If you follow me on Twitter, you probably notice that I gripe about hill training once a week or so. Truth is, I don’t hate it…it’s just a tougher workout and I have a mild dislike for it, but in reality it’s not absolutely excruciating.
What I really, really, really don’t like? Speed training. Which is why I didn’t want to read the details on the findings of this study (in fact, I was very tempted to just gloss over it and block it from my mind — in the same way I try to pretend my eyes haven’t seen tweets spoiling the finale for Top Chef).
This research published in the American Journal of Human Biology set out to find whether high-intensity workouts versus endurance workouts offer equal cardio benefits, and I had a sinking feeling it was high-intensity that would win–and it did.
Both groups experienced cardiovascular benefits, however, the high-intensity group experienced them in having worked out 15 percent of the time of the endurance group.
I’ll take working out less efficiently over more time to get similar healthy-heart results–such is the hate-on I have for sprints.
April 7, 2011
Tips from my weekly half-marathon clinic. Last week I was just plain late to my clinic–I didn’t budget enough time to pick up my race kit–so I just ended up running on my own. (And yes, this post is late, too!)
Anyhow, my very trusty running buddy shared with me tips from our clinic leader (no guest speaker that night). Here are some highlights–she touched on hill training and after two killer hills in my 8k race on Saturday, that’s what I’m focusing on here.
The clinic leader spoke about proper form for running hills:
- Run with your head up, it makes it easier to breathe.
- Strengthening your core will help with your hill training–with a stronger core, you’ll have better posture.
- Keep your shoulders down and relaxed.
- When running uphill, look at top of hill and pump your arms to gain momentum. This will make it feel like the hill is flattening out. (I have to say that this seems to be a bit of an overstatement!)
- When running downhill, lean slightly forward and shorten your stride so you maintain control.
After two hills kicked my a** in the Harry’s Spring Run Off 8k this Saturday, I started researching how hill training makes you faster–I’d also recently told my running buddy that she must include hill training but I didn’t have specifics as to how it’d makes us stronger. I found out that you recruit more muscle fibres to get you up that hill than when running on flat land. Plus, because you’re at an incline, your foot touches the ground more quickly than it does when running on a flat surface. That shorter distance means your tendons don’t get as big a boost of energy to propel you forward. Both of these things mean you are working harder, so over time your muscles will adapt, ie. become stronger.
Faster, better, stronger.
April 5, 2011
