Hill sprints
Maximal 8–15 second efforts up a steep hill with full recovery — strength work disguised as running.
Also called: short hill sprints, neuromuscular hills.
Short hill sprints are the cheapest strength stimulus available to a runner, and because they are so short they generate almost no metabolic fatigue. Full recovery between them is non-negotiable: the moment they start to feel like intervals, they have stopped being sprints and started being a session you have to recover from.
The session
Shown at a 4:00 marathon reference — 47 min total, about 5.7 km, including 4 min of quality work.
Warm-up
- 12 min easy (6:43–7:24/km)
- 4 × 20 s strides, jog back between
Main set
- 11 × 12 s steep hill sprint — max effort, 100 s walk between
Cool-down
- 10 min easy (6:43–7:24/km)
Why this session works
Maximal 10-second hill sprints load the muscle-tendon system harder than flat running at far lower impact, improving economy and sprint force. Walk-down recovery keeps every effort maximal and safe.
Find a steep (8–12%) hill; effort maximal, form tall.
Source: Barnes et al. 2013. Training phase: build.
Run it at your own paces
Open the workout generator and enter a recent race time — every rep length, recovery and target pace is recalculated for your fitness, and the session exports to .fit for a Garmin watch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a hill sprints?
Maximal 8–15 second efforts up a steep hill with full recovery — strength work disguised as running. Short hill sprints are the cheapest strength stimulus available to a runner, and because they are so short they generate almost no metabolic fatigue.
How long is this session?
At a 4:00 marathon reference it comes to 47 min and about 5.7 km, of which 4 min is prescribed quality work. The generator scales both to your own paces, so a faster runner covers more ground in the same time.
Who is this workout for?
It is written for the build phase of a marathon build. The distances shown suit a 4:00 marathoner; enter your own recent race time in the generator and every rep length and target pace is recalculated for you.
More speed and mechanics sessions
- Track repetitions — Short, fast repeats with full recovery — for mechanics and speed, not lactate.
- 200 m repeats — Sets of very short, fast reps with generous recovery between them.
- Speed ladder — Reps that step up and back down in length at repetition pace.
- Strides — Easy running with short controlled accelerations — 15–20 seconds building to fast, relaxed running.