can anyone give me a quick ‘how to’ for doing some short speedwork reps on a hill, i.e. duration, amount, rest period?

i’ve got a short and steep hill outside my house and i’m looking for a quick fix to supplement my regular steady runs (i run up to 10k).

just looking for a bit of fat burning and a bit of speed in my legs.

Hill reps are one of the most time efficient ways of improving stamina, speed and strength.
Its hard to be specific without knowing a number of factors but it simply boils down to running them very hard with a recovery jog that allows you to run 10-15 but if it is a particularly long hill then this may vary.
Run till yer eyeballs pop and repeat weekly and you will start to see result.

Make sure you just don’t walk out the front door and start legging it up the hill (but I’m sure you wont)

A good 2 mile warm up… and if it’s that short, try to hit it 10 times taking your rest period as you slowly trott back down to the bottom. Finish off with a 1 mile cool down

Just to note

That will probably get boring…. if there’s is 1 hill surely there must be others around…. just loop them up…. with a decent warm up aim to be out as long time wise as a 10k would take you.

Hills reps btw … do work

I’d start by adding a session maybe once a week. Find a steady hill about 60-90s long. Run up, jog down, repeat. Try six to start with.

When you get into it a bit more you can mix the sessions up a bit more -shorter and harder, longer and steadier, add more reps, etc. If you do the same thing, you’ll just get good at that. If you plan too many you’ll subconsciously ‘save’ too much – I sometimes plan to do a certain number and then trick myself into more 🙂

I sometimes plan to do a certain number and then trick myself into more

that sounds stupid but I’ve realise that I do that to myself on bike rides quite a lot.

stever – Member
I’d start by adding a session maybe once a week. Find a steady hill about 60-90s long. Run up, jog down, repeat. Try six to start with.

When you get into it a bit more you can mix the sessions up a bit more -shorter and harder, longer and steadier, add more reps, etc. If you do the same thing, you’ll just get good at that. If you plan too many you’ll subconsciously ‘save’ too much – I sometimes plan to do a certain number and then trick myself into more

Sounds about right as a start. The real art is to pick the amount to do, then do every single one in a time within 2 seconds plus/minus of the first rep, and on your last one, be on your knees when you finish.

This means you need to be able to concretely assess what you’re capable of before you start, and ensure that the initial pacing is something you can keep up.

Doing them and slowing down on each is less effective.

I do sprints flat out up a hill, about 40-50s worth, with a bit of a

Devastatingly effective, both running and biking.

The principle is that the body reacts to stress and it takes a few weeks of repeating that stress for the adaptation to take place.

The real art is to pick the amount to do, then do every single one in a time within 2 seconds plus/minus of the first rep, and on your last one, be on your knees when you finish.

is spot on but after keeping the session the same for, say 4 weeks, it’ll feel easier and you can then adapt it to do either more reps, faster reps or steeper reps.

I’d maybe start with 6*1min reps at first, working on getting to the same point on the hill for all 6.

Try not to vomit on the last one!

cheers guys, good advice thanks.

One small note. Ask yourself why you are doing hill reps. If it’s because you want to get better at running up hills then fine. If you want to be able to run faster you may be better off doing sprint reps on the flat (or working out some other method of increasing the resistance, maybe just shallow inclines that don’t impact form too much.) Point is your running form is different up hills and specificity is important, you want to be targeting the systems that will help you most with your goal. And also you’re less likely to do yourself an injury!

i’ve got a short and steep hill outside my house and i’m looking for a quick fix to supplement my regular steady runs (i run up to 10k).
just looking for a bit of fat burning and a bit of speed in my legs.

You’re probably better off doing sprints on the flat 🙂

This is an excellent book on training with the specific emphasis on (as the title would infer) running faster. It does detail hill reps and fartlecks and a good deal of other (in my opinion) excellent advice.

I have that book and although I am a fan of Julian Goater (who won the national by an unbelievable margin) I would disagree. I think it is just re hashed generic stuff. Lots of other better books around.
As an aside I used to train on a hill where I used to live where he apparently did hill reps 🙂

Also consider joining your local running club who do coached track sessions – the competition with other runners helps you push yourself harder and you’ll learn an unbelievable amount about best practice training in general. It’s also much more social and therefore you tend to do more of it

If you want to be able to run faster you may be better off doing sprint reps on the flat (or working out some other method of increasing the resistance, maybe just shallow inclines that don’t impact form too much.) Point is your running form is different up hills and specificity is important, you want to be targeting the systems that will help you most with your goal. And also you’re less likely to do yourself an injury!

Such a lot I disagree with here!
Hill reps work a range of muscles and although you are climbing and running more slowly they work much of the same regions as well as your cardiovascular system so are beneficial for speed.
Running up actually places less stress on joints etc than running on the flat and Seb Coe who ran the fastest half mile of his day incorporated hill repetitions regularly with devastating effect (as did his peers)
The exaggerated arm and leg action is very specific!

I have said before that the most time/effort efficient method of training is intervals. Hill reps are resistance intervals.

Also less likely to injure yourself doing hills, I reckon. I find it hard to run flat out on lumpy uneven pavement, feels like I am about to hurt something.

Also consider joining your local running club who do coached track sessions – the competition with other runners helps you push yourself harder and you’ll learn an unbelievable amount about best practice training in general. It’s also much more social and therefore you tend to do more of it

Yup. Support your local running club.

Such a lot I disagree with here!

I thought there would be 🙂

I have said before that the most time/effort efficient method of training is intervals.

Yup. Though does need to be built up slowly. Some people hear that and then just launch into nothing but intervals, then inevitably get injured.

Hill reps are resistance intervals.

Yeah, though unless you really need to be running up hills or need a big kick of a finishing sprint, then you’re probably better off on shallower gradients for resistance.

Also less likely to injure yourself doing hills, I reckon.

Tend to disagree with this. Lots of potential for lower leg problems if you go and do reps of steep stuff.

In terms of strain, perhaps, but I was thinking about impact injuries like jarring or stumbling. Certainly for me the local pavements are too rough to sprint on on the flat.

Yup. Though does need to be built up slowly. Some people hear that and then just launch into nothing but intervals, then inevitably get injured

Then they are a bit dense aren’t they? Who are these people? Are they made of straw perhaps?

Tend to disagree with this. Lots of potential for lower leg problems if you go and do reps of steep stuff.

Stride for stride probably less likely to injur yourself running up hill than running fast on the flat as Molly says. As long as your downhill recoveries aren’t to fast. Running fast on the flat really needs quite a large area of uninterrupted ground or track. Another reason hills are so good, you dont need to drive and pay for a track as you can usually find something within warm up distance.
A method I prefer is to find a loop that includes some hills and run it several times.