So Many Hills…So Little Time

The following workout recommendation is for the Runners that don't like to run. It's not an easy workout but very effective for conditioning, muscle building, and body fat loss. No gym needed.

Find a pleasant Hill close to where you live, let's say within a mile. Thirty -five to Forty-five degrees is just about right. Jog there to warm -up—Mark a quarter-mile or so from your starting point. No timer is needed; count the number of times that you run hard to the top. Eight to ten trips to the top should do the trick.

The key to this workout is to walk down the hill; it allows you to recover so that the next effort will be challenging.

The idea is to complete the workout in its entirety, not exhaust yourself after three runs to the top. Of course, the slow walk down will help. But that's the point.

Full recovery will allow max effort on the next run to the top. However, it will take a few of these workouts to gauge the proper attempt to complete it in full.

The mile back home can be used to jog or walk to calm down.

This workout is low stress on the knees and joints since your effort is uphill. I often ride my bike to this workout as an alternative warm-up; this allows me to add extra after-the-hill effort.

It's a workout that works well once or twice a week. It's not a daily workout. But, again, the key is to work into the effort, so you're consistently sprinting up the hill and slowly walking down for full recovery.