Hills for tempo?

Expert Discussion Advanced Sprint Training
1

Have you guys ever ran hills for tempo?

My training partner tried this and felt it worked really well. 60-65% effort up a medium steep hill with short recoveries. Really flushed the legs out well and was a great cardiovascular workout.

Thoughts on this? I might try it today :slight_smile:

My current micro is simlar to the following: (I insert rest days as needed)

1 - Max V, Accel, Plyos

2 - Ext tempo

3 - Rest

4 - Accel/Speed Endurance

5 - Short Hills, bodyweight circuit

6 - Ext Tempo

7 - Rest

2

How long are the hills and what is the total distance of the workout. Sounds like a good alternative. Curious to see what others think.

3

Total distance was around 1600 meters I believe. I think he did 20 repeats or so

Hill is fairly steep and long. No problem to sprint up the hill continuously for 25 seconds or more.

I was thinking it’d be a great way to flush the legs and it also encourgages triple extension and some level of power as well.

Cheers
Chris

4

Potential pitfalls of tempo on hills:

  • Working too hard and not realizing it. Especially if the onset of lactic acid occurs.
  • Slipping on the hill and staining the hip flexors or quads.
  • Excession strain on hip extensors for long duration hill runs.
  • Achilles tendon and calf problems arising from working over longer distances on a slope (especially a fairly steep one).
  • Walking or jogging back down the hill can be hard on the knees.

Remember, tempo is designed as a training tool, but also a recovery and regeneration method. The restorative benefits must be permitted to take precedence over dubious training goals (i.e. getting a good workout). Why risk ‘going over the top’ or injuring yourself?

In the end, the decision is up to you. Make sure the outcome serves you well in the long run.

5

Good feedback! You make some valid points.

Here’s the workout I did (I’m Chris’ training partner BTW :)):

20x10s uphill w/30s walk/jog back recovery at ~65% intensity.

I figure the distance is no more than 70m. I normally do my tempo on a soccer field (20x100m w/30s walk rec), and found that I felt more or less the same after the hills. I decreased my running time in order to compensate for the resistance of the hills, but kept my recovery the same (1:3 ratio on hills, 1:1.5 on flat grass).

My reasons for trying this is that is:
a) I love running hills :smiley:
b) Hills force me to run with proper form (tall and high knees)
c) I work more muscles (ie glutes, calves) on hills than on flat ground

I felt like I wasn’t running hard enough to slip or strain any muscles. Even after 20 reps with short recovery, I didn’t feel any lactic buildup. I sometimes do 6x30s w/90s rec on the same hill at ~75% intensity, and after 4 reps I can feel the burn. This did not feel anywhere near that level of pain.

Thanks,
Malik

6

These are the two biggest reasons why i wouldn’t use it between sprint days. Theres a high risk of some lower leg injury occuring form them being over worked.

And going back down them, if not hard on the knees can be a work out for the quads, fighting the eccentric forces.

Are you doing any sprinting? If so then they will be getting enough work on sprint days.

7

Good responses guys. Some things mentioned I did not even consider with hills.
I would also be worried about depletion of muscle glycogen following such a session.

8

Those are all good points.

What about slow continuous runs instead of tempo? Say short duration (~10-15 minutes) low intensity to help flush the legs?

I am thinking about a slow run in the mornings before I go to work on days after speed training.

I am pretty time constrained and it invariably ends up I miss at least 1-2 tempo workouts a week :frowning:

9

Seems reasonable, or another option could be to cut the slow run to a 5-7 min as your warm up then spend the rest of your time doing tempo?

10

I could try that as well. I usually warmup for longer though…

11

Good point! The effects may not be felt right away, but after a month or so, I can see myself wondering my knees hurt.

Another good point! I’ve just started sprinting again, so my body may still be fresh. I may not feel the effects till later.

Thanks for asking the question Chris, and everyone for their feedback … I guess I’ll keep tempo on hills as a one-of session.

Malik

12

benifits of doing tempo up hills
getting off the track, change of sceanery- spelling, sorry
if your legs are sore, hills take some of the jarring of the legs, if you go down easy
makes the heart work harder, so no need to run as fast, so, good when stiff
season seems to be over quicker, get home faster!!!