Downhill Running: Train Downhill for Faster Times
by Coach Troy Jacobson
Experienced runners know that downhill running is hard on the body and creates excessive stress on the joints, muscles and connective tissues. And after a race with lots of downhill sections, they experience significant and sometimes debilitating muscle soreness otherwise knows as DOMS (short for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or damage caused to the muscle by extreme eccentric muscle contractions), which can have a negative impact on recovery and training.
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Fortunately, research and experience have shown that downhill run training can reduce DOMS as well as enhance running speeds overall. Here are a few benefits of downhill run training including:
- Increased leg turnover and foot strike frequency by forcing the athlete to 'keep up' with the effects of gravity.
- Enhanced body position for overall downhill running technique
attributing to less 'pounding' as one should attempt to lean forward and not 'slam on the brakes' with severe heel striking when running downhill.
- Improved ability to attack after cresting a hill and to take advantage of the speed gains from running downhill fast.
It's important that you integrate downhill training sessions into your weekly program in a careful manner so as to avoid injury and overtraining. Start with doing a set of 4-6 reps of downhill running at around 85% of your maximum speed on a grade of 4-6% and for a distance of up to 80-100 Meters. After each rep, jog back up the hill as part of your recovery and then repeat the rep. A grassy surface is ideal to run on but asphalt is ok too. After about 3-4 weeks, you can increase your reps gradually to ten (10), your distance up to 200 meters and your speed to almost 100%. At most, experienced athletes should repeat this workout twice a week but most people will get maximum results from one workout a week. Incorporating some downhill training into your program will do wonders for your finish time in your next hilly race and allow you to resume training afterwards quickly and effectively.
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