Hill Sprints

​Hill sprints are my favorite thing to do to improve my conditioning and cardio. I've done them for the past 20 years and  haven't ever outgrown them. When I was younger I used to do hill sprints regularly and despite not very rarely doing any long distance running I was still able to run good times over long distance. They have helped me when doing high rep squats and deadlift and improved how quickly I recover between sets and workouts.

Benefits of Hill Sprints

• Develops lower body power.
• Improves cardiovascular fitness
• Great calorie burner.
• Less chance of injury compared to normal sprinting. Hill sprints prevent you from reaching end-range hip and knee extension with your landing leg, which is when most hamstring pulls occur.  The hill also prevents you from reaching a great speed which helps reduces the chances of injury when compared to sprinting on the flat. 
• It improves mental toughness and teacches people what hard work is. Hill sprints are tough. Most people will struggle to push through when the going gets tough but you'll develop great mental strength if you do it consistently. 
• You get to train outside. I love the gym, but it is nice to be able to train outside.
• It doesn't take long to do. I can do hill sprints in 20 minutes including the warm up.
• It's good for all-round fitness.  When I'm doing hill sprints regularly, I could play a sport I hadn't played for years and be fitter than most of the other players who had been playing regularly.
• You'll never be too advanced for hill sprints. Even elite athletes will find running hills tough. It never feels easy, you just get fitter, faster and better.
• It will help you recover quicker in between sets when strength training.

With all these benefits, you might be wondering why hill sprints don't get recommended very often. The reason is that there isn't any money to be made from it. Why would an equipment manufacturer or gym owner recommend it? They want you to use their equipment. Fitness professionals can't make money from it either. Hill sprints aren't flashy, and people often like to complicate training. I first learnt about hill sprints from Ross Enamait at RossTraining.com from his books, blog, and back when I was on his forum 20-25 years ago.
This is a video of Walter Payton, who famously used to do hill sprints to get in great condition

This is a video of Walter Payton who famously used to do hill sprints to get in great condition.

​​How to Hill Sprint

• Keep your chest up and stay fairly upright. It's hard to use bad form with hill sprints, but the most common mistake is to lean forward.
  
• Chin up and look forward. Don't look down at the ground.
  
• Push off the balls of your feet. Don't let your heels touch the ground. Sprinting on your toes will help generate more speed and lessen the impact on your joints.
  
• Lift your knees high.
  
• Bring your arms back and forward. Avoid bringing them across your chest as this slows momentum.
  

When I was growing up, I used to have loads of different hills to use ranging daily steep and taking 45+seconds to run, and extremely steep but it only takes 10 seconds to sprint (for the first sprint anyway).

How many sprints I did in a workout would depend on how steep, and how long the hill was.
Now I live in Nottingham I do them at Colwick Woods which is over the road from the gym, and I've recenlty found another long and steel hill a short jog from my house. I used Google maps or just driving around to find hills in my area.

Doing Hill Sprints for the First Time

If you're new to running I would recommend building a base of steady state running before you try sprinting. The first time you try them you might be better off pacing yourself and see how that feels. You might find that you're a bit sore the next day.
​ For a lot of people a slow jog up the hill will be enough to get your heart rate up high and your legs burning. I like to jog down to the bottom, but you might find you'll need to walk down to start with.

As with everything fitness related, start  slow, and build up over time. 

Programming Hill Sprints

There isn't a set routine I can give you as it will depend on what hills you have near you, and your fitness level.  Start slow and then gradually increase how many sprints you do, how fast you sprint, or decrease the rest between sprints (jog down instead of walking down). I'll time how long each sprint takes and how long I take to rest before my next sprint.