TRAINING
HIT THE HILLS
How hill training benefits distance runners
Gregory Taylor of Minneapolis runs up a hill at the mississippi 10-miler in May. Photo by Wayne Kryduba
BY DENNIS BARKER
D
istance runners are constantly
advised to run hills in training. But looking at specific hill workouts reveals quite a variety of actual training methods. There are several different hill training techniques which vary in length and steepness of the hill, the intensity of the run up the hill, what the body action is and whether it is done as an interval workout or as a straight run on a hilly route. Some of these have more
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application to training for specific events but using a mix of them will improve any runner’s strength and speed. There are four specific hill training techniques that benefit distance runners. While the training effects vary, they can all be considered strength work due to the increased work done by the leg, arm and trunk muscles than what is required while running on level ground. This improves running economy (the ability to run faster without significantly increasing energy expenditure) and strengthens muscles used for acceleration, which improves speed.
The four types are running a hilly route, running a series of long hills from 400 to 600 meters on a gradual incline, running a series of short hills from 50 to 150 meters on a steeper incline and hill bounding, or as Arthur Lydiard called it springing. Running a hilly route provides a variety of challenge due to the different lengths and percent incline of each hill encountered. The run should be done using a steady pace on the flats, attacking the uphills and easier on the downhills. This is an aerobic workout even though the aerobic limit may be pushed occa-
