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This year so far my squad have been doing a variety of hill sessions at a rate of one a week. We are in early prep having only finished our major track meets in April. Our major XC season is in July-Aug which for my squad only means a 2-3 races.
The sessions we have been doing have included variations such as.
Hill circuits
The circuit is about 500m where they run abt 150m across the top of a hill - walk down a steep section and then run smoothly about 200m downhill (gentle slope) then turn and come back up the hill running at XC pace for about 100m then bound the last 40m.
The MD group do 6 circuits with no rest. The sprinters have been doing 3 with the break.
Hill (bound-run-bound)
20m bound (slight slope)-20m run (steeper slope)-20m bound steeper slope that levels out near the end.
The MD group will do 20 tommorrow with a 90s rest. The Sprinters will do alternate reps so will have over 3min rest and do 8-10
Longer Hills
We have done a couple of sessions of longer hills alternating bounding and running up. Because these reps last alot longer (40s) the amount of lactate accumulation is high. This is something we are trying to stay away from doing very much of - so I am preferring the continuos hills or the shorter hills because of lower levels of lactate.
Aerobic Hills
The MD aths have also done some longer hills 600m at XC pace. Great easy way to generate high sustained heart rates.
More comments
Bounding up hills is a great way to train the glutes which for many athletes is a weakness. Many athletes tend to be "forward leaning hamstring loaders" and there power of hip extension is poor. These athletes need to land more flat footed and stay taller with higher hips to be able to generate higher levels of power in hip extension. Hills are great for this as it is easier to hit flatter footed and there is need to lift the knees higher as well as quicker. Bounding up hill causes all of this to happen when done with the right intentions. The athletes in my squad who have poor glute activation during normal running find that the stress is certainly much higher up in the rear of their legs. They often comment on sore glutes the day after hills. My view is that this sort of training is probably great for hamstring injury treatment and prevention because it is equipping athletes who are prone to problems with more conditioned glutes. This should take the load off the hamstring when running fast.
Whenever an athlete trains glutes they will tend to tighten - so we do lots of accupprssure triggering and massage to keep them loose. As well as after each hill session we do hurdle walk over and lateral drills which actively loosens the hip area.
We also train glutes in many other ways including:
-glute medius using theraband resistance exercises
- step ups keeping lower leg vertical and hips high. Some of my female sprinters and a 2:06 800m girl can are currently doing sets of 8 reps each leg with 70Kg.
Training Hills is good conditioning for all athletes and with MD athletes will give them more ease of speed and also the ability to kick harder and accelerate faster when highly fatigued. The key is always to run strong and lift the knees up and toward the middle (not outward),the feet should point straight up the hill as they push and also as they lift.
regards
Steve Bennett
www.oztrack.com
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