Running Up That Hill...

ronanmac

Am wondering what technique people use for running up steep hills (onroad as opposed to trail), as there seems to be some conflicting advice.

Some advise leaning into the hill, some advise staying upright. A cousin of mine who used to run said that his coach advised them to run up steep hills on the balls of their feet .

Generally, I try to put a bit more effort into hills when I come across them, but was wondering what people do when they hit a hill during a race, for example?

donothoponpop

ronanmac wrote: »

Am wondering what technique people use for running up steep hills (onroad as opposed to trail), as there seems to be some conflicting advice.

There's no steep hills on-road.;)

I'll start your advice off- baby steps, increased leg turnover, keep it steady to the top, and "reward" yourself by slowly changing your cadence for the downhill. You'll naturally lean slightly forward, I wouldn't expend any more energy trying to stay perpendicular to the incline (if that's what you mean by "staying upright"). The climbing motion, and decreased stride length, should mean less heel-strikes (if you're a heel-striker), but again I wouldn't say you need to be too conscious of this.

Raighne

ronanmac wrote: »

Am wondering what technique people use for running up steep hills (onroad as opposed to trail), as there seems to be some conflicting advice.

Some advise leaning into the hill, some advise staying upright. A cousin of mine who used to run said that his coach advised them to run up steep hills on the balls of their feet .

Generally, I try to put a bit more effort into hills when I come across them, but was wondering what people do when they hit a hill during a race, for example?

Well, I can tell you what the position was on the tutors when I took the Fell and Mountain Running Coach course in England: The key to the technique of running uphill is not, in fact, so much to do with the lean.

But, on the lean: You should only concentrate on not leaning backwards and instead focus on keeping yourself upright enough that you can still affect a high knee lift. Its been proven that Caucasian runners cannot lean forwards very much without constricting the range of movement of their legs and if you lean forward to much you are more likely to fall into a graceless shuffle.

The vertical part of the movement is key in uphill running (e.g. "driving up") and by driving your knee high you will engage your glutes and quadriceps to pull you uphill rather than pouring misery on the poor calves. Unfortunately, it takes significant training to master this movement, there's a reason many runners are asked to "find their glutes" by their physios (they simply don't know how to activate them properly).

The simplest image I can provide you over an online forum is to invoke the image of a 100 or 200m sprinter, bizarrelly the posture adopted in competitive uphill running should be closer to this than the marathon runner style.

As races get longer, you'll have to find compromises in between, especially as you build the strength in your legs, your core, and your back to retain this posture over greater lengths of time.