I live in a former coal mining area and near my house is a large slag heap, with steep sides that mountain bikers love to cycle down.

I have done some running up the slopes in the past, and it really takes it out of you, getting the quads and calves aching as well as working stamina.

From a MA perspective would you consider it better to do this once as part of a longer run (which is how I've always done it)or to do several "sprints" up then walk down, I reckon I could only do it about 3 times before failure.

It depends really, the sprinting option would certainly work to improve you're leg strength to a higher level as far as I know. Longer, less intense cardio workouts (like longer jogging trips) burn more calories than shorter, more intense sessions, but I'm not sure whats better for building stamina. Keep in mind that walking or running down steep mountains/hills can damage the knees.
Personally I'd have to say that a mix of the two would be good. I.e, one week sprinting up and down it, next week doing it once as part of a longer run. Do keep the knee thing in mind though.
I hope this helps, I'm no expert so don't take my word for it.

I love hill running its awesome - if your looking at building stamina then a steady pace up hills is great. If your looking at building explosive power then sprinting up a hill is awesome.

Either way you should only do hill work a couple of times a week - because it has a massive impact on your body.

PeteMills wrote:

Either way you should only do hill work a couple of times a week - because it has a massive impact on your body.

Thank you both for the replies.

Don't think I'll be out there today, looking out at the weather today, I think I'd be washed back down incy wincy style

I live in a hilly area so its almost impossible to run any distance at a steady pace without some hill running.

I hadn't thought so much about the impact, so I'll restrict sprints up it to a couple of times a month to build strength and explosive power, while doing longer runs to build stamina.

Yeah you should be careful when doing sprints. Make sure you are really really warmed up. Also im not sure what you like at motivation but if you can get a running partner that would help so you keep pushing yourself.

But running is a good thing to build up - just remember that it can have an impact on your flexibility too.

Tony Li knows alot on this subject so he is certainly one you should drop a mail to.

What pete said really.I used to do a fair amount of fell running in the lakes but quit when I kept getting achilles tendonitis. Running up hills,even sprints will push you, so you need to build up strength in your legs. Calf raises are good- stand with your feet half on a step- your heels should be off, then push up onto the ball of your foot. It's meant to be excellent for getting stronger achilles/calves. Sprints are good though and will help you no end with explosive power.

Many thanks for the replies.

I'm wanting to do plenty of work to enhance my fitness over the next 18 months, as I approach Black Belt.

Motivation wise I'm OK, as far as running partners goes I find it difficult to find anyone on a par with me. Most of the people willing to do this kind of extra work outside of the dojang are younger, stronger and fitter and so far ahead of me that I'd kill myself trying to keep up

I went through a period of having painful achilles tendons last year, which seems to have settled down, but I'll watch out for it.

Hill running, especially hill sprinting, is great. For martial artists, the explosive activity is more sport-specific than long slow running. It's much better for building and maintaining muscle mass than slow running. It's more effective for building short-term and long-term stamina (e.g., VO2max). And it's better for fat reduction. For example, a 1994 Laval University study found that, taking into account post-exercise caloric expenditure, sprinting was nine times more effective (i.e., burned 9x the calories) than low intensity exercise. Look at Olympic sprinters versus marathoners: the sprinters are defined and muscular; the marathoners are thin and flabby.

The drawback to sprinting (hill running included), as many have already pointed out, is that it's harder on your body and your central nervous system. It sounds like you're already handling this well by limiting the frequency of your sprint workouts. It's all about listening to your body, eh?

As far as flexibility goes, I tend to think that sprinting is better than jogging. When you jog for long distances, you train your nervous system to move only in that limited range of motion. Shorter sprints do less damage in that regard. And stronger legs are more flexible, so sprinting is good that way, too.

Thanks for the info Tony.

Lets hope Wednesday (my day off) is relatively rain free! Now the kids are back at school I can get back to some serious training!