Has anyone gone through the entire 7 week program using concrete hills?
I went to the local football stadium today, and started off using stairs, which I did not like - not enough distance, too much worrying about where I’m stepping, etc. So then I tried the ramps between levels, and this worked out well. I’m just a bit worried about injuries. Thoughts?
I did a search, and there was a small amount of discussion on this matter, but nothing definitive.
I was actually thinking that today. I wonder if you could actually do speed work on the roads, if you were in sneakers…maybe some flying 30-40’s ect. I would think it would have to be modified somehow. Starts on the concrete would be dangerous because it is easy to slip and fall. Obviously this would be a last resort.
I’ve done a block of concrete hills. Strangely enough I found it kind on my achilles, but it made my lower back & glut med was much more tighter.
Research has compared GRF between uneven grass, concrete, ashfield. They found concrete to have lower GRF then ashfield or uneven grass. This doesn’t mean that concrete is safe, but rather even surfaces are first choice. Harder surfaces place greater muscoskeletal loading whilst even softer surfaces targets connective tissue.
on bitchamen yes. sure beats doing em on rough uneven grass thats for sure. Perhaps you could put the blocks on grass that lead into road base?? What about the local Hockey fields? they normaly have decient grass!
I think a lot of underprivileged athletes do speed work on roads or in a parking lot. It’s not the best surface but I don’t think it’s off limits. Might be going crazy here but I think I remember stories of Casey Combest and/or Houston McTear doing speed work on those surfaces.
The main factor is the steepness of the hill. If it’s reasonably steep, the landing shock is less but too steep and the stretch on the achilles is tough. In a case of a steep rise, stairs that are the right distance apart (double of triple if necessary) are a better choice. When doing stairs, always watch for “optical fatigue”. When the stairs start appearing to blend in together- stop right away before you fall- mark the distance and run only to that point.
Definitely the angle of ascend is a key factor. Steep angles creates more eccentric loading on the achilles by increased dorsi flexion. Two factors emerge when decided the type of hill to do, degree of rise & level of evenness.
I was thinking of trying stadium steps for gpp instead of hills. Would you guys use the same outline for the steps as you would for the hills? Reps and sets.
As I mentioned, the distance is limited in this case by “optical fatigue” so you may do more reps over a shorter distance. Also consider running on the bench seats if there are no backs because of the springiness. I remember, at Stanford, that worked well when the seats were still wood. not as good since they were recovered in metal but the wood was falling apart by the 1990s.
Hate to break it to you Charlie, but the stadium isn’t there any longer. It’s been replaced by a brand new double decker one that holds @40,000 people. They claimed to have 32,100 there last night, but by the looks of things it was probably alot less than that.
Ok. Thanks. I think they are metal and backless but they do have a little bounce. Hopefully my achillies will be better. Wieght vests can be used as well right?
I’ve been using this bad boy for a few months and I’ve had no problems. This hill is one of the most potent means I’ve ever used for enhancing acceleration. It’s not even funny.
brauner that is interesting, i use the street, near my house but i think its more 20-23 degrees alittle steeper then that. I wonder if that would be okay? I have done it for 2 weeks and i feel fine, another note is my power clean is improving while doing hills so it may not be as taxing on my cns as i thought it would be. Or maybe because im going on a steep hill i’m not going at sub-max speed?
