Welcome to today's workout. We've got a 15 minute uphill
treadmill run, all in zone 2. That means easy to moderate
effort, the kind of pace where you can carry on a conversation
without gasping for air. This workout is designed to
build strength and endurance without overtaxing your body.
So even if you're training for a flat race, the incline here
works your glutes, hamstrings, calves in a way that makes you
stronger and more efficient. Think of it as strength training
for runners. So let's get started.
OK, We got about 20 seconds to hit start on our watch and we're
going to go, this is I'm going to kind of cater this for
beginners, intermediate and advanced athletes.
So if you are a beginner, go ahead and set your incline to 2
or 3% in 321. Let's find that Zone 2 effort.
Again, this workout is best done as add on to your current
workout to do post strength training.
Definitely don't make this your key workout and your only thing
you're doing. OK, my intermediates, we want
you at about a 5 or 6% incline in my advanced athletes, go
shoot for that 10%. All right, we're starting off in
a light jog. Maybe it's a brisk walk.
The goal right now is just to settle into your breathing and
find that relaxed rhythm again. Zone 2 should feel comfortable.
You're working, but you're not straining, so if you were
running with a friend, you'd be able to chat without losing your
breath. Shoulders are relaxed, arms are
swinging lightly by your sides in short, quick steps.
Just breathe through it. I remember the first time I
first did this run. I've been teasing it a lot with
my athletes, adding it in at least once a week, and it's just
been amazing the results I'm getting from this specific work
out here. So don't hate on it.
Don't. It's OK to struggle.
It's OK that you're walking right now, OK, especially if
you're not used to doing hills. Now, if you are my more
intermediate athlete, OK, which likely you are, feel free to
bring that incline up to 4 to 6%.
But the goal here is zone 2. Ultimately, I want you aiming
for that 10%. I want you to be able to run,
jog, let's be honest, jog. Add a 10% in a zone 2.
It might take you a long time. It's going to feel very, very
challenging. It's going to feel hard probably
every time. Be humble, keep it easy.
The incline is doing the work. We're not here to Sprint.
I want you to stay tall through your posture, slight lean from
the ankles. Again, light tall and relaxed
and let your feet turn over quickly.
You should feel your calves and your glutes doing their job.
One thing I really like to focus here and lately every time I'm
doing hills, is not necessarily turn off your quads, but focus
on using your glutes. Glutes, glutes, glutes, glutes.
Climbing uphill in itself is typically very quad dominant,
but if we can engage our glutes, engage those hamstrings, put 1
foot in front of the next, suddenly climbing is going to
become our favorite. Maybe.
This is steady climbing, smooth, controlled and efficient.
Keep checking in on yourself. Can I still talk?
If the answer is yes, you're in the right zone.
You're doing amazing. Again, this isn't if.
This isn't your time to beat yourself up and to push hard.
You already did that. This is our finisher.
Breathe, breathe, breathe. If you focus, you find yourself
breathing a little harder. Feel free to pull back that
speed. Eventually you will be able to
jog this entire thing. Yes, I'm telling you, it just
you have to start right. If all you've ever done is train
on flats, adding any kind of hill is going to be a challenge.
It's about teaching your body to stay calm, inefficient, through
these hills. Steady, smooth and strong.
You got this. In through the nose, out through
the mouth, into the nose, out through the mouth.
You got this. Again, our goal for this entire
15 minutes is to keep this easy, moderate effort conversational.
OK. If anything, I want you to add
incline over speed. Maybe you add incline and pull
back on speed. I just stay in that zone to stay
in that aerobic zone focusing on endurance, efficiency and form.
Settle in. You're doing amazing.
Some of you might be just committing to 5 minutes post
workout or 5 minutes is great, is a great start.
OK, work up to it. Maybe you just do 10 minutes and
then you do 12 minutes and then one day you might get to the
entire 15 minutes again. If your breathing is starting to
get heavy, dial back on pace. The Hill is doing the work here.
Keep breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth.
In through the nose, out through the mouth.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just like that.
You guys were over that 5 minute mark.
You're doing great again. Uphill running.
It feels harder at slower speeds.
On a scale of 1 to 10 RPE, this should be like a four.
OK, don't focus on how fast you're going.
I want nice short strides, quick turnover, tall posture, slight
lean into the hill and stay at this 3% incline.
If that's you, OK, stay here until you can confidently do
that. My more experienced runners move
it to 6 to 8%. My advanced runners take it to
that 10%. But don't let your ego get ahead
of what the goal is. Why do I love uphill treadmill
running? Well, it is so great for your
body. It's our body is not having to
take the impact of running right.
We're going nice and slow. We're not pounding on our
joints. Keep it up 6 1/2 minutes in.
So with a low impact, high return, we're reducing the
pounding on our joints compared to obviously running flat or
downhill, but we're still giving our cardiovascular system a nice
strong push. Uphill running especially
engages those calves or glutes, those hamstrings that tend to
not get as much as like our quads would normally feel it
right. So we're sneaking in strength
training for those run muscles. It also boosts our form
naturally. So it encourages that shorter
stride, that quick turnover, that slight forward lean right
from the ankles, still thinking like tall and relaxed, which is
going to make your running form more efficient.
That's all a win. And again, we're getting the
cardio without the speed stress. So instead of hammering another
set of fast intervals, you're getting that aerobic development
with less risk of over striding or straining your body.
And you're going to notice that tomorrow you feel pretty
recovered despite how challenging this feels.
So even if you are training for a flat race, let's be honest,
we, we love a nice flat race, right?
We look forward to flat racing. But I still want you doing these
uphill treadmills because it builds leg durability.
So again, stronger caps, quads, stronger glutes, it all
translates to better endurance on any terrain.
It improves your running economy.
So again, after after running hills, flat running feels
amazing. And of course, training the
mental grid. Hills demand effort.
OK, we tend to run away from hills, but carrying that
resilience is going to make running on a flat, it's going to
make you stronger. So who is this great for?
All right, again, if you have limited on time, this is a great
way to sneak in some extra fitness without a long session
on my athletes who need strength but dislike the gym.
OK, uphill running kind of double s as functional
resistance training. Like we're doing a bunch of
lunges and step ups and calf raises, again, without that
impact, without the strain. And my runners who are prone to
shin splints. OK, this is awesome.
Or just any kind of hard impact injuries.
This is obviously less jarring than running flat sprints or
downhill running. And obviously if you are
preparing for a hilly course race, this is bonus.
OK. Now the one caveat I do want to
throw out here for anybody who has any kind of Achilles or calf
issues, all right, stay away from uphill treadmill running.
This incline is going to load those areas up more and
obviously they need to be healed.
They need to be stretched and strengthened, not more, more,
more, more, more. OK, anybody just coming back
from an injury? Again, we're not trying to
OverDrive anything. We want to stick to gentle
inclines or flat running. 1st and beginners OK, just building
an aerobic base, this might be a little taxing, OK, if you layer
it on top of regular training. Again, the goal is zone 2.
Sometimes you might be like, well, I feel like I need to walk
this then that's OK, walk it, please walk it.
But just challenging yourself to get out of your comfort zone,
try new things, test yourself and obviously not everybody has
access to a treadmill, but wanted to give you guys oven
some some options. It is obviously hard to find
just straight incline. I don't know of many hills at
all around my house that would take 15 minutes to climb up.
So treadmill is just way to keep us consistent and steady for the
long haul. So think of this uphill
training, uphill treadmill training as strength and
endurance, your little secret tool.
OK, it's not going to replace any goals specific workouts, but
it's going to complement them by making you stronger, more
resilient, more efficient. Even if pancake flat is all you
enjoy. Keep breathing.
You guys are crushing this. We're already 11 1/2 minutes in.
Can you believe that? Yeah.
Feel like I can't talk enough in this 15 minutes and it's going
to be over again. Check in with yourself.
Are you keeping it still aerobic?
Yes. This might be getting a little
bit more challenging. We're nearing the end.
This is my time. I give you permission to just
stay the course. Let that cardiac drift drift
upwards. But if you're very much heavy
breathing, finding yourself this is very challenging, Please
either pull back on speed or on incline optimally.
I would love you to still stay in that jogging motion because
we're focusing again on running efficiency and running form.
So by the time if we go into a walk now, we're going field toe
striking, right? We're working more hip, less to
work, which is great if that is your goal as well.
There's nothing wrong with hill strides walking, but from a
running stance, I would love that you can stay in that
jogging motion. Stay on those toes, keep those
heels off the ground, relax your shoulders.
Drive with those elbows. Light, tall and relaxed.
Again, reminding yourself that running on an incline, it takes
away the pounding but still gives us the benefits and
strength and endurance work. Really lean into those flutes.
Think about your flutes. Think about your calves driving
those knees forward. Your chin is neutral.
Every step here is building muscle that's going to help you
when you're back on that flat ground.
You got this and just over 90 seconds we're bringing that
incline down and we're going to slow it down again.
You're teaching your body to handle fatigue and when you go
back to that flat, you are going to feel lighter and quicker.
Keep breathing into the nose, out through the mouth, keep
smiling. Remind yourself that you love
this. This is just such a sweet treat.
A bonus add on. And if you are at the gym doing
this, people around you are probably like whoa, I need to
feel like her or him because something that they are doing is
working right. Again, listen to your body.
Lean into these feelings again. But if you have any kind of
cranky Achilles or calves, keep that on incline modest today and
listen to your body. We have just 30 seconds left to
go before we bring that incline down, pull that paste back and
cool it off. Stay tall.
Keep that short stride short. Keep that smile on your face.
You're not fighting it. You're flowing up it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. How do you feel right now?
You feel you feel stronger when you first started 10 seconds.
You got this all the way through, All the way through.
Did you make it 321 and relax? OK, Pull back that incline back
to 0%. If you want to jog it out here
or walk it, this is your chance. This is going to cool it off.
I just want to give you guys permission to say that, well, if
that probably really sucked, especially if this is your first
time climbing. The first time I committed to 5
minutes and I stuck 2 or 3% incline.
The second time I did it, I stuck to 5 minutes, but I went
up to a 5% incline. Then I did 8%, but I actually
had to slow down because I was really focusing on just staying
in zone 2, OK. And in just two months, I was
able to do the full 15 minutes at 10% incline.
Don't worry about my pace, keeping it easy.
That's what's important is that I'm doing it.
And again, my marathon coming up, it is got some rolling
hills, but it is still a net downhill race.
And I, I'm loving these uphills. I hate them, but I love them,
right? Just like running.
I hate to love it, but here we are.
All right with that, you guys, I'm so proud of you for showing
up, for trying things that scare you, for going out of your
comfort zone. Again, do this after any kind of
strength training workout. Don't do this on your easy days,
OK? Do them on your hard days.
You can do them even after a hard workout just to kind of add
it to any kind of finisher workout.
I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you take something from
this and share this workout with somebody who you think could
benefit from this. Feel free to reach out on
Instagram. I'd love to see your distance
and how far you've made it. And with that, you guys have a
great rest of your day. Keeping it short and quick and
spicy at the same time, but easy.
I don't know if those can all be in the one word at the same
time, but all right you guys, I love you.
I mean it. Have a great one.
Cheers.