{"id":58833,"date":"2017-05-22T07:15:10","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T11:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=58833"},"modified":"2017-05-27T12:24:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T16:24:27","slug":"hill-running-workouts-get-faster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/hill-running-workouts-get-faster\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Seriously Faster With These Hill Running Workouts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hill
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You love running<\/a>. You get out a few days per week, and run your regular loop of the neighborhood, and you crush it. Except lately, maybe you\u2019re not quite crushing it. Maybe you\u2019re doing it<\/em>, but you\u2019re not getting faster, you\u2019re not going any farther, and you\u2019re not necessarily feeling fitter.<\/p>\n

The solution? Time to head for the hills!<\/p>\n

\u201cHills are speedwork<\/a> in disguise,\u201d says Nike+ Run Club Coach Jes Woods<\/a>. \u201cIf you\u2019re looking to improve your speed and efficiency, or if you\u2019re training for a race that includes some undulating terrain, you want to practice running on hills.\u201d Plus, hill running can help improve your mechanics. \u201cHills force you to tap into an exaggerated running form<\/a>,\u201d says Woods. That means running tall with \u201ca slight lean at the ankles and the chin leading the chest. Drive the knees higher than you feel like you need to, and pump the arms harder than you feel like you need to.\u201d Also clutch, she says: \u201cTry to remain in control of your breathing and stay light on your feet, landing on your mid-foot or forefoot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up for the upward challenge? Get ready to go all the way up with these heart-pumping, sweat-inducing, legs-will-be-burning hill workouts created by Woods. (Don\u2019t have a hill nearby? They\u2019re treadmill-friendly, too!)<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Why I Started Running \u2014 And Never Stopped<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

3\u00a0Hill Running Workouts to Get Faster Now<\/h2>\n

All workouts should include a five- to 10-minute easy warm-up and a five-minute easy cool-down.<\/p>\n

10-Minute Hill Workout<\/h3>\n
\"10-Minute
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cUse the first set of hills as a warm-up and settle into the grind,\u201d says Woods. \u201cYou\u2019re not sprinting<\/a>\u00a0up the first set, but 10K race pace should feel like an 8 out of 10 effort. The second set should be rocking! Short, fast, and 10 out of 10 effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>50 Running Resources for Speed, Strength and Nutrition<\/a><\/p>\n

20-Minute Up-and-Over Workout<\/h3>\n
\"20-Minute
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis up-and-over hill workout is my favorite,\u201d says Woods. \u201cIt\u2019s a real race<\/a> scenario. You wouldn\u2019t run to the top of a hill and then recover in a race \u2014 you need to keep moving! This workout trains the legs and mind to continue turning over once they crest the top of the hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>How to Score Perfect Running Form Like the Pros<\/a><\/p>\n

30-Minute Ladder Hill Workout<\/h3>\n
\"30-Minute
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re doing this one on a treadmill, set the uphills to a 5% incline and the downhill to 0%. “When you attack the ‘downhill’ on the treadmill, give yourself 0.5 – 1.0 mph more speed once you drop the incline,” Woods says.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>The 50 Best Half-Marathons in the U.S. <\/a><\/p>\n

That said, “This rolling hill workout is best performed outdoors in order to practice the quick, short cadence needed with downhill running,\u201d says Woods. \u201cDownhill running is sneaky \u2014 you would think it would be less challenging, but improper downhill running form<\/a> can lead to burning quads and shin splints the morning after. Don\u2019t worry on the exact pace of the downhill \u2014 just practice actually tackling it versus using it as an easy jog or recovery<\/a>.\u201d When you hit the downhills, Woods says to quicken your cadence and stay light on your feet (\u201calmost like you\u2019re dancing downhill,\u201d she says), keep your foot strike landing directly underneath you, avoid leaning backward, and engage your core<\/a> for stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you want to run faster, head straight for the hills. These three hill workouts are expertly designed to improve speed, efficiency and overall fitness. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":58896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[288,188,139,108,341,357],"class_list":["post-58833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-cardio","tag-heart-rate-training","tag-hiit","tag-running","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2running"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}