Hills: Incline and Interval Workouts
Spring is here and that means hills (at least in my mind). Whether you love them or hate them, there’s no denying how effective hill running is for building fitness. I’ve already written a lot about hills here: Hill Running, and here: Runner's World Contribution: Hill Running
… so today I want to talk about hill inclines and how to create hill workouts.
Notes to start:
1) Hill workouts should begin conservatively. The goal should always be to work into it so that the final interval can be as good or better than the first. With a decent foundation of fitness, hills can feel high on the scale of perceived effort because the recovery portions are relatively long (equal in distance, but longer in duration than the intervals).
2) These are my recommendations. They are not rules. This blog will give the reader an idea of how I program workouts using hills. That being said, I design workouts with the hills available to me, and the hills available to my clients wherever they live. I do not prescribe hill intervals on treadmills.
3) Hills generally are not uniformly steep. Longer hills will have flatter portions and steeper portions to result in an overall incline grade over the distance covered. Adjust effort and speed at different inclines.
Finding a fit: choose a workout that suits the hill
It doesn’t make sense to run the same hill workout on wildly different hills, so I recommend either starting with the hill, determining the incline and choosing (or creating) a workout that suits the terrain OR pick your workout and then scouting for a suitable hill. I think the latter is trickier. It’s a lot easier to use whatever hills you have readily available and then figuring out what workout makes sense.
Calculating Incline:
I use mappedometer.com to map routes and see elevation change over distance. I use this information to calculate the incline.
Extreme hills >8%
No need to run hard or fast on very steep inclines, but no need to avoid them during regular runs either (unless you’re managing any pains that require staying on flat ground). Steep inclines are good for mobility because they force your body into a different position than required when running on flat ground. And they are good for building strength because muscles are used in different ways than running flat and because of the added resistance from gravity on the incline.
Incline 5.8%
This hill is ~150meters.
I use it for the Steep Hill workout, and since it’s not very long, I run quite hard and fast up this hill for workouts, with an unhurried jog back down.
Steep Hills ~6-7%
I typically use these hills for shorter intervals with faster running, but not max sprinting. Anywhere from 200m up to 600m (+/- a quarter mile) these intervals can be relatively high intensity because the recovery is significant to get back to the starting point. Jog or walk/jog combination to get back to the bottom of the hill. I would start at 6 intervals but could go up to 12 depending on the fitness of the runner and their goals.
Moderate Hills ~4-6%
This kind of inline is ideal for long hill intervals, like 0.5mile up to a full mile. I generally do not plan very many intervals in this kind of workout simply because the recovery is so long (you have to get back down to the start). I would prescribe ending a short hill workout or other interval workout to end with a single long uphill interval OR maybe 3-6 total long hill repeats depending on how long the hill is.
Slight Hills ~3-4%
Best for hill sprints. 10-15seconds at the most. This kind of hill is similar to pulling a sled or chute on a flat sprint. The hill should add resistance but not prevent you from feeling like you’re sprinting. The inline will force the body into an even more dynamic position (high knee drive on lead leg, rear leg extension, increased ankle flexion and dorsiflexion) than would be required on flat ground sprinting.
For this kind of hill workout, I recommend long rests (longer than the time needed to jog back to the bottom of the hill.). I would generally give ~3minutes recovery between intervals, with about 8-10 total intervals.
Subtle Downhills -1%
A little downhill can help a runner find some extra speed & turnover (increased cadence). Running downhill tempts us to take big long strides (overstriding) but it’s pretty easy to identify that natural pull to overstride. We are very aware of it. And so we can work to avoid overstriding by taking quicker steps. Focus on striking the ground only slightly ahead of the body instead of way out ahead of the body.
Downhill running also helps to access speeds that generally take a lot of effort to reach on flat ground.
In general focus should be on running fast without a lot of effort, and with a lot of control. Do not practice max effort downhill.
Significant Downhills
Not really recommended for intervals except for runners preparing to run on elevation-aided courses, like the REVEL races. Lots of downhill running is really tough on quads and knees. Of course, if you are running hill workouts, the recovery is always downhill, to get back to the bottom for the next interval, and this is excellent. When it comes to intentional downhill fast interval running, that is what I specifically don’t include in my training programs except as noted above.
Nicole Sifuentes is a full-time Running Coach for adults of all ages and abilities. She is a former professional runner and 2-time Olympian, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Read more about her services, and schedule your free coaching consultation.