Two hill workouts to ramp up resilience and speed

If your regular running routine is feeling stale, consider adding some hills to your training. Hills are a challenge for most of us–they can be both mentally and physically hard, and if you’re used to running by pace rather than effort it can be tricky to switch gears. The benefits from adding some vert to your regular routine are immense, though–even if you race on mostly flat roads. Hills boost speed, recruit muscles you don’t regularly engage on the flats and build mental toughness.

Coach David Roche, author of The Happy Runner, writes: “Over time, I have placed a much greater emphasis on hill workouts for all athletes, from beginners to pros.” Roche says that people who master hills become tougher and more resilient. “Some of that is the psychological element. I am not sure if hill beasts become life beasts, or life beasts become hill beasts, all I know is that people that conquer hills are all-around beasts,” he adds. If you want to become a running beast, here are two hill workouts to pop into your weekly training in place of another hard session (like speedwork).

Bread-and-butter hill repeats

Roche says this is the workout he gives all of his athletes at some point in their training. “A perfect balance of difficulty, power demand and aerobic stress,” he explains.

Warm up with 10–15 minutes of easy running

5 x 3 minutes uphill running at a medium-hard effort, with easy running downhill between each one

Cool down with 10 minutes of easy running

Leg-blasters (do this one when you’re itching for a hard workout)

Roche says this workout is “designed to ask everything of your muscles, making them perfect mid-cycle stimuli to kick up fitness.” If you’re feeling wiped out in the last few repeats, you nailed it.

Warm up with 10 minutes of easy running

4 x 2 minutes running uphill at a medium-hard effort, easy running down for recovery

4 x 1 minute uphill at a hard effort, easy running down for recovery

4 x 30 seconds all-out hills

Cool down with 10 minutes of easy running

Just like when you run a speedwork session, make sure you follow a hill workout with an easy running or recovery day.