Running Uphill: The Best Way to Improve Your Mileage as a Runner

Running uphill can seem like a daunting prospect, especially for new runners. In this guide, we’ll explore the tips, benefits, and techniques for running uphill.

Whether training for the Olympics, trying to lose weight, or just enjoying running, knowing what your body needs is essential. Uphill running is an effective way to improve your overall fitness and endurance. When you run uphill, you use different muscles than on flat terrain. This workout improves lung capacity and heart health so you can do more. Uphill training can also reduce body fat since it burns calories instead of just burning them off.

Running uphill is the best way to improve your mileage. If you are new to running or want to keep your fitness level high, consider running uphill. It’s a great way to get more out of each run and will strengthen your legs in ways you didn’t know they could. When I first started running, I never thought that the natural terrain of my neighborhood was utterly flat. This made running easy to accomplish but also kept my endurance low because there was no change in elevation.

Why Run Uphill?

Running uphill improves the cardiovascular system by increasing your heart rate and lung capacity. It also increases muscle strength and endurance because it places more stress on your muscles than walking or running. In addition, when you run uphill, you lift yourself off the ground with each step; this is known as negative acceleration training (NART), which helps improve speed while reducing the impact on joints. This training has been proven to increase VO2 max by as much as 10 percent over flat terrain running!

What is running uphill, and why should you do it?

Running uphill isn’t just a way to get in better shape; it’s also a great way to improve your overall health.

Running uphill is challenging and can help improve your aerobic fitness, increase leg strength, build muscular endurance and burn calories.

Uphill running improves running economy by lowering the energy needed to maintain a certain pace. It enhances muscle contraction intensity, which may boost strength and power.

Gravity pulls your body forward while you run uphill, making it more comfortable than flat or downhill running. This means less pounding on your joints and muscles than steep downhill or flat terrain. Especially if you’re new to hill training or have joint or muscle issues that make downhill running uncomfortable or difficult.

The benefits of an uphill run

Running uphill is an overlooked form of exercise. It is tough, but it can be done anywhere, and it’s a great way to break up the monotony of your training routine. Here are the most significant benefits of running uphill:

It helps build stronger muscles.

Running uphill forces you to use more muscle fibers than on flat ground or downhill, making them stronger. When you run uphill, your body is working harder than usual, so it needs more oxygen for fuel. This forces your body to work harder and become more efficient at getting oxygen from your lungs into your blood vessels and muscles.

Uphill Once you are happy that you have achieved good technique when running on the flat, you can try uphill. When approaching a hill, you will need sufficient speed.

from Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons
by Bryon Powell

It improves cardiovascular fitness and efficiency.

Another essential is that Running uphill requires more energy from your heart and lungs than running steadily on flat ground or downhill. This improves cardiovascular fitness, increased lung capacity, and better breathing patterns.

Why? • Uphill running elicits a higher cardiovascular response than does flat, level running. This is precisely why most standardized running VO2max tests will increase in grade in

from Training Essentials for Ultrarunning: How to Train Smarter, Race Faster, and …
by Jason Koop, Jim Rutberg

It improves muscular endurance and stamina.

Running uphill uses different muscles than running on flat terrain or downhill does. Hence, it’s not just about strength but also endurance and stamina (the ability to maintain activity over time). You’ll get stronger because you’ll use more muscle fibers than usual during each stride or step while running uphill.

It burns more calories.

Running uphill is a great way to burn more calories and lose weight. Not only do you burn more calories per minute running uphill than on the flat ground, but you also continue to burn calories at an elevated rate for some time after running. This is because running uphill causes your body to use more energy (calories) to recover from the exercise.

Improved leg strength

Running uphill develops leg muscles more than running on flat terrain does. This leads to greater power during each stride, making it easier to cover ground quickly without getting tired like someone who hasn’t been doing hill training.

Improved core strength

A strong core helps prevent injuries by supporting the pelvis and spine while moving your legs forward through space. Hill training strengthens your core because running uphill requires more effort from your abdominal muscles than regular running; this is particularly true if you’re running uphill at an incline of about 15 percent or greater (which is about how steep most trails are).

Running uphill works different muscles.

When you run on a flat surface, your legs are the main muscles that get used. However, when running uphill, your core and arms also become essential. Since you’re using different muscles than other kinds of running, it’s necessary to warm up before running uphill. The cool-down after your run should also include stretching out those other muscle groups.

The best way to improve your mileage is by gradually increasing the time or distance you spend at the higher intensity level. For example, if we started with 60 minutes of harder intensity but no hill work, we would progress over 6 weeks, adding 10 minutes each week. It’s also great for runners who don’t like CrossFit because no barbell is involved!

Running uphill is low-impact.

This is an easier workout for your joints. Running on flat terrain puts more pressure on the knees, leading to injury and pain. Running on a treadmill may seem like it would be easier on your joints than running outdoors, but that’s because of the extra cushioning provided by a treadmill’s moving belt. Just like running on flat ground for your knees, running in place will put excessive stress on other parts of your body, such as your ankles, hips, and back.

Running uphill will improve your breathing.

Running uphill is an excellent way to improve your breathing. When you run uphill, you’ll be forced to breathe harder and deeper to keep up with the effort required. The result will be that your diaphragm and ribcage expand more than they would when running on flat ground. This will help strengthen these muscles, allowing you to breathe more effectively in the future.

Don’t worry about whether breathing via your nose feels normal while jogging uphill. Nose-breathing prevents air from being caught in your lungs when moving downhill and reduces pressure on your throat muscles (which could result from mouth-breathing).

Running uphill improves your heart health and core strength.

Running uphill is an excellent way to improve cardiovascular fitness and core strength. This will help you run faster, longer, and more efficiently.

Running uphill is also a great way to improve your balance. As you work harder than usual on an incline, you must maintain good posture and strong core muscles so that you don’t lose control of your body while running at speed. Also, because it can be difficult to run uphill (mainly if there’s wind), having stronger abs will help keep those extra pounds off!

Running uphill can reduce fat, not just burn it.

According to a study from the University of Colorado at Boulder, running uphill helps you burn more fat than running on flat ground or a treadmill.

The study followed two groups of runners for five weeks, during which one group ran on flat ground and the other up a steep hill three days per week. The results: Those who ran uphill burned more calories than those who didn’t. They also lost weight—even though they ate precisely the same amount as before!

Uphill training is more effective than you may think.

The most popular way to improve your fitness is running; running uphill is even better. It’s a great way to improve your form, breathing, and overall endurance. Running uphill has many benefits:

• It forces you to use different muscles than flat or downhill running. Running on an incline requires more emphasis on the glutes, hamstrings, and quads because they must push off the ground harder to progress up an incline. By doing this type of workout regularly, these muscles will become stronger over time, so when it comes time for flat or downhill-focused training runs, those muscles will be better equipped for it.
• Running uphill helps build stamina because it increases your heart rate faster than flat or downhill runs at similar speeds due to all that extra effort required from your leg muscles (glutes, hamstrings, quads). This means that if someone were trying out for both the cross country team and the track team at school, incorporating some hill workouts into their schedule would help them survive longer during practices without getting too exhausted!

How to start running uphill

The first step to running uphill is determining the grade. The easiest way to do this is to look at the slope of the road or path you’re on and then figure out the percentage of incline based on how many feet high it is.

If you’re running on a treadmill, you can use its incline feature to help prepare your body for hills.

Once you know the grade, try running for 10-15 seconds at that incline, then walking for 60-90 seconds at a steep downhill grade (5%). This will help build strength in your legs and lungs to handle more intense workouts.

Once you’ve done that a few times, try running at a 15% grade for 10 seconds, followed by walking for 30 seconds. Then increase the time you run until you reach 45 seconds of running followed by 15 seconds of walking.

Researchers discover the optimal range of slopes for extreme uphill running.

Tips for running uphill

Running uphill is not easy but is a great way to get in shape. If you can run uphill without stopping, you can run anywhere. Runners struggling with hills are often winded and out of breath on slight inclines.

Try these tips to improve your ability to run uphill:

Start slowly: When running uphill, gradually increase your speed. If you go too fast from the start, you could walk instead of running.

Don’t lean forward: When running uphill, it’s tempting to lean forward so that gravity helps pull you along. But leaning forward puts extra stress on your body and makes breathing harder. Instead, keep your back straight and your head up, so your body is properly aligned. This will make breathing easier and allow more oxygen into your lungs while exercising.

Use short strides: When going up an incline, use fewer steps than when going down an incline or flat terrain because this requires less energy than taking long strides uphill or downhill.

Keep good posture: Maintaining good posture while running uphill is essential, so your chest stays open and allows more air into your lungs.

Focus on good form. Focus on landing softly on each foot strike instead of trying to pick up speed by pushing off with each stride. This helps distribute weight evenly across the entire foot and reduces shock to the knees and ankles during impact with the ground. It also makes it easier for your muscles to recover between strides because they don’t have as far to travel before they contract again — which means less muscle soreness after workouts!

The best time to run uphill

The best time to run uphill is when you are comfortable. If you are not feeling good or tired from the previous workouts, it is better to wait until you feel better.

The best time to run uphill is in the morning because it helps burn more calories than running on flat ground, but if you don’t have enough time to do it in the morning, then any time is good as long as it doesn’t interfere with your sleep schedule.

The best time to run uphill is after warming up with light jogging or walking for about 10 minutes. You should also stretch before starting any hill running session so that your muscles are loose enough for convenient movement on hills with no cramps or injuries occurring during the workout session.

Differences between uphill and downhill running

The most obvious difference between uphill and downhill running is the impact on your heart rate and calorie burn. Running downhill requires more effort than running uphill, so you’ll burn more calories per mile than running on flat terrain.

Although downhill running isn’t as physically demanding as uphill running, it still requires some effort. As with any hard workout, stretch properly before you start your downhill run, so you don’t get injured by overstretching or increasing too quickly in intensity. Always warm up by jogging down a hill before heading back up at full speed.

Running uphill is harder than training on flat terrain because of the need to overcome the resistance of gravity. It is, therefore, another type of resistance training but highly specific to the mechanics of running.

from Advanced Marathoning
by Pete Pfitzinger, Scott Douglas, Molly Huddle
Human Kinetics, 2019

Conclusion

To be a better runner, you must do what it takes. You have to find ways to improve your mileage, and one of the best ways is by running uphill. The key is finding hills that are long enough to be challenging but short enough so that they don’t wear out their welcome before you reach them (or worse yet, before you even start). Running uphill helps build strength in your legs, back, and core, which will help with overall endurance when running on flat terrain and give an extra boost when running downhill!

FAQ about Running Uphill