5 tips to help you become a hill-crushing machine

Hate hills? You’re not alone—runners of all ages and abilities avoid hill training for a variety of reasons. Hills can be intimidating, and it’s challenging to know how, exactly to run up them. Adding some hill training into a running routine can help all runners, with every distance goal, boost speed and strength. Learn how to maximize your hill training (without getting hurt) by running both up and down effectively and efficiently.

Shorten your stride

Shorten those strides as you head uphill, and keep it bouncy, with nimble, efficient steps. Tap into your legs’ built-in trampolines—smaller steps will help you use the natural elasticity of your legs and reduce the amount of muscular effort needed to make it to the top. Once you reach the top, make a conscious effort to open your stride back up and accelerate—this can take practice, and will be challenging at first.

Improve your strength and running form with this short hill workout

Keep your chin up

No staring at your shoelaces—keep your eyes up and avoid hunching over. Maintain a slight lean into the incline and you’ll stroll uphill in comfort: keeping your body open allows oxygen to flow freely and will in turn allow you to move with ease and energy. Don’t suffocate those muscles; let the oxygen flow.

Practise the evenly-paced uphill

With the exception of hill sprint workouts, you should aim to run uphill at a moderate, sustainable pace. Burning up energy by tackling hills full-tilt will cause a deficit later in your workout or race, while evenly-paced climbing will keep you running smoothly throughout. Studies show many runners tackle hills too quickly at the outset and end up running at greater effort than they can maintain.

Break the hill into segments

Ditch the uphill dread by slicing that mountain into bite-sized pieces. Pick goals ahead like trail signs or friendly trees, checking them off (and giving yourself kudos) as you pass by—don’t start worrying about the next segment until you’ve nailed the one you are in. You’ll boost your mental game, and those long uphill climbs will fly by.

Learn to love the downhill

Downhill running at high speeds is an art form. Inserting some fast downhill sections into your training will help you gain the confidence to have a loose, relaxed gait and fast pace, while avoiding zooming out of control. Try shortening your stride when running downhill, while keeping your arms wide and low for stability. Aim for quick steps and a smooth gait.