My weekly workout schedule always (rain, snow or shine) includes at least one session of hill sprints. When I first started doing them, it was a love-hate relationship, and now I’m in a committed all-love relationship with them. The individual sprints don’t get easier, and that’s the point – it’s hard to hit a plateau when it feels like you’re dying after each one. But what has improved is my:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

⚡ 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞: when I first started, I could only do 5. And then when I increased it to 10, I had to count to 5 twice; counting to 10 felt too daunting;⁣⁣⁣

⚡ 𝐌𝐲 𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐜 & 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲: I now can do 20 sprints, before I feel like I’m completely taxed out⁣⁣⁣;

⚡ 𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧: and now, I actually crave it because the runner’s high is amazing⁣⁣⁣;

⁣⁣⁣⚡ 𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: my heart rate and breathing normalizes pretty quickly afterwards, by the time I jog light back down⁣⁣⁣;

Whether you’re new to running, or are a seasoned long distance runner, the benefits of hill sprints (hill repeats, if you can’t go full out) translate over to traditional flat terrain running.⁣⁣⁣

Additional Benefits:

  • 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭: you don’t have to run for an hour. After a good warm up (i.e. a nice jog to your preferred hill), depending on your fitness level, you only need 10-20 minutes to do your sprints⁣⁣⁣;
  • 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 + 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬:⁣⁣⁣
    1) Because it’s time efficient, you don’t need to run long distances and for hours (which over time can be rough on your knees);⁣⁣⁣
    2) Running up on an incline is actually better on your knees than pounding on flat pavement; because of the angle of the hill, the distance between your foot and the ground is less, resulting in less impact on your joints.⁣⁣⁣
  • 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 & 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: even more than distance running; the EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) is greater and leaves your metabolism stoked for 24-48 hours after your run;
  • 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝟎𝟐 𝐦𝐚𝐱: the amount of oxygen your body can consume and deliver to your muscles during intense exercise⁣⁣⁣;
  • 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 compared to flat terrain sprints: even though you are running at your max effort, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯⁣⁣⁣;
  • 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬⁣: your best effort at running at sub-max speed is enough in gaining these benefits⁣⁣;
  • 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲: because of the incline, the sprints require more muscle recruitment of your posterior chain (low back, glutes, hamstrings, calves), not just your hamstrings (like in flat terrain running), thereby allowing a shared load of training stress. Weak glutes is a common concern for runners; adding strength exercises and hill sprints can help offset that;
  • 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝: the intensity of an exercise where your body cannot remove the lactate as fast as it is accumulating in your bloodstream⁣⁣⁣;
  • 𝐈𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 (𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦): sprinting has an anabolic (building) effect on your muscles; whereas long duration steady state cardio can have a catabolic (breakdown of muscle) effect once you hit the one-hour mark⁣⁣⁣;
  • 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦: it encourages you to run with your knees high, naturally aggressive arm and shoulder action and striking the ground with your mid-foot and forefoot (not heel)⁣⁣⁣;
  • 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: when you’re really pushing it and are struggling, you don’t have the luxury of getting bored⁣⁣⁣;
  • Because of the strength and power needed to power up the hills, it 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠⁣ and it’s great training for the last 100m sprint you have to the 10k finish line

⁣⁣⁣Should you add hill sprints or hill repeats
(running modestly, not sprinting full out)?

𝐘𝐄𝐒! 𝐀𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬.⁣⁣⁣

Comment below 👇
and let me know your relationship with sprinting and trekking up hills.

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