When I moved to a mountain village in the south of Spain I was surrounded by hills and mountains in every direction. We have a section of riverside trail of around a mile that is flat, nothing more. Having so many hills and stunning scenery helps to keep my runs interesting. But it raises the question of whether it is ok to run hills every single day.
It is ok to run hills every day even though most training plans include one hill workout per week as a minimum. Running hills is the most effective use of time while training as you can get a big workout done in a very short space of time. On hilly terrain, you can walk the hills on recovery days.
Let’s analyse why doing hills every day is not harmful, but can actually be beneficial.
Is It OK To Run Hills Every Day?
Running every day for several minutes is a great way to boost your body’s strength, endurance, and overall wellness. It is being done by almost every other person who is into being fit and healthy.
But, how about running hills? Generally, it is okay for you to run hills every day because it still is considered as part of running. It is almost rare that you would never encounter a hill when you’re running somewhere. Instead of avoiding it, might as well do and conquer it but in the proper way.
What Is Hill Running?
Also known as fell running, hill running is a sport that involves racing and running off-road and on uplands. This English sport originated in the fells of northern Britain, hence the name fell running.
When runners do hill races, they are properly trained to navigate hills and mountains and to thrive through survival tools and equipment that they usually bring with them throughout the entire race.
The Benefits Of Running Hills
When you incorporate running hills into your regular daily training or exercise, you will experience the following benefits:
1) Burn more calories
When you run hills, your body tends to burn more calories than usual. Why? It is because you exert more effort and use more energy when doing this type of running. Not only that, but you are also building and strengthening your muscles in the process.
2) Become faster
Since running hills allows your muscles and quads to exert more power and force, you will notice that this will also gradually and significantly increase your speed in running.
3) Have more endurance
When you incorporate running hills into your daily workout, you enhance the elasticity of your muscles. This leads you to not get tired easily and to have a fast recovery. Moreover, your cardiovascular system will become more healthy and powerful.
4) Prevent injuries
Running hills the proper way will promote a better running form for you. This will help you in preventing injuries and other unwanted incidents during your runs.
The Risks In Running Hills
Every physical activity has its risks and dangers. The same goes with running hills.
When you don’t know how to properly run hills, you are more prone to accidents, injuries, pains, rapid heart rate, breathlessness, nausea, fatigue, and other health problems.
The best way to curb or avoid these risks is to know, understand, and implement the proper way of running hills.
Tips In Running Hills Everyday
1) Optimize your stride
Sometimes, when running hills, you feel like you need to widen your stride in order to compensate for the gravity pull. However, this is incorrect. You should instead shorten your stride in order to increase the turnover of your feet and to exert way lesser effort.
2) Conserve your energy
By conserving your energy when running hills, you help yourself avoid injuries and have better speed on the downhill and flat grounds. Stop wasting your energy by attacking the hills.
3) Modify your arm swing
The right way to swing your arm when running uphill is to do it like you are uppercut punching someone at your front. This will help propel energy that will provide some sort of an opposing force to the gravity pull.
4) Improve your posture
When you are running hills, you should look up and have straight shoulders. This will help you breathe easier, run better, and improve your posture.
5) Eat some carbs
Running hills increase your heart rate and this will allow your body to utilize carbs for energy. Therefore, eating some carbs will help you have a better hill run.
6) Do other types of training
You can do cycling and running stairs in order to strengthen your quads. This training will help you run hills easily every day.
