, one trip to the top of the hill will be fine. Eventually work up to 2 or 3 total hill climbs.

One hill workout a week is plenty, especially if you're doing other quality workouts such as a tempo run or long run. Hill workouts are pretty low impact, especially as compared to downhill running. However, people still often get injured doing hill repeats. Usually this comes from having weak hamstrings or glutes. It's a great idea to do some leg conditioning exercises to build some leg strength before adding hill workouts to your plan. Squats, hamstring leg lifts, lateral lunges, and step-ups are great exercises for building posterior leg strength.

Hill Workouts on the Treadmill

Even if you’re not training for a race, mixing up your weekly runs is a great way to make you a stronger more efficient runner. Adding a weekly hill workout is a great way to “mix-it-up.” Runners usually have a love-hate relationship with hills. It’s one of those things that you dread, but love after you’ve completed it.

Why the dread? Well, they’re hard. They’re hard for a reason. The incline of the hill helps strengthen all of the lower-body muscles, especially the glutes and hamstrings. The increased speed needed to climb that hill helps boost your VO2Max (your body’s ability to take in oxygen and get it to the muscle to make energy) as well as push out your lactate threshold (the point at which you feel that fatiguing burn in your legs). Boosting all three of these areas does a lot to make you a stronger, faster, more efficient runner. Whether you’re a marathon endurance runner or a speedy 5K racer, weekly hill workouts can be of great benefit to your training.

A problem for many runners is the availability of hills. So, what’s a runner to do? The answer is as close as your nearest treadmill. Yep, you can get in a great hill workout right on your in-home or gym treadmill. Even if you do live in an area with hills, it can be hard to find just the right hill or hills to fit your training needs. The treadmill eliminates that problem by allowing you the ability to determine the length of your hill as well as the degree of incline. Most treadmills have a range of inclines from 1°-12°and some even go higher.

An important element of any hill workout (whether beginner or experienced) is the warm-up. It’s never a good idea to expose your body to intense speed work or steep inclines without first warming-up your muscles. So, before any hill workout, it’s best to begin with a 1-mile easy jog at 0° incline.

If you’re a newbie to hill work, it’s best to gradually introduce your body to the various inclines. If you’re a new runner or even an experienced runner who hasn’t done much hill running, the muscles and tendons in your legs may not yet have the strength for intense and/or steep hill work. Instead of discovering that the hard way by becoming injured, start out slow, gradually increase your leg strength, and before you know it you’ll be conquering any degree of incline. Often runners new to hill workouts, think they need a huge degree of incline in order to get an effective workout. Actually you don’t need much more than a 7° incline to get a great hill workout. Also keep in mind that a lower the degree of incline can involve a longer distance run and a higher degree of incline will involve a shorter distance run.

Below is a good beginner and intermediate pyramid hill workout. It’s called a pyramid because the runner begins at 0° incline, builds up to a designated degree of incline, and then works his/her way back down to 0° again. (You should be able to run at least 5-miles with ease before attempting these workouts.)

The Beginner Pyramid
Run 1-mile at an easy pace at 0° incline.
Run ¾ -mile at an easy pace at 1° incline.
Run ½ -mile at an easy pace at 2° incline.
Run ¼ -mile at an easy pace at 3° incline.
Run ½ -mile at an easy pace at 2° incline.
Run ¾ -mile at an easy pace at 1° incline.
Run 1-mile at an easy pace at 0° incline.

The Intermediate Pyramid
Run 1-mile at an easy pace at 0° incline.
Run 1-mile at an easy pace at 2° incline.
Run ¾-mile at an easy pace at 3° incline.
Run ½-mile at an easy pace at 4° incline.
Run ¼-mile at an easy pace at 5° incline.
Run ½-mile at an easy pace at 4° incline.
Run ¾-mile at an easy pace at 3° incline.
Run 1-mile at an easy pace at 2° incline.

Your everyday “outside” running routes most likely have hills dispersed intermittently throughout the route. Use the following workout to help condition your body to be able to deal with hills that pop-up during a run.

Intermittent Hill Workout
Run 1-mile at your regular pace at 0° incline.
Run ¼ -mile at a slightly faster pace at 2° incline.
Continue with the same pace and run ¼ -mile at 3° incline.
Continue with the same pace and run ¼ -mile at 4° incline.
Continue with the same pace and run ¼ -mile at 5° incline.
Run 1-mile at your regular pace at 0° incline.
Repeat this cycle twice for a 6-mile run or three times for a 9-mile run.

Hill workouts can also be used as an alternative to a speed workout. This type of workout is typically done outside as hill repeats, such as a 10 x 100m hill repeat. It’s a little further, but to make it easier to track the distance on a treadmill, change the 100m to 1/10th of a mile. If this type of workout is new to you, start with a 4 x .1-mile and work your way up to a 6 x .1-mile and eventually get to an 8 x .1-mile workout.

Surge the Hill Repeats
Run 1-mile at an easy pace at 0° incline (Warm-Up Mile)
Run .1 mile at maximum speed at a 10° incline (Speed Interval)
Run .1 mile at an easy pace at a 0° incline (Recovery Interval)
Run .1 mile at maximum speed at a 10° incline (Speed Interval)
Run .1 mile at an easy pace at a 0° incline (Recovery Interval)
Run .1 mile at maximum speed at a 10° incline (Speed Interval)
Run .1 mile at an easy pace at a 0° incline (Recovery Interval)
Run .1 mile at maximum speed at a 10° incline (Speed Interval)
Run .1 mile at an easy pace at a 0° incline (Recovery Interval)

The Hills Are Alive!

The hills are alive,

With the sound of footsteps

With grunts they have born for a thousand years

The hills fill my ears,

With the groans of runners

My gut wants to puke

Every step I take

-

My heart wants to beat

Like in spastic shock

As I lie on the ground looking up to the trees

My lungs give a sigh

As they wheeze and collapse

From the torture they've endured

Okay, Okay, I'll stop. I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about. And no it's not the Von Trapp Family singers. Although, you know, Julie Andrews did do an awful lot or running with that brood of kids she tended. I'm thinking they probably were there first to wear team uniforms. I'm thinking that curtain fabric didn't' have much on today's techno-fabrics though. But I digress.... the point of this post is to talk about hills.

When you mention speed workouts, things like intervals, repeats, fartleks, Kenyan Out-and-backs, and tempo runs come to mind for many runners. But hill workouts are often overlooked by the average runner. Now this could be on purpose. You know, kind of like when Maria chose to have the kids sing even after the Captain strictly forbid music in the house. Sometimes, like in the case of Maria, it's for the good and then other times it's more of an avoidance which can be more for the bad. Many runners avoid hills because, well dang-it, they're tough. They make you sweat. Your heart races. You feel like you're going to pass out. And you ache all over. Man, those symptoms could be for either someone in love or someone with the flu.

Anywho...it's time we stop avoiding such a great workout. I read in Matt Fitzgerald's book, Run: The Mind-Body Method of Running By Feel, about famous distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie's (aka: Geb) favorite workout. It happens to be a hill workout. Well in this case, it's actually a Mountain workout. Let me clarify a bit more...it's a 90-minute run straight up Entoto Mountain. He says he likes it because it's his toughest workout. He also likes it because once he gets to the top, he loves the feeling of accomplishment that he's conquered the mountain.

Well, you don't have to go to Africa and run a mountain to get in some good hill workouts. A moderate hill with just a 5-7% incline will do nicely. Doesn't have to be long either—100m, 200m, 400m, any length will do.

Okay, Geb's story may have motivated you just a little and you may be pondering where the hills are in your neighborhood by now, but you may still be wondering why you should subject yourself to such a hard workout. Well, hill work provides a whole bunch of benefits (almost as many as there are Von Trap kids).

• Help increase your VO2Max (how well your body takes in and utilizes oxygen)
• Strengthens your calf muscles which help propel you forward
• Increases your power and speed
• Helps increase endurance (especially longer hills like Geb's mountain)
• Can help increase your stride or foot turnover
• Helps improve arm movement which is key in helping drive you forward develops maximum

So how do you do a hill workout? Well, there are very formal workouts that you can research and follow, but it really doesn't have to be that complicated for us Maria's of the running world. Typically shorter distance runners stick with short hills (something up to 100m) and distance runners may run hills that are 100m, 200m, 400m or longer. But you know, if you're a distance runner and the only hill near you is 50m, you can still get in a good workout.

The hills don't have to be very steep either. A modest grade of 5-7% is good. You should be able to carry out a fairly normal stride when running the hill. You'll exert more energy, but it shouldn't be so steep that you look like you're doing the Olympic ski jump. Find a moderate hill with a distance that will allow about a 30sec+ run.

So find a good hill and run up it. That's pretty much it. Well, okay, run up it more than once. Well actually run up it about 6-10 times. Start small and over time, work your way up to the higher number of repeats. Basically, treat the workout like an interval workout at the track. Kind of like a 6x200m. Run the hill at a brisk pace (depending on the grade of the hill, your 5K or 10K pace). Then walk or jog back down the hill and repeat. If you're running a long hill try running uphill for 30secs, and then walk down for 30 secs, then run up for 30 secs, then down again for 30 secs. Gradually you'll make your way up to the top of the hill covering the entire length of the hill.

Don't limit yourself to just running one hill either. If you live in an area with hills, plan one of your hill workouts to be a continuous run that's along a route with numerous hills of different grades. There's a park near my neighborhood that has a 1.5-mile loop around a small lake and half of the route is very hilly. Two or three loops around the lake makes for a great hill-run.

Don't have any hills where you live? Then hop on a treadmill and set the incline to 5-7% and run for 30 secs then reduce the grade to 1% and walk or jog for 30secs and then repeat for 6-10 times. Ta dah! Hill work!

So, get out and run some hills! Make those hills come alive with the sound of footsteps!