Hill Training

Even if you are not a glutton for punishment who likes to push yourself up the neighbourhood hill or working toward a race with a significant uphill section, hill training should be an integral part of your training program. By understanding and applying the science of hill running, you can improve your training program to maximize the benefits of this low-impact, high-benefit type of workout.

Description

Depending on where you live, hills may be a part of your training each day or you may never see them!

Hills are a wonderful way to add some resistance to your training. When you overcome resistance to your training, your muscles get stronger and the intensity of your training increases. Runners have used hills for decades as a way to increase endurance, strength and speed.

Tips

We talk about how to do the hill sessions. First, and not surprisingly, you should find a hill. The hill should be 400-600 m in length and should have an incline of 6-8%. Prior to starting the hill session, be sure that you have warmed up and are relaxed and fluid. If after your warm-up you still feel fatigued from the previous day, do not do the hill session. This high-quality session should only be done when you are fully ready to work hard. For those of you taking our in-store programs this session will include us actually taking you out to our favourite hills and bringing you through a hill workout.