The Glory of Uphill Running

I know that I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again and again, probably louder every time because it’s true! Uphill running is an incredibly beneficial training tool, especially for injury prone athletes. There are three main reasons why this is the case: decreased impact force, increased oxygen consumption, and changes in muscle activation and stride pattern.

The most common type of injury amongst distance runners is overuse injury, which means that it is caused by repeated micro-trauma over a long period of time. For example, a stress fracture is a break in a bone that’s caused by the repeated impact of a running footstrike. Each time the foot hits the ground, the bone breaks a minuscule amount more, and, over time, those tiny breaks add up to a serious injury. Running uphill reduces the impact force at footstrike because the foot must be lifted up, not just swung forward like in flat running. The difference in impact force isn’t huge, but it adds up with every footstrike, mile, and run.

Generally, when an activity that mimics running is lower impact (e.g. anti-gravity or underwater treadmills), it is also lower intensity. This means that to get the same aerobic benefit, a runner must go faster, thereby increasing the distance run in the same amount of time, which also increases the impact. Alternately, when running uphill, the intensity is higher at any given speed, so to get the same aerobic benefit, the runner would actually need to slow down, thereby decreasing the impact further.

Due to the changes in the running motion caused by, you know, going uphill, stride pattern and muscle activation shift. Strides get shorter and more frequent, while the pushing-off force of each stride remains the same. If an athlete tends to overstrike, uphill running could be a great tool to help increase their cadence. It is also a great way to simulate the intensity and stride frequency of sprinting without the impact. The activation of the posterior chain (backside of the leg) increases while anterior chain activation decreases. If an athlete is quad-dominant, meaning that they struggle to adequately use the glutes or hamstrings, then uphill running is a great way to increase use of these muscle groups.

As you can tell, I personally believe that uphill running is an incredible and underutilized tool for running training. However, the benefits listed here apply mainly to uphill only running and are somewhat erased if the athlete also runs downhill. So, to get maximum benefits, the uphill running must be done on a long, sustained uphill (with a ride down) or the treadmill. I realize that the treadmill isn’t as enjoyable as running outside, but compared to the other options for injury prone or injured runners (stationary bike, elliptical, underwater treadmill, etc) it really isn’t too bad. Check out the video below to see an example of an uphill workout.