This morning I went out and did 7 miles worth of hill repeats. 1/4 mile up, 1/4 mile down. It's on the road and a climb of about 100 feet. I don't get the opportunity to do a lot of hills just because of where I live. As I get ready for my 100 mile debut I know that I need to incorporate more often. Anyways..........I get in after doing it and my legs were actually burning quite a bit.....once again........not really used to doing repeats. I said to my wife that my legs were burning a bit and she instantly jumps into the debate of "you need to do squats, lunges, etc". My retort was, if I want to be a better hill climber, why wouldn't I continue to do this type of training. Of course went around and around for several minutes with neither one of us bending.
So my question is, do you cross train? If so, how often and what do you do? If not, how do you prepare for hills/mountains?
I know that this topic has been beaten to death on other sites/forums but for what I am trying to accomplish I think you people are better experts
running under the BigSky
there is no better "exercise" for climbing hills than climbing hills (don't forget descending- often it can reek more havoc than ascending); having said that some strength training (upper/lower and core) a couple of times a week certainly won't hurt
if you access to one of the old stairmasters (looks like a small escalator) I've found them to be very helpful in prepping for hills on days that I can't get out- we fondly called it the stairs of death
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I agree that the best way to train for hills is.....hills. My local trails have pretty decent hills (no mountains) but I'll take it. Otherwise, I like the "stairs of death" or treamill incline intervals, but the problem with the treadmill is the no downhill. I agree with mtwarden that the downhill training is almost more important....I usually find myself wishing for uphills vs. downhills at the end of most ultras.
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While I am a huge advocate of other forms of training and do a number of different things on a regular basis I believe that if you want to be a good runner--you run. As Warden said though a couple days a week doing some specific leg strength workouts would help but run those hills up and down. Practice power walking them up too. BTW--Zumbro doesn't have mountains, it will only feel like it after awhile.
Tim
Mt biking once in a while and some swimming in the summer but that's the extent of my cross training. My lack of cross training is a time constraint issue. If I have an hour to spare, I'd much rather run in the woods than go to the gym. I'm sure I would benefit from some gym time.
For hills, I do repeats, and as mtwarden said the downhills are just as important. For long races, I also train on power hiking the hills (up and down). For my first long race, I was not prepared for the walking and hiking stuff as I spent all my time preparing to run.
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I don't cross-train purposefully, or with a plan.
The only things I do every now and then (not regularly) are squats at the time-clock at work (when it does not allow me to clock in for a few minutes because I'm early) or when I heat up my boys' chocolate milk in the microwave (my "microwave challenge" - 60 squats in 60 seconds, or 100 in 2 minutes, same at the clock), lunges sometimes when I'm bored or cold, or hopping up the stairs in my house on one leg carrying a full laundry basket (my "housewife challenge"). I do it more for fun than for strength, but I do notice that this fun stuff builds up my strength, and that my legs may be sore afterwards.
I do hill repeats when I just can't muster the courage or don't have time for a nice run, but I don't call this cross-training.
I have lots of hills on my regular stomping grounds to prepare for hilly races, but my hills are somewhat short (typically only up to 1000 vert feet, and 0.5 to 3.5 miles long). For races with longer hills, I either incorporate lots of hills into my training runs (5000 vert ft or more), or I go to the actual race course for scouting and running the longer hills, if possible.
Last year, I did a few sessions at the YMCA gym and climbed the stairmaster for a few hours (I think it was 2-hour sessions, 3 or 4 times total within 3 weeks), which was fun and prepared me somewhat for my races.
I am not sure if too much cross-training might lead to imbalances in the legs, throwing off the efficiency of your stride on long distances. That said, it is probably beneficial to have some extra strength ready for hills, to avoid falls, to jump over obstacles or climb over boulders, etc.. If you need to prepare for a terrain with more or steeper/longer hills than your home territory, I'd say do the hill repeats and maybe some stairmaster (or similar) sessions, or squats, lunges, etc..
IHMO it does not matter too much what you do specifically, but you need to see what each exercise is doing for you:
- stairmaster, hill repeats: building up strength to run on long, steep hills
- squats, lunges: building up maximum strength for short-term boosts
Each exercise has its benefits, and it also depends on your body (how it responds to the different types of stimulation) which exercise or cross-training works best for what you are trying to accomplish.
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So my question is, do you cross train?
Yes
If so, how often and what do you do?
~10 mins/day, 6 days/week. I alternate between pushup days and ab/core days. On a pushup day, I knock out about 130-150 pushups divided up into 3 sets with Regular, Narrow, and Wide pushups in each set. On ab/core days I do a minute of each exercise with 30s off in between (situps, mountain climbers <- I do these for hills, legs down/apart, L,C,R Planks, bicycle x-ups). I feel stronger and more balanced now than before I started with that stuff. The core strength stuff really seems to help with balance and maintaining an upright posture on longer runs.
I knock that stuff out while watching TV at night.
I hate hill repeats. I have a tough time talking myself into doing them. I will probably add in ~5mins of squats and lunges into the cross training workouts at some point.
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Assuming here that cross-training mean anything that's not running?
I lift weights 2-3 times per week. I believe it gives a good base of stability and strength that can be converted into running speed/hill strength/stronger downhill skiing by practicing that specific activity.
For example, dead-lifting has strengthened my hamstrings a lot. I can feel the new power when I run up stairs. However, I fully believe that a lot of actual running needs to happen to convert that hamstring power to higher running speed.
The clearest and most significant benefit of weight training I've seen is that my running form has improved. I hadn't realized it, by my upper back was really weak, and I slouched a lot. Not only when running. Deadlifts and presses have really helped improve that.
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Cross training is useful but I don't know it is essential. One thing I think is important is varying hill workouts, short repeats, long ups, pushing the downhills and tempo runs on hills-keeping the same effort on both downs and ups.
Le professeur de trail
+1 to "stairs of death" but +100 to the actual hills.
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Last year I did almost no cross training to speak of. In short, my running sucked. No power on the hills, reduced stamina, felt very weak in core and upper body. I started to do some cross training again in October and immediately noticed a difference.
This year I'm determined to keep myself more balanced. It will be interesting to see if my performance rebounds.
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I heard in an interview with a top MTB team coach that their athletes (including last year's world champ) split their training time pretty evenly into thirds between riding (road and trails), weight lifting/gym work, and (gasp) running.
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Ultra Cowboy
Many of the trail runners I know, who are faster than I am, are avid Mountain Bikers. They really shine on uphills.
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Cycling uphill is way easier than running uphill .... this from someone who has climbed 16,000 feet a day on a bike for 10 days
When I go out and grind the hill - I am not working on speed - but strength. But the number one goal is to work on downhill running.
Squats and lunges are something you can do easily at home. For squats do wall sits.
Also if you have access to a nice multi-level stairwell - Climb and decend stairs with some hand weights.
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