Uphills & Downhills Workout
by Steve McGill
In this time of stay-at-home orders, closed gyms, and locked-up tracks, maintaining any semblance of a regular training schedule is virtually impossible. And motivation can be difficult to come by as well, with spring and summer seasons being cancelled. It’s hard to stay motivated to train when there is nothing to train for. But we’re hurdlers, so we don’t give in to despair. We adapt to the situation and keep pushing forward. Every darkness is followed by a dawn, and though we may not be the same after all this is over as we were before it all began, and though we can’t predict what the future may hold, we always have the ability to focus on that which we can control, even as so many aspects of our lives seem to be out of our control.
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With those thoughts in mind, local parks are places where we can still get some work in. And since we’re essentially in the off-season now (as premature as that may be), it makes sense to start looking ahead to 2021 and begin prepping for a return to competition. Though I usually reserve hill workouts for the fall, now would be a good time to start getting in some hill work as a means of establishing some base strength and keeping the legs hurdle-ready.
I like both uphills and downhills. The uphills are for strength, and the downhills help with improving turnover. So, the idea would be to find a hill that’s not too steep, maybe a 5%-10% incline, and the preferable distance would be in the range of 80-120 meters. Obviously, not all hills are created equally. If you have a measuring wheel, you might want to measure out the distance. If not, estimating is okay. Also, you’ll want to walk the path beforehand, scrutinizing it for divots and dead spots that could cause ankle or knee injuries.
The workout would look something like this:
- 5×100 uphill at 80% of full speed.
- 5×100 downhill at 90% of full speed.
- Repeat steps one and two.
The downhills are faster simply because you’ll be running downhill. The idea is to allow the downhill angle to speed you up; don’t put on the brakes and try to slow yourself down. Let the hill take you down. The hill will make you turn over faster, so turn over faster.
Recovery would consist of a walk-back between reps, and five minutes between sets.
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