My training partner wants to begin running hills, I would like to know the training parameters around running hills. Keep in mind that we are both football players and explosiveness and power are most important. I was thinking of running the hills before my speed training workouts, more of an acceleration development type of thing. But my basic questions are whats the longest and shortest distances to run? What would a general workout look like? And is running hills something that should be done as apart of the regular routine, or should it only be done once in awhile? The school I will be going to in the spring regularly has it’s players running hills, so I do want to be able to handle those workouts.
Hills can be anywhere up to 200m, but for a power athlete like yourself 40m would be a good distance for you. Run them on grass if there is a grass hill around.
You can 2 or 3 sets of 4-6 reps and you can sprint up/walk down, sprint up/jog down. Give yourself 4-6 min. rest between sets. You can run hills 2x per week if you’d like. I would add in sled pulls and do one of each, each week depending on what your other workouts look like. You can do 1-3 sets of 4-6 pulls over 30-50m.
Hills teach the athlete proper acceleration mechanics and position. Also add a strength element to the workout because of the incline. They are great for early acceleration training.