Sprint workouts have grown in popularity for the mainstream in the last 10 years or so. And in the past few years, hill sprinting has become a more commonly recommended workout. We’ll review the benefits of hill sprints and the best ways to integrate them into your routine.
The basics
You need to find a good hill. Something with a 10-20% gradient is ideal. This is a pretty low grade incline but will be effective for the goals of hill sprinting. You can choose a higher incline if you’re a more advanced athlete.
Grass, road, or sidewalk will work. If you choose a grass hill, be sure it’s not too bumpy, as this will increase your chances of a foot/ankle injury. Roads can be tricky too, because it’s hard to notice what’s going on around you when you’re performing 100% effort sprints. Avoid roads with moderate to heavy traffic. Parks with hills and inclined sections of running trails tend to work best in my experience.
As far as sprint distance, it should be relatively short. 20-40 yards will suffice. A duration of 10-15 seconds works well. You can go shorter if you’re just starting off, or go longer if you’re in good shape – adjust as you go. You should aim to sprint with almost 100% effort each time, giving yourself enough time to fully recover between each sprint (up to a minute if needed). Usually a slow walk back to the starting point and a few breaths offers a good rest period.
If you’ve never done hill sprints before, you probably only need to start with 4-6 total depending on your level of fitness. They are very demanding and you’ll want to start slow and build up more reps as you adapt. If you’re not used to high intensity physical activity, you can start with hill jogs or runs and build up your intensity from there – consult a doctor before starting any new workout routine if you’re unsure about its risks.
Benefits of hill sprints
- Speed and athleticism
- Anaerobic fitness
- Leg strength
- Workout efficiency
- Low impact
Speed and athleticism
Speed is the number one most valued athletic attribute in almost any sport. You can only increase your top speed if you practice running at top speed, a.k.a. sprinting.
While most of us no longer play in serious competitive sports, many grown men enjoy playing a favorite sport for fun and to stay in shape. We highly recommend it. And when playing, nothing is more fun than being an explosive, dangerous player.
Because hill sprints add extra gravity and resistance to your running, they offer a different dimension to improve your speed. Imagine how much faster you would be if you instantly dropped 10-15 pounds. Hill sprints replicate this effect by providing extra resistance in your training, so when you play on flat ground, your body has adapted to higher resistance levels and you’ll be able to produce more force.
Anaerobic fitness
Sprint training will wear you out. Because you are exerting near max force for a short amount of time, your body will need to recover quickly before you hit your next sprint. Training in intervals like this, also known as HIIT (high intensity interval training) taxes your body in a different manner, requiring adaptation of different systems in your body.
Basically, it trains recovery of your “wind” between max effort exertions. Since many sports rely on quick bouts of exertion followed by periods of lower intensity, this kind of sprint training will benefit your ability to recover and perform in the heat of competition.
Better anaerobic fitness can also benefit the aerobic aspect of endurance sports (like distance running, biking, rowing, etc…), especially if most of your training has been low-intensity cardio. Try adding a hill sprint workout per week and gauge the effects on your performance – it should improve.
Plus, HIIT workouts have a higher level of post-workout calorie burn compared to steady state aerobic workouts. This provides extended weight loss benefits.
Leg strength
Because running on an incline adds the resistance of gravity, hill sprinting can strengthen your legs in ways that other running workouts cannot.
If you hate leg day in the gym, a hill sprint day can actually be an adequate replacement which gives you the strength benefits of a traditional leg workout. And there is less risk of injury running hills compared to squatting or deadlifting, for instance.
Additional leg strength benefits anyone, whether you are an athlete training for an event or a regular person trying to improve your health. In fact, leg strength is highly associated with longevity.
Workout efficiency
In addition to the benefits above, most hill sprint workouts take under 20 minutes (including warmup). If you’re just starting, you only need to perform 4-6 sprints. Even experienced practitioners should probably top out at 15-20 sprints.
This doesn’t mean the workout is easy. The intensity will surprise most people. If you’ve ever done this type of workout, you’ll know the next day that a little volume goes a very long way. If not, start with a small amount of sprints and see how your body reacts. You’ll probably still be pretty sore.
There are very few workouts that give you the bang for the buck in this amount of time. If you’re short on time, want to replace a leg day and a conditioning day, and don’t like long distance running, do some hill sprints!
Low impact
Logically you’d think adding the resistance of gravity to a sprint would increase impact on your joints. The opposite is true for hill sprints.
Because you reach maximum effort without reaching your max speed, you actually produce less stress for your joints (you physics people can do the math, but it checks out). In terms of training longevity, hill sprints offer better long term benefits than flat ground sprints.
The key to maintaining fitness as you age – be able to workout! Lower impact activities help preserve your body so you can stay fit for longer.