Whether you’re training for a hilly race or just want to get stronger and faster, hill workouts should be a part of your plan. Depending upon your own goals, there are several types of hill workouts that provide different benefits. Here are three workouts that should be a part of your training program.
3 Hill Workouts to Get Stronger and Faster
Love them or hate them, hill workouts make us better runners. They've been called 'speed work in disguise.' Here are 3 hill workouts that will help make you a stronger, faster runner. #runningClick To Tweet
#1 Farlek Hill Running
This is a great workout to do as you start to build your mileage for any race distance. It also makes a good substitute for a speed workout. The ideal route will consist of rolling type hills, but steeper hills within the workout are fine. You will be challenging yourself both on the uphills and the downhills. Your effort should be about 85-90%, about what it would be during a 10k or an effort you could sustain for about an hour. Recover by slowing your pace and effort on the flats.
Always make sure to spend some time warming up and cooling down on more level terrain.
#2 Long and Low Hills
For this workout find hills with about a 5% grade that are 150-200 meters long. Because of the lower grade, these intervals will benefit your aerobic system and should be done at an effort about equal to your 5k, about 90-95%.
This is a good workout during pre-season training, starting about two months out from your goal race.
#3 Short and Sweet Hill Workout
Finally, these short steep intervals will improve your anaerobic system, which is good for sprinting (think of that finishing kick). Find a short hill that is pretty steep, about 8-15%. Pay attention to your form, think upright, not bent over, and use your arms to drive you up the hills.
A training plan that includes one hill workout per week, or alternating with speed workout every other week will improve your fitness, speed, and strength.
I find that most people either love or hate hill workouts (or love to hate them). Where do you stand?
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These are great suggestions, Debbie!
My coach has given me 600 m hill repeats on an 8% gradient. My biggest challenge isn’t the workout, it’s figuring out how to find an 8% hill! 😄
How do you usually work that out?
The area I live is very hilly. Even just running out the door gives me a hill, though it’s about 3-4%. The trails near my home have steeper options though, including one pretty long one that’s about 8-10%.
When my husband and I were coaching high school cross country we had a place that we called the Valley of the Champions. You had to run up a mild hill to get there but it had three options. Steep, steeper, and monster. 🙂 We took our team there once a week. It’s been over 20 years since some of them graduated and they still talk about it.
Anyway, it can be tough if you’re not in a hilly area (though Switzerland?).
Yes! Plenty of hills in Switzerland, fortunately, only not right outside my door like you have it!
I forgot to mention that most of the photos I used for the workout graphics are from the Valley of the Champions and that’s our team running up them. 🙂
These are great workouts! I usually do hill strides once a week. They dont require alot of recovery but really help with power and turnover.
Hill strides are great! They’re tough but they’re over soon enough. 🙂
Sadly, most of these would have to be on the treadmill for me. We have zero hills, with the exception of our intercoastal bridges. Those make for awesome runs, but not a regular thing.
Hills are so wonderful for a comprehensive training plan.