Benefits of Running Hills
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I ran with my parents again last Sunday but this time the part of the run we cool down on, my stepdad decided that we jog slowly instead. The challenge was there is a hill on the way back and it sucked what very little energy I had left right out of me. While many people probably don’t like hill training, there are some great benefits to adding it into your fitness routine.
Build Strength
Running on an incline is a form of resistance training and builds up the muscles in your calves, hamstrings, and glutes. Other benefits include:
- strengthens hip flexors
- strengthens achilles tendons
- strengthens muscles around your knees
- building strength enhances speed when you run flats
If you incorporate hill training into your workout, there are several things to be aware of.
Be Cautious Before Running Hills
- Avoid hill training if you are a beginner
- Build up your endurance and strength before attempting hill runs
- Don’t run hills if you are injured (especially in your calves and achilles tendons)
- Stretch properly before attempting a hill run
- Read up on hill training techniques to help avoid injury
Hill training doesn’t need to be done very often. Once per week is the usual recommendation that I have been finding. The little hill I ran up took a lot out of me so it’s a good idea to ease into it. However, I’m sure running on more inclines will build up my legs and have me running faster in no time.
References: Cool Running and Run Quick
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I have my treadmill set at a 2 degree incline and at this point I am not changing it - my intervals are just with speed, not incline.
At some point I want to add some incline changes because obviously that maps to the read world better. What would be a good incline change? Maybe bump it up just to 4 degrees during the middle of my run and see how that works?
I thought I heard on biggest loser that they were doing inclines > 10 degrees, I know I wouldn’t be ready for that yet.