You feel it? It will arrive soon. There is! That burning in your calves, thighs and buttocks when running. That’s how it is. You are climbing a hill. But what is the correct technique for hill running? Next, we offer you a series of tips if you are a lover of training with unevenness.
Think that by using the correct technique to run uphill, up and down hills, we will save a lot of suffering along the way. We can feel confident that we are not only going to climb the hill, but that we are going to reach the downhill and flat area in the best conditions.
Making mistakes when we start running uphill is quite normal. Since as we all know: when you run uphill, you have to do extra work to overcome gravity. This requires the body to use more leg muscles to overcome the gravitational force and drive you up the hill.
And speaking of hill training: the fact that the ground is sloped also alters the footprint, forcing us to transition into a midcourt landing style. This increases the stress on your thighs and ankles.
Technique for running uphill
Although some degree of forward lean is required when climbing a hill, many people lean too far forward and this is not the best technique for running uphill . This has a negative impact on our ability to run uphill for several reasons:
- Makes it very difficult to properly use the hip flexors and knee lift
- Leaning forward inhibits the ability to flex the hips and raise the knee upward during the “swing” phase of gait.
If you want to check the latter, just stand up straight and try to lift your knee towards your chest using your hip flexors. Then try to do the same by bending your waist forward. The increased difficulty occurs because an excessive forward lean shortens the range of motion of the hip flexor, impairing its efficiency.
In the same way that you should not bend your hips forward excessively, you should not do it with your head either. It is necessary to maintain an upright position, with the forehead pointing upwards so that the cervical spine is not subjected to too much pressure. Lastly, the arms should be at a 90 degree angle to move back and forth (rotating at the shoulder), not side to side.
Attention! To enjoy the full benefits of hill running, runners facing an uphill slope should never bend forward at the waist. The truth is that this is a natural reaction of most runners when they start to climb a hill, but it is not advisable to do so.
Downhill running technique
Each runner is different, and while some find it more difficult to run uphill, others suffer downhill. In any case, and although instead of a weak point it is a strong point, we are never exempt from making a mistake in our technique. Learn how to run downhill by following these tips.
· Don’t back down
In the same way that when running upwards we lean forward, the tendency when running downhill is to lean backwards. It is not good advice because this technique consists of running while braking.
· Lean forward
To maintain a natural race, we must maintain a straight position, slightly inclined forward. In this way, we will balance the impact around various muscle groups. Otherwise, we would be giving all the pressure to the back, which is not recommended.
· Take small steps
The best practice for running downhill is to lean forward a bit and shorten the length of your steps to control the gravity and speed of your run.
