10 Top Tips To Overcome Hills

Quads Burning

My Top 7 Tips To Overcome Hills

1. You can never conquer anything if you don’t face your fears. The sooner, you make hill work part of your weekly training, the sooner, you will improve your stamina and strength. As for myself, I really look forward to running any course with steep hills because it is one of the best way to test my physical endurance. Sure, I won’t be able to achieve my PB but I run primarily to stay in shape, so I measure my progress in terms of my fitness levels and not by achieving faster timing.

Buddy System

2. Shorten your running stride and increase cadence when running uphill, and you will save a lot more energy compared to long strides because the further away from your body your foot strikes, the more resistance you will encounter. If you want to run faster uphill, increase your cadence not your stride length. Shorter stride has the added benefit of allowing you to react faster which is particularly useful for the unpredictable terrain of trail running.

I Will Follow You

3. When running uphill, swing your arms more vigorously to help you feel lighter and propel faster onwards.

Dragon Tail

4. When running uphill, keep your chest slightly in the forward position but don’t slouch forward or you will constrict your breathing.

5. When running uphill, keep your head up and keep your eye on the top ridge to facilitate intake of badly-needed oxygen for your working muscles.

Bendy Knees

6. When running downhill or uphill, always land on the front of your feet this will improve running efficiency, and reduce jarring effects on your knees. It’s best to include calf-strengthening exercises such as heal raises (with or without weights) & rope skipping in your weekly training routine.

Go with the flow

7. When running downhill, relax your leg muscles and let gravity pull you downwards. However, if you’re going down too fast, avoid breaking with your knees. You can run zig-zag or run sideways to control your speed and to slow down.

Don’t step on it!

8. When running downhill, keep your eyes on your landing zones at least two steps ahead to make sure you have a safe place for your feet to land.

This looks like a good spot

Bang! Bang!

Eco Warrior (L) & Fly-Catcher (R)

9. If at anytime, you feel totally breathless, giddy or nauseous, immediately slow down to a walking pace and then, stop to catch your breath and to lower your heart rate. When your pulse is back to normal, start again walking and then, gradually increase back to running pace if you can. Whatever you do, always listen to your body and do not take any unnecessary risk with your safety and health because no one will be responsible for you if you are reckless.

Scientific approach

10. Picking the right shoe for the occasion. On 11th January 2015, I took part in the Dragon Back 25km Run held in Meru Klang. The route consisted of more than 14 major rolling hills which was enough to give anyone a run for their money. Since I believe that forefoot running technique is essential to conquering hills, I opted for NEWTON shoes which is specifically designed for forefoot strike as you can see from the spongy rectangular strips underneath the soles.

Sponge Bob

In particular, I chose NEWTON Distance S III because it is lightweight and it has enough support at the arch and adequate stability to carry me the full 25km distance. To my delight, the shoe delivered everything that the salesman had promised. I really liked the springy effect and the lightness of the NEWTON shoes which greatly helped me to propel forward faster uphill. Like any sports, being equipped with the right tools is as important as having the right technique unless you prefer to do things the hard way.

Whip It Good!

Aloe Vera Wins

Is there Any Meaningful Connection Between Newton’s Law Of Gravity and Newton Running Shoes? I am not too sure of the answer to that question. However, what I do know is that both parts played a useful role in helping me slay that fearsome dragon!

Keypower Sports

Shopping Tip: If you are looking to purchase any NEWTON shoes, pay a visit to any one of the Keypower outlets at The Gardens in Mid Valley or at Paradigm Mall in Kelana Jaya.
About The Author: Gus Ghani is a qualified Senior High-Intensity Interval Training Coach. His ambition is to promote an active & healthy lifestyle in order to help people live life to the fullest. In his spare time, he likes to participate in endurance sports and play with his pet cats.

Feeling Refreshed

Pawing Pewter

You can follow Gus daily on his Facebook Page aptly entitled, Happy Runner

About Gus Ghani

Hi:) My name is Gus and I am a Fitness Coach who enjoys outdoor adventures. In particular, I like to run marathons & ultra marathons, and compete in triathlons and century rides for fitness, fun & friendship. My passion is to motivate my friends to exercise more so that they can live life to the fullest. The purpose of this blog is five-fold:- 1) I find writing very therapeutic & beats paying for a psychiatrist to keep sane 2) I like to share & inspire others into engaging in any healthy pursuits 3) This is a great way to keep track of my progress in all my sporting endeavours 4) This also keeps me honest & spurs me on to do more 5) Even if you are a couch potatoe, I hope you will find my entries entertaining and/or informative. In summary, this blog is helping me help others help myself...get it?

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