There is an increasing number of articles dealing with the need to run hills for developing greater strength and power in the legs. These articles are appearing not only in running magazines, but also in triathlon and athletic magazines. As a result there has been a great increase in the number of running athletes who now do hills; and as a result, an increasing number of calf (gastrocnemius) muscle injuries.
There is no questioning the fact that up-hill running can improve leg strength and power. However, there are also negative consequences to up-hill running (besides some very serious injuries). If you are a serious, high-level or moderate to high-level runner, the uphill running can modify your running technique, usually to the negative side.
There are several reasons for this. First, hill running, especially steep hill running, forces you to drive your knees upward. As a result, you learn more to push straight up rather than forward as occurs or should occur in running.
Second uphill running on a steep slope forces you to fully extend the knee more powerfully. This teaches you to use the knee extension for propelling you forward (or upward) rather than relying on ankle extension as used in most effective running.
Because of this, if you wish to run hills, the bulk of the hill running, especially if on steep slopes, should be done early, well before competition. In this way there will be plenty of time to work out any negative changes.
Even better, rather than running hills for strengthening the legs, you will find that strength exercises such as squats, heel raises, knee drive and pawback with the Total Athlete System™ are much more effective. Not only will you gain more strength and power but you will also be improving your running technique.
However, if you are a recreational runner and are not interested in serious competition, then hill running could be good interspersed throughout your workouts. For the recreational or novice runner, even though running technique is very important, most runners do not have effective running technique.
As a result, any changes from the hill running will not play an appreciable negative role. In fact, in such cases it may even make you a better runner because of the strength developed. You may not have as much up and down motion from increased quadriceps strength that can improve your economy greatly.
Most effective for high-level and elite runners is to run on hills that are not steep so that running form and joint actions are the same as in running on level ground.. If there is a change in running technique as occurs on steep hills, then hill running should not be done. Select a hill that has approximately a 3-5% incline and then you will be able to maintain effective running technique.
When you use hills with only a slight incline, you can also run downhill on the same incline for over-speed running. Doing this can enhance your overall speed even more because you will be maintaining good form in the run.
Uphill running on a low incline also allows you to concentrate more on maintaining proper form. This includes being able to maintain slight knee joint flexion during the push off, using ankle extension to drive you forward, driving the knee forward for more horizontal force,using pawback for an effective and safe touchdown and propelling the upper body forward.
Instead of just “running” steep hill running can be used to develop a more powerful pushoff. In this case, you emphasize and rely on strong ankle joint extension which is the key to propelling you forward in the run. In essence, you push off with ankle extension to “run” or more accurately leap, up the hill. The knee drive is weak and there is no pawback.
For more information on hill running and most effective running technique see Explosive Running.