Discussion: Hill Intervals

It's been over 25 years since I did any hill intervals training. Good practice might have moved since then. So, any advice?

How long should the hill be and how steep? How many intervals should I do for a proper session? How long should I allow between intervals?

(I'm an M40.)

Depends what sort of session you're trying to run. There's lots of ways to do hills that target different things.

It could change depending on what you are training for, but in general, hills are used as leg strengthening and form building. Therefore they substitute for sprint workouts, but are bit less stressful, you aren't going as fast (because your stride is shorter).
Generally they would last about 40-50 seconds, so about 150-200 meters with a grade of about 10%. Steep enough to make you work hard, and slow you down, but not so steep that your normal running stride and motion is impaired to the point that it is like climbing stairs (which is a legitimate workout all on it's own).
As for the rest, the run back down is all you get.
Number of intervals is very dependent on your conditioning. If you have not done anything like this. Then 5 would be a good start. If you have been running a lot (30miles per week), maybe 8. They would nominally be about 5% of your weekly mileage or time. One session a week, no more than 2 for sure.
You have to be careful initially. You can easily do a lot of these, it isn't cardiovascularly stressful, but you can easily strain a muscle or do so many you can't walk the next day. So better to do a few, see how it feels the next day, then add 2 a week.

or...
as substitute for VO2 max sessions. Again you are trading speed (and probably form) for less stress on the legs, keeping the same high effort in heart and lungs.
Now you're looking at 2-4mins per interval, 4-6 reps.
The problem I always had with this session is that jog-back-down recovery is too long, and continue-on soon runs out of hill.

My weekly hill session combines Jeff's suggestion (5x45sec, steep - 25%) followed by the above (5x2:00, less steep - 10%). I'd agree with Jeff that the 25% grade is too steep, but I find it better to do a sub-optimal session in a group than an optimal one on my own.

The problem I always had with this session is that jog-back-down recovery is too long, and continue-on soon runs out of hill.

Carry a skateboard?

Am not the big expert on running a hill, but what i can say is during winter when the track is covered with a few metres of snow, there often is a weekly hill session involved :D

Great thing about hill workouts, there arent any clear answers, so feel your way for what works out for you (But: a general rule is try to have around 20-25 minutes of effective interval time). Bring a heart rate monitor with you, and check: is your heart beating quickly, and feeling out of breath? great. Are your legs starting to weaken? that usually means you are doing something right. For longer workouts, if you can find a hill with 50m climb, that sounds like success to me. (Try also a hill with a smooth climb)

How long should I allow between intervals?
Rule of thumb is the time it takes you to get down the hill again. Thats why if why if you can find a pair of stairs down again, or similar shortcut, then youve found a good place to do some hill workouts. usually you will be recovered enough by the time you get down, so its not really a limiting factor.

How many intervals should I do for a proper session?
As many as it takes before youve gotten tired enough, that you wouldnt be able to do one at the same speed once more. If a person feels after the interval sesion he could probably do one more, he should probably htfu and do another one.

Here's an Example hill workout . Its a good place to do it, because of the gradual climb and a sweet set of stairs to go down afterwards. In this case its not more than 6% incline average, but it still does the task.

"a general rule is try to have around 20-25 minutes of effective interval time)"
Mathias, give the old guys a break, 25 minutes of hill intervals would likely put us out of commission for a week!

Hey, thanks for the recommendations, guys.

Plenty of hills to choose from around here. Just have to work out what a 10% gradient looks like. :)

To Parkino: For example: 50m climb on 500m long interval. ;)

Yeah, I did the maths. ;) Now I've got to study the local maps.

definitely ramp-up the interval training time progressively, similar to increasing mileage. If you're not doing any currently, then jumping in with 20-25 minutes might be asking for trouble.

This is a good place to start with hills:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-...
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=157...

Old discussion, you will find some examples as well. Sometimes Lydiardfoundation server are down but when you're lucky you'll see a nice video.
http://www.attackpoint.org/discussionthread.jsp/me...