Leg exercises for running up mountains?

1. It’s training the same muscles

Oh I’d have to question that.

I annihilate road runners on steep climbs, and they humiliate me on the flat.

Shows how much I know 😆

I have a mighty arse

Mind you, it’s all running, it’s just legs. Still reckon sprinting would be better than the gym

Pie monster, thanks for sharing

Sprinting is definitely on the list, and the gym is likely to feature for fat loss purposes. Hence the question.

Molgrips, you might want to read this blog;

http://www.wartnaby.org/running/bgr/bgr_for_flatlanders.htm

I couldn’t do it, I’d lose what few marbles I have.

I read that too last week, as I’ve recently entered this –

http://www.10peaks.com/the-lakes/the-route/

So, I’m desperately scrabbling for anything that works and doesn’t require effort. Currently toying with giving Stannah Stairlift their biggest order ever 😀

Box jumps
Deep squats
Lunges
Mountain climbers
Squat thrusts
Kettlebell swings

Tabata protocol and burnouts you will have thighs like a Titan and glutes for a tight ‘un !

If you can run up and down hills at the weekend do you really need to fit in hill sessions during the week?

A flat recovery run, tempo run, some intervals and some core work along with a decent ride and a hilly LSR at the weekend would seem like a plan to me.

I’ve also been invited to the gym by a colleague

Sound suspiciously like a taxable perk 😉

If you can run up and down hills at the weekend do you really need to fit in hill sessions during the week?

Hmmm.. yeah.. maybe…

Forget the gym, find a local hill and do hill reps twice a week, on top of a daily running regime – there are no shortcuts!

Well I wasn’t asking for a shortcut now was I? 🙄

But do the reps down rather than up 🙂
I reckon there’s two things going on, generally aerobic fitness and muscle strength for going up. Building of resilience with respect to eccentric muscle loading for going down. I have a feeling the latter is easily gained and lost, and as such is maybe only worth concentrating on closer to the event. I have no evidence, or logic for that though 🙂

Why train downhill when your race is uphill? It doesn’t make any sense. Sorry!

Race is up and down hill…

surfer – Member
Unfortunately his attempt wasn’t ratified IIRC which is disappointing.
The thing that will slow you down most on the hills is your lack of fitness not your access to steep hills on which to train. Simply up your mileage and speed and the hills will take care of themselves
If words posted were = to miles run then you would be giving mo a run for his money

POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST
molgrips – Member
I’m sceptical that flat miles will be optimal training for running up Pen y Fan to be honest!

Depends on your strengths. A friend who’s a track runner with sub-30 10k entered a big fell race in the Lakes while up there on a stag do. 9 miles, 3000′. He was 6th to the top and finished about 30th. Lack of bottle and downhill technique cost him.

He’s a bit of a special case given how fast he is, but he never runs hills in training.

Anyone can run downhill, although training to run downhill over rocky terrain might be useful, but only if you are hoping to figure in the prizes!

How much does this fella weigh. If he’s a proper flyweight it might not be that relevant depending on what Molgrips is built like.

A 6 foot 6 brick crap house is going to need to train for hills. A 9 1/2st twig can get away with far less. Power to weight and all that guff.

Anyone can run downhill, although training to run downhill over rocky terrain might be useful, but only if you are hoping to figure in the prizes!

There’s a big time gain to be had for running downhill well, not everybody can do that.

Some folk are proper rubbish at it, and in a race that’ll cost them.

I’ve done a few mountain ultramarathons and a lot of adventure racing. The thing that will stop you is fitness and not being used to moving with a lot of weight on. Core strength is the most undervalued element in all this as a really well sorted core will mean you manage your legs a lot better. A general statement is that your little muscles go quicker than your big ones which then dominate and everything starts to unravel. I would be doing a bit of running, anything you can really, off road if possible to increase your proprioceptor and balance. If you can get into the hills with a big arse pack and do some walking, that is often the best method of starting to get fitter and also used to having weight on. When we train for long races we do 2 days treks with little sleep and a big pack generalyl full of wine ! Running from there is simply a matter of more fitness. It all depends if you want to finish it or win it. A mate of mine came first or second in one of them and he is a machine – ex world AR champion etc. so if you want to place you need to have done the work.

How much does this fella weigh. If he’s a proper flyweight it might not be that relevant depending on what Molgrips is built like.

Too much.. 89kg lately and 5’11. Time crunched too so whilst I would dearly love to hit the hills with a big pack it’s unlikely to happen!

so if you want to place you need to have done the work.

Ah.. so that’s how they do it!

I’d do the gym stuff if it’s a bonus session, not instead of plain old tedious mileage. Worth getting as much time offroad as you can too, it’s just different like NZCol says. Ian’s point about quads and eccentric load descending is well made, but I think it’s as bankable as anything else though.
…just back from 1000′ of reps in the drizzle 🙂

I’m on the 8th floor at work… twice a day, once in the morning and once at lunch + any trips between the floors are all taken by stairs.

+ take the stairs where possible in the Tube or at least fast walk up the escalator.

Build it into your daily routine…

I used to run up the stairs to our customer’s office in Nairobi with a laptop bag, 32nd floor and the ground floor is at 1650m altitude. Felt fine at the time, but about 2 mins after finishing I’d normally collapse in a sweaty mess.

take the stairs where possible in the Tube

Tube?

I’m on my bike!

£35 😯

Anyway, best training for running uphill, if you haven’t got a hill to run up, IMHO, is cycling up one. If you haven’t got one of them, then get on the turbo and turn the resistance up. combine this with some calf raises I reckon.

But seriously, the best training inputs would be a couple of long steady days in the beacons

Ooh.. The Garth would be a good training run..

best training for running uphill, if you haven’t got a hill to run up, IMHO, is cycling up one

If, as above, running uphill is all about calves, quads and glutes, those are cycling muscles, so this makes sense.

Losing weight will make far more difference than any strength gains from hitting the gym, I’d have thought? Although, just two months, with Christmas included, isn’t a lot of time.

The reason for going to the gym is to help lose weight.

+1 for loose weight, run hills, big days out, ride hills, gym weights in that order. That’s how I’m preparing for the weighted class anyway.

As I’m also in London, my hills are the treadmill at 20% at 3000m altitude (by virtue of where I work (we have a Groupon offer on at the moment so feel free to join me!), then getting from the city up to highgate on the SS via Swains Lane at the end of the day. Big weekend in the beacons twice a month as of last weekend, plus normal longer rides at the weekends.

I could cycle over to Highgate actually, that would be fairly straightforward and provide me a reason to ride.

Losing weight is a standing order around here anyway 🙂

do you think you can improve your descending, strength and technique, on stairs, or is it just too easy with even spaced steps?

The reason for going to the gym is to help lose weight.

Eat less and run more, you’re entering a running race not a weightlifting event. Gym weights will do next to squat for hill running.

Your training needs to be specific, all endurance with some of the up/down hill specific stuff that’s already been mentioned, and as mentioned that’s best covered by running up and down some hills.

In short, find a hill, then run up and down it. A lot.

Eat less and run more

Oh give over. Already running as much as my legs can stand, and eating as little as I can to fuel it.

And we are NOT GOING DOWN THAT ROAD AGAIN!

as mentioned that’s best covered by running up and down some hills

I know, but the actual question was ‘is there anything gym based that is worth doing for hill training?’ and that has been answered in the negative.

I know, but the actual question was ‘is there anything gym based that is worth doing for hill training?’ and that has been answered in the negative.

Not sure it has been conclusively answered in the negative, there seems to be a division of opinion. If you’ve got enough time to do some weights/leg specific exercises I’d certainly include them.

That said, losing 20kg would be the best thing you could do!

I know it’s not exactly the same, and I know that winter conditions make it the fan dance more of a challenge but this would allow extra training time and save a chunk of cash into the bargain.

Interesting.

I am hoping for bad conditions for the Fan Dance, I think that boosted my place by a massive amount last time!

That said, losing 20kg would be the best thing you could do!

Yes, I know that too!

Not sure it has been conclusively answered in the negative, there seems to be a division of opinion.

Exactly.

If you don’t like the free advice, you can have your money back.