Hill Workouts: How To Run Faster Hills

Hill workouts are a staple for endurance runners, providing strength, speed, and durability benefits that help us race faster.

But what types of hill training are ideal? Are certain hill workouts better than others? In this video, coach Jason Fitzgerald discusses how to integrate hill training into your running program.

Jason Fitzgerald is a USATF running coach, 2:39 marathoner, and the host of the award-winning Strength Running Podcast. He's the 2017 Men's Running Magazine's Influencer of the Year and his work has appeared in Runner's World, Health Magazine, The Washington Post, Lifehacker, and other major media.

FTC Disclaimer: This video was sponsored by Athletic Greens, which means a fee and/or free product was provided to the creator for this partnership.

[bd]

I am new to running, and have a simple approach to running uphill. I decrease stride length and increase cadence, while trying to keep my energy output about the same as my flat ground energy output (subjective - just how hard I am breathing and how “hard” the run feels). I do not know if this is a good approach or not, but it seems to work for me. My speed on down hill legs, flat legs and modest uphill legs appear to be about the same, and I do not feel particularly tired after the uphill legs.

Thank you for creating helpful content.

[harleylawdude]

How about taking shorter strides up hills and pumping arms more - like shifting the gears in an automobile.

[dominikschrott]

is there any break-even point in steepness and duration up from which the efforts aren't efficient anymore?

[Cameron]

If I’m a runner trying to get better at the sport as a primary concern, however still trying to drop 10-15lbs to reach ideal race weight. Is it safe for me (17yo) to run high mileage every morning on an empty stomach? Ive considered a banana as a pre-run snack just to stimulate energy and movement

[MrEsPlace]

Question: the trail I run is pretty flat (187' gained across 6 miles). It does run along a stream so the access points always drop down to the trail. So when I need to do my long run, I go up and down these access points along the trail to increase my distance along the same trail. So I doing hill repeats throughout my long run (takes the trail from 6 miles to 10.5 miles and puts the elevation gain up to 350') I've thought about coming to the an access point and just doing that one hill over and over. What can I do to helP myself here?