GPP hills with achilles issues

[PhilG]

@robin1

Charlie has previously suggested to use stairs if hills are too much of a problem for one’s achilles. I’m coming back from an achilles tendinopathy myself at the moment, and have not had any problems doing hill sprints in running shoes on grass, however. I can’t imagine that plyos would put less stress on your achilles than hills, so I doubt that they would be a good alternative.

I would start with just a few easy hill sprints (i.e. 3x10, 3x20m at 85-90%) the first time round and then see how the tendon feels the next day. Also, i would not do more than two high intensity sessions per week for a while. I actually followed a program where I only ran every second day (i.e. 7 times per fortnight) always alternating between hills and tempo. Now I’m doing two hill sessions and two tempo sessions per week and will start running on flat ground (grass) next week. I don’t think I’ll be setting foot on a track for at least another month though.

Good post robin, that type of plan looks similiar to what we have used post achilles problem. The other guys were correct also, I am currently working with one of my athletes who has had a lot of achilles problems, she has trigger points in the shoulder, lower back and at the top of the IT band all down the same side. When the pain in the trigger points get worse, the achilles flares up. Hopefully we will overcome this with regular pressure pre and post training.