I don’t know of any hills around the campus and I won’t be using hill runs for GPP this year, but for general knowledge, what intensity should hill runs be done at? 95% like sprints? Also does the degree of incline of the hill matter? If so what should be the aprroximate degree of incline?
It depends what you want to use them for.
I like them for acceleration development. Start steep and over the coming weeks/months reduce angle until flat. Don’t work on the distance of the rep, rather the time of the rep as it will change depending on the incline. Plan the time based on the energy system that you wish to tax.
People may think this is crazy, but I also like to peg in blocks (or dig your own) into the hill as steeper hills will present mechanical problems due to slippage. If you use the blocks it will assist mechanics as it makes you learn to push very effectively.
Interesting
dc i wouldn’t be too keen in the use of blocks while performing hills.you will be landing too far in front of the cog which in turn will put yet more pressure on the hs.hills are great for learning how to push,the use of a gradual incline will be more effective.
cue the cat skinning quote
I am considering dropping them from my SPP for something more specific. I loved them during GPP but feel I need to get a bit more specific now.
I might sub 5 x 200 intervals on the track or grass in place of the 5 x 200 hills I was doing previously.
so
1 accels/plyos/weights
2 recovery/rest
3 split runs/light plyos
4 weight circuit
5 recovery/rest
6 5 x 200 intervals
7 recovery/rest
dcw,
How steep at the beginning?
I was actually thinking of doing it the other way around. During the GPP I did some hills on about 15 degrees and when I went back to flat I was falling all over the place because I didn’t have the strength to maintain the angle. I’m going to be in the unloading week of a 3-1-3 MS phase next week so I was thinking of doing some 5 degree or so hills and seeing if now I can hold that angle.
I found that the opposite to be true. It has been a great learning tool to land underneath the centre of gravity. Think about it a little more. The greater the hill, the more the push required and the less the pull (which is what causes landing in front of centre of gravity in early acceleration).
The more emphasis on the push the harder it is to land in front of centre of gravity, because, quite simply you won’t go anywhere and it is totally unnatural (unless you are Basil Fawlty doing a silly walk).
It helps from a both a learning and strength persepective. Contacts start out slow, demanding yet safe. As you progress, you reduce the hill until there is no hill as the strength focus moves to power within your overall program.
In tandem, the distance of the hill will increase as the gradient decreases - again mirroring the decline in contact times and strength to power component yet keeping within the energy system we wish to be working.
I thought all of this up this year to overcome a problem and it has worked very well.
Be careful with hills if you have dodgy achilles tendons (or even healthy achilles tendons) as they put a massive stretch on your achilles when you’re runnin up a steep hill. It’s not unheard of for people to totally rupture their achilles when sprinting up a steep hill. I think starting from blocks on a hill would put massive stretching forces on the achilles when you take off, which could lead to injury.
dc depends on what angle you are working at.its makes sense what you say but the steeper the hill the more push you have to apply but downtime will increase and the foot will have to land in front.i have watched numerous videos of hill runs and the foot certainly doesn’t land underneath.its imposssible for it to happen yet again depends on the gradient.
the pull down while sprinting up a hill will be cut short due to the fact you’re running into a hill and it can’t happen.there is just not sufficent room for it to happen.did you ever walk up steep stairs? in order to climb the stairs you must place you’re foot in front which will be ahead of COG then completly pull through with the hs,gluts
Maybe if you are poorly conditioned and have no regular therapy!
I don’t think you are understanding what I am working. If the hill is steep, the distance could be as little as 20m. It is not a “hill run”. Maybe we are just arguing at cross purposes?
the pull down while sprinting up a hill will be cut short due to the fact you’re running into a hill and it can’t happen.there is just not sufficent room for it to happen.did you ever walk up steep stairs? in order to climb the stairs you must place you’re foot in front which will be ahead of COG then completly pull through with the hs,gluts
Walking and sprinting are very different. If you are performing this workout correctly you will be projecting your COG forward and landing over your foot. You would have to be a very weak individual for this not to be the case, and therefore, I would not be recommending this sort of work, but then again, I don’t think we are arguing about the same thing.
What about with a waighted vest whilst sprinting up a hill?
I have a weighted vest which I can alter from 2 to 20 pounds in weight. Not so long ago I sprinted up the hil with the weighted vest on.
- Why would “altered” mechanics carry over into flat sprinting if your heels were landing “to far” in front of c.o.g? (during resisted sprint). When you switch over to flat ground sprinting in the next session, your feet have to travel longer to reach the ground and thus should in theory NOT land to far in front of c.o.g, especially given the xtra power from weighted hill sprint in some previous sessions. I cannot validate my theory as I have not timed myself for a long time and it goes against general consensus,
so why is my theory flawed?
I find that when accelerating uphill I get lighter steps and more knee-drive. In short more dynamic steps.
I believe this is caused by the fact that when running uphill I cant reach/overstretch as much as when on level ground?
Thor, yes, the difference is that you have more time to put the power into the ground because you don’t need to move as quickly to maintain the angle because the hill maintains the angle for you.
This is the reason that the opposite of what X-man states is true. Two of the reasons that people overstride in early acceleration is due to not being able to develop power quickly enough to maintain an aggressive angle and also to overcome a fear of falling on their face. They put the foot further infront of their COG in an effort to overcome their “fear of falling” to try and “catch” themselves. Running up a hill overcomes this fear of falling because it all happens more slowly and teaches you the correct sensation. Reducing the angle over a number of weeks will allow this sensation to be adapted to flat sprinting. It is both a learning tool and a great conditioner and can be used in synergy with a transition in focus from strength to power.
The weighted vest can work well up a hill. Doing a weighted rep followed by two non weighted reps can work well.
- Why would “altered” mechanics carry over into flat sprinting if your heels were landing “to far” in front of c.o.g? (during resisted sprint).
See above post.