[Closed] Exercises to improve running up hills?

run up hills, start (very) small, end big(ger). Beware running up hills destroys calves and achilles. be very carefull when starting out not to over do it - even just a handful of intervals up a small slope could have your calves screaming the next few days and potentially cause some nasty long term injuries. You've probably already considered it, but stretch lots!!

Hill sprints

Awesome exercises

Helvellyn tri?

Just get out and run lots of hill reps up and down. Short strides to keep cadence the same if possible, use your arms and watch your body position. How flexible are your calf muscles? Keep them well stretched.

Edit: x-post with cp!!

Beware running up hills destroys calves and achilles

Good point, hadn't occurred to me but this will probably be a big issue during the event. In reality I'm expecting to walk quickly rather than run most of it.

It's the Ben Nevis Tri in fact. Trail looks like it's paved with rocks and not very steep for most of it, so I might get away with some running.

Thanks folks, will find a steep hill that's not stairs.

Also tempted to try pushing my kids up hills in the trailer!

How about doing some fast paced hill walking followed by running back down. That way you learn to pace yourself and get a wee bit of technique practice for descending.

Agree with the others and I have heard people saying that they run up and down stairs a lot to help hill running and get the climbing in. I would have thought if you dont have hills then stairs would be the next best thing.
After climbing 10k feet at the weekend its my thighs that hurt still. Its the downhill thats going to get you but i suppose this is generally after the event Doms, Clues in the name!

Good luck with that mol! Make sure you do some bricks as well. The worst part of my first Hell Tri was transition 2 as my back was objecting to the abuse of the bike leg and up and down Kirkstone! First 800m of the run were agony until it eased off. Might be a good time to focus on HRM and allow occassional walk break if your heart rate is popping out of your tri zones on the up hill. Practice running down as well, especially on loose stuff. Falling on rocks in nothing but a tri suit is painful, I know!!

I'm doing Helvellyn, and need to start my going up steep hills training!!

I was considering Ben nevis tri, but have just looked at the bike route. They appear to have got the idea of an off road tri a little wrong - climb off road, then descend on the road!??! At least run it t'other way round if it can't all be off road...

The downhill.. hehe.. not worrying about that since it'll be last and I can collapse afterwards!

Cheers THM, but tri suit? Sod that! I'm going to get changed, assuming there's an option to. I'm not going to the top of Ben Nevis in September in half a leotard. Plus tri suits are expensive.

Haven't looked at the bike route in detail, just looked fairly smooth and straightforward to me, albeit with 500m climbing per lap.

I beat my fell running PB on my hilly training loop, set when I was about 15 years younger, by complete accident. Came back from 10 days in the Alps riding up the big climbs (we stayed in a Chalet in Alpe-d'Huez, so had to ride up it every day to get home) and when I came back I could just run up hills like they weren't there.

Include a few sets of burpees into your interval training. Excellent exercise for building strength, power and endurance. There's several different way of doing them, I prefer to lower my body to the floor after the squat thrust then lift my arms and feet off the floor before doing a full press up then closing the squat thrust and completing with a star jump. I find twelve or fifteen in a set is enough.

Interesting... big road climbs are more fun 🙂

There's no scrambling on the route the website shows, which is just the normal footpath. Much of that path is properly constructed footpath (sort of hard packed sand/grit) and will be no problem to run on.

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The steeper bits are rocky, some bits more even than others, but some of it is like going up steps.

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Closer to the summit it's like this

[img] [/img]

Enjoy the decent.
The second half of that route once you're off the loose stuff if amazing.

one of my favourites to race down, you can really carry momentum on foot, be carefull to not get too carried away with it though. Those rocks'll hurt a lot!

I had a nasty ankle tear coming off there a few years back, hobbled the last 2-3 miles to finish (different event) then got a taxi straight to the hospital at 3 in the morning for an xray and crutches to So I'd have a chance to catch a flight home from Glasgow the following day. 3-4 weeks on crutches in the end 😳

running up the hard packed stuff's ok the loose stuff on the zigzags is bloody horrible up or down, the top section gets easier too.

I assume there's no short cutting the zigzags allowed? I think it's stipulated by the powers that be for all organised events for obvious reasons, the erosion in places is pretty bad. The Race I've done puts a few SI dibbers up to ensure nobody short cuts

I hope the don't sanitise any more of it

Thanks for the route advice and pictures people, that really helps actually. I'd googled and found pics of the lower stuff but not the top. It's not as steep as I was thinking at the top.

The smoother stuff looks like it'll be harder on the way up, I reckon. For me anyway as a not-very-good runner.

Hill reps. I've got a steep 200' hill climb in the woods 2 minutes away, that gets me fit for a lot of stuff. 1000+' climbing in half an hour. Longer version on the road I use on the bike, about 400' a rep. There's plenty of crossover in hill strength from running/biking at punter level.

I'd be more worried about the strength of my ankles.

Tempted to wear my (very) light walking boots instead of trail shoes.

I would be more worried about meeting a bogtrotter coming the other way 😉

A wobble board (mine's home made from some left over ply and a carpet tile) or a wobble cushion or at least doing one legged squats (moving on to doing it with your eye's shut) to strengthen your ankle and improve Proprioception and balance which can help save you/your ankles long before you can react to an imminent twist/fall

you can also do things like brushing your teeth while stood on one leg with a slightly bent knee too

Exercises to improve running up hills?

Where do you live molgrips?

I find that the best exercise for me is the rowing machine

I live in Cardiff, currently working in Preston though.

I live in Cardiff, currently working in Preston though.

Plenty of hills then. I seem to remember you tend to be short on spare time though, it'd be worth recreating the total ascent and descent on a decent hill in training.

Most of my club do the Ben Nevis Hill race every year, most of them seem to manage it with little more than one or two runs with the same ascent. Kentmere Horsehoe would fit the bill and not too far from Preston, with and early start you can back on the M6 by lunch. I'm sure Pendle can offer something similar with a bit of repetition. No shortage of hills in sunny south wales either.

I've never done an uphill running race, but had to carry my bike in a few races, in pre-running days, and never had any injuries - taking long strides makes it similar to cycling doesn't it?

http://laidbackfellrunner.blogspot.co.uk/2011_11_01_archive.html?m=1

I dont remember the path being paved like that on friday evening.

i think the weather has made it rougher

the zig zags are a bit horrible going up as its loose and there are lots of big rocks on the other parts. i quite liked the soft stuff on the zig zags going down as it cushioned yer knees.

MG; I've a good loop of the Garth that covers some decent ascent if you want, first one is long and steady (25 mins) the other is steep and hard (14 mins).....that'd be good for starters.

Ride a single speed, since I started I find sprinting uphill is much easier. I only do the odd sprint with carrying bike mind.

Running up steps is harder that running up the same incline with just a slope so to help over come this you need leg strength

obviously running up hills helps, but vary your hills.

also try some lunges, pistol squats, step ups and jumping exercises are good and burpees, dont forget them calves and also try finishing off with some bunny jumps or something, you will look like a **** but will burn them thighs a treat.

i find running hard work compared to the bike but im getting there, looking forward to the 10k brutal run in august and hillx in sept

Garth - good idea. Plenty of steep hills around that I could easily do reps of. Should get out there.

it'd be worth recreating the total ascent and descent on a decent hill in training.

Yeah.. well the biggest hill in South Wales is Pen y Fan. A nice run, but I'd have to do it TWICE! 😯

Running up steps is harder that running up the same incline with just a slope

Surely a slope is harder on your achilles though?

Running up hills might be good practice for running up hills.

Tom, much as I would like to run Ben Nevis every weekend, it's not really practical. Whilst I will aim to get out and do some big fell runs between now and September, some form of targetted strength training might help without requiring a big time commitment.

Hence the question now stop being such a smartarse (if that was what you were trying to do! 🙂 )

He is right though - lots of good recommendations on here. Personally I'd suggest getting out in the hills and running up them, whether that's intervals on shorter hills or longer bashes on bigger hills. Far better than any form of strength training. Doesn't really matter if all you've got is only half the height - climbing up that will still be good training, though as suggested you could always do it twice.

Though I'd really not recommend neglecting training for running down - it might seem easy and be at the end, but it's something which is surprisingly tough, and not well trained by doing anything else. The eccentric contractions are very hard work if you're not used to them.

Far better than any form of strength training.

As above - the strength training was intended to supplement hill training (obviously) for the times I can't get out.

But yes you make a good point about running down. I seem to remember hearing before that you can't train for running down any other way.

My local runs are all somewhat hilly, so I've got that at least.

Yeah.. well the biggest hill in South Wales is Pen y Fan. A nice run, but I'd have to do it TWICE!

My old man is climbing Kilimanjiro so for a training walk I went with him and did just this on Tuesday. Straight up Pen y Fan, across to Cribin, down towards Brecon, back up towards Fan y something, around the reservoir, straight up the ridge then along it over Corn Du and Pen Y Fan again.

If you can run around that... Nevis will be a breeze.

After climbing 10k feet at the weekend its my thighs that hurt still. Its the downhill thats going to get you but i suppose this is generally after the event Doms, Clues in the name!

nosemineb knows what he's talking about however this is the most simple of things. Run up hill, repeat until collapse. Recover for a couple of days then repeat.
its pretty easy this running lark Molly, stop over analysing it just run. Fast slow, up down etc.

stop over analysing it just run. Fast slow, up down etc

But remember to forefoot strike.

Mate of mine came 20th in this years Yorkshire 3 Peaks running race (nutters) His training basically consisted of doing lots of hilly miles.

He would have finished much higher up the field if he could go down as quickly as he could go up!

mol, do you fancy running up Pen-y-fan sometime? I'll come over and do it with you. I hate hills but I fancy doing Pen sometime soon. The scenery will help me take my mind off it.

You'll also do OK off general fitness going up. When I was fit I could climb quite well, as well as many good quality fell runners despite training mostly on the flat.
Coming down is the problem both in technique and as nosemineb says, DOM's. You do need to practice that regularly on steep descents.

But remember to forefoot strike.

Especially when running downhill 😛