What are some ways to improve speed in sprinting, running uphill, and long/middle distance running?
Last Updated: 17.06.2025 06:00
Doing hill repeats builds a wealth of strength. Without strength, your body will get tired once it phases through the short-distance burn. High-intensity hill workouts build the strength it takes to complete the long and middle distances. At these endurance distances, a major physiological advantage is having the strength it takes to power one foot in front of the other for longer. This adaptation seems simple, but strength is often overlooked. Hill training is an easy and time-efficient way to build upon this strength.
Long/Middle Distance:
Hill repeats have been proven to improve not only our uphill performance but are most impactful on our flat running. While it might not be magic, it’s pretty close. Adding this workout into a training plan can improve sprinting, running uphill, and long/middle distance running let’s dive in on why. And at the end, I’ll give you my favorite hill exercises to keep you going strong come race day.
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Hill Sprints:
Hill Strides:
My Favorite Hill Workouts:
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This is obvious, but running uphill is one of the only activities proven to improve your uphill running. It is building the powerhouse before you need it on race day. My favorite way to think of this is putting the hay in the barn. Do the work of running uphill before the race, and hills will feel easier when you’re not sprinting up them. We can talk about the physiological changes, but when you stack the brick of uphill running during hill repeats, you are adding a psychological change as well. You will no longer fear that dreaded hill. It will be something to look forward to, a place for tactical racing because you know you’ve done the work.
8 x 30 seconds
Running Uphill:
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4 reps for 4 minutes with a 4-minute rest in between, including the jog down.
8 reps for 30 seconds all out and a 2-minute rest in between, including the jog down.
10 reps for 1 minute and 30 seconds all out and a 2-minute rest in between, including the jog down.
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10 x 1:30
Hill workouts have been touted as free speed. When running uphill, our form is driven to perfection with a higher cadence, improved knee drive, and better posture. All while running at a slower speed that is easy on the joints and ligaments. This means that the strength we build while doing hill repeats is within the proper form, leading to massive gains in our sprinting ability. Hill repeats improve upon our fast twitch muscles needed to carry the body uphill, which are also necessary for high-speed effort. They improve upon our VO2 max or the ability to take and circulate oxygen throughout the system. This system and its improvement go hand in hand with sprinting ability. In short, the better the VO2 Max, the better the athlete. The stronger your legs, the better the sprinter. The math on adding in hill repeats is obvious, but the work is hard, which is why many athletes leave it out of the mix. If you want to improve your sprinting time and psychologically know you’ve worked harder than your competitors, add in hill repeats.
There are no magic answers, but one workout can improve all three areas: hill repeats.
The success of hill training is predicated on the severity of the hill. When scouting for a quality hill for a workout, we are looking for something runnable with no break spots. We want to test ourselves, but walking defeats the purpose, and a break lets our VO2 Max catch up, squandering our potential gains. A hill workout day should involve a good 20–30 minute warm-up with drills (high-knees, skips, and lunges), 15–20 minutes of work, and a 20–30 minute cooldown. It’s also important to jog down, this not only doubles down on gains by strengthening our quads, but slow running here allows us to catch our breath and be ready for the next rep. Start gradually with short hill sprint intervals at a goal pace, like the one found in the first workout, and progress to long hill repeats for those climbs that won't quit.
Sprinting:
You should be wondering at 25 seconds if you’re going to make it to 30 seconds. This is a great introduction to hill repeats. This will improve upon middle and long-distance running and is suggested for every athlete. These are called hill strides and should be becoming dangerously close to a workout. Repeat once weekly until you want to add more uphill time to your workload.
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4 x 4
10 reps, 6–8 seconds of all-out sprinting with 2–5 minutes rest in between.
Hill Workouts:
Start here with true hill sprints that can be added to any training run with a hill, and work your way into hill repeat territory. These can be done 2–3 times a week as an add-on and are good for straight sprint speed.
For those climbs that won’t quit. This is an old-school approach to long-form work. These will not feel sustainable. You will slow down, but build that grit and refocus when you feel that slowdown coming. You will be so much stronger on the other side of this workout. If your target race has a lot of big climbs, rotate this every other week with the above 10 x 1:30 workout for the best results.
This will hit the sweet spot of 15 minutes of work. Do this when you feel comfortable at 30-second hill sprints and want to add on. This is the magic exercise you’ve been looking for to add strength, power, and acceleration.