Depending on the type of workout, hill workouts can lead to improvements in the following areas for runners:
- V02 Max
- Running economy
- Lactate threshold
Within V02 Max gains, we find that hill intervals can lead to increased stroke volume as heart rate and blood flow increase on the interval and heart rate decreases on the rest while blood flow remains elevated. Over time, this will stretch the left heart ventricle and lead to more oxygen to the muscles through increased stroke volume.
This process also leads to capillary bed increases which serve as the loading bays for muscle fibers. Think of it this way, running muscles need oxygen for energy during a run. These bays allow for the reception of the energy and through the stress of hill repeats, capillaries divide and sprout new ones.
As capillaries grow, so do muscle mitochondria. These are the power plants of the cells and when you increase these through activities such as hill repeats, you plug into a running super power grid.
Hills also demand more of your muscles and lead to strength gains. This in turn improves running economy which can be thought of as the gas mileage for a car: the better the gas mileage the further or faster you can go over the same distance.
Also, hill tempos can lead to improvements in lactate threshold, the max effort you can maintain over an extended period of time.
Some sample workouts include the following:
- 10 reps for 30 seconds each with 1 minute recovery in between
- 8 reps for 60 seconds each with 2 minutes of recovery in between
- 6 reps for 120 seconds each with 4 minutes of recovery in between
Shorter hill repeats (30 to 45 seconds) can lead to more gains in stroke volume while longer hill repeats (90 to 120 seconds) can lead to gains in capillaries and mithochondria leading to gains in running economy. Faster hill repeats at a tempo pace can lead to gains in lactate threshold.
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