Is there any benefit to running downhill?
Not only does downhill running strengthen key running muscles, it can reduce the risk of injury. The eccentric loading can also strengthen and protect our body's connective tissue, which will help to reduce your risk of injury.
When running uphill, your cardiorespiratory fitness increases, causing you to quickly improve your strength, speed and power. You may find the hills tough at first, but by adding them into your training routine and increasing your VO₂ max, you'll decease your time when running flat distances.
Sprinting downhill develops your coordination and speed. When you run downhill, gravity pulls you down faster. This forces your legs to learn to handle the high speed travel. Your body will respond by adapting to a higher stride rate.
The muscle groups used when walking downhill and which may cause pain are the butt, front thigh, back calf, outer side calf and the front of the shin.
However, downhill running can take its toll on your knees and quads. While it may seem easier, running downhill can often be painful for runners because more force is absorbed by your legs due to the constant “breaking” you are doing on the way down a hill.
Running hills everyday is a great way to build leg strength that translates in to the power you need for speed an endurance. But just because you live on a hilly route doesn't mean that every run should be a hard workout. There's a difference between uphill workouts and easy runs with hills.
Uphill sprinting builds muscular endurance and muscle strength because the major muscles of the body must work harder to propel your body up a hill. The slope of a hill targets the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, core and upper body and, similar to weight training, allows you to build more muscle.
Running on an incline, whether you are running up hills or on the treadmill, is a high intensity workout with many benefits. Your abdominals are among the many major muscle groups that benefit from incline running, as this exercise builds muscle mass in the abs while also burning fat.
Long slow runs have been proven to strengthen the musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems, enhance your fat-burning ability and make you mentally stronger.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but running slowly can actually help you run faster in the long term. If you're used to running at a certain pace or speed, you may find it difficult to actively slow yourself down when running.
Is it better to run slower or faster?
Research, in fact, has shown that while we may instinctively feel a need to push the pace most of the time to get faster, doing most runs at a slow pace is more likely to yield the desired results.
Researchers with Duke University's School of Medicine suggest that physical decline begins in the decade of the 50s and worsens as we age, especially for those who don't exercise.
Hill sessions have long been a stable part of a runner's training schedule; they help to increase leg strength, power, speed, engage the core and promote running with good form, so it's a no-brainer.
As you descend, shorten your stride and quicken your cadence. That way, you'll take lighter steps and land more on your midfoot instead of using your heel as a brake. And keep a slight bend in your landing leg to avoid absorbing all the impact in your knee, Wells says.
Downhill Movement
When going downhill you only burn 6.6 percent fewer calories per mile than walking on flat ground. That means burning 5 calories per mile less for a 150-pound person.
A good hill workout, he told POPSUGAR, is essentially a form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which has been shown to be extremely beneficial for burning fat and belly fat in particular.
At first, limit hill training to about one one-hour session a week. After a month or two, you can increase to two sessions a week (as long as you feel recovered). Unless you want to focus specifically on hills, limit session to twice a week max.
Jog in place to start, establishing a tall running posture. Run up the hill for 30 seconds, constantly reminding yourself to drive your hips into the hill. Walk or jog back down to your starting point. Repeat four to five times and wrap up with a 10-minute walk or jog to cool down.
However, the good news is that running is one of the best forms of exercise to lose belly fat, and there are even a few small tweaks you can make to your regular running schedule to deliver a sustained fat burning boost.
“Yes, running can help give you defined abs,” said Todd Buckingham, Ph. D., exercise physiologist. But before you get too excited, it's important to note that running alone isn't enough to improve muscular definition in your midsection.
Should you lean forward when running uphill?
On the way up a hill, you are battling against gravity, so you should “stand tall” with a slight forward lean, drive your legs back and lift your knees up to take advantage of the additional power generated at your ankle, and keep your torso centered over your pelvis.
Yes, running builds muscles in the glutes, but it depends on the type of running. Sprinting activates type II fibers, which are larger and more able to increase muscle size, whereas distance running uses smaller type I fibers that are better for endurance.
Yes, running can make your legs bigger. However, the muscle size you might experience will depend on the type of running you do. Running with a higher intensity (think sprinters) can lead to bigger legs than running with a lower intensity (think of a long-distance runner).
A runner's body is typically extremely lean, with a toned lower body that features exceptional endurance. The upper body is usually well-toned but doesn't carry a lot of muscle mass. The best way to get a runner's body is to run, a lot!
A recent review of studies found that to score the major health perks of running, you don't have to pound the pavement for long: Jogging just five or six miles a week is enough.
The best way to breathe while running is to inhale and exhale using both your nose and mouth combined. Breathing through both the mouth and the nose will keep your breathing steady and engage your diaphragm for maximum oxygen intake. It also allows you to expel carbon dioxide quickly.
The study found that between age 40 and 70, runners slowed by a linear rate of about one percent each year. When runners reached their late 70s, they began to decline by about 1.5 percent, and between 90 and 95, that rate accelerated to two to three percent decline.
Running fitness is a long-term activity - you cannot expect to improve it in just a couple of weeks. As a rule of thumb, it will take between 10 days and two weeks (or even longer) for the effects of a running fitness exercise to translate into improved overall fitness.
Shortening your stride can help you run faster and longer. When you're taking longer strides your legs have to cover more distance with each step and you end up landing inefficiently, explains Wight.
Running short and fast, with breaks, works your anaerobic energy system, while running longer and more slowly works your aerobic system. It's important to exercise both systems in order to achieve overall progression in fitness. Plus, with the variety in training, you avoid the monotony of doing the same run each day.
What is the 80/20 rule in running?
The well-known 80/20 rule of intensity balance stipulates that runners should aim to spend about 80% of their weekly training time at moderate intensity (i.e. at a pace at which you can comfortably carry on a conversation) and about 20% at moderate to high intensity.
The more you run, the better your aerobic base gets. And when you build a large aerobic base, you improve your capacity to endure for longer and farther before you start to fatigue. Running faster means, you are building your stamina to be able to run at faster paces.
Running fast requires good genetics and solid training -- simply being skinny doesn't make you a fast runner, but it can help. Losing excess weight can improve your speed but it's not a substitute for training.
While it reduces the load on the heart and lungs, downhill walking actually increases the load on the muscles significantly. Our muscles work in 3 different ways; to shorten and produce movement, to stay the same length and hold a position, and to lengthen while slowing or braking our movement.
Is Downhill Running Good for You? Running hard downhill adds a layer of leg strength that you can't get from running uphill or over flat terrain. This forces your muscles to lengthen to bear the load, something called eccentric muscle contraction.
While you'll burn fewer calories on the downhill, there's another benefit that will help you in your quest to flatten your stomach: Running downhill recruits the muscles of the lower abdominals, reminds "Shape" magazine. That means you'll get some muscle-building benefits, along with aerobic benefits.
Downhill running is so tough because of all the gravity-induced eccentric muscle contractions that force your muscle fibers to lengthen, causing them to tear. The muscle damage decreases your muscles' ability to produce force, slowing your pace on the flat and uphill portions of the race.
Walking downhill puts more strain on your knees and ankles than walking uphill or on level ground. You hit the ground harder with each step and the angle does your knees no favors.
It is harder to walk uphill than downhill because you must lift the weight of your body and to do this requires greater energy than that needed for walking on the level.
Running at sharp inclines, like up hills, can result in the painful condition known as “runner's knee,” or known medically as patellofemoral stress syndrome. At these high-incline settings, ankle joints move less, making the knees compensate to carry the body up the hill.
Do you burn more calories running uphill or downhill?
You burn the most calories running uphill, and by all means you should, hills can be a beast. Running uphill activates the posterior chain of your body, meaning you work your glutes, hamstrings, and calves much more than you would at little to no incline. When you activate more muscles, you burn more calories.
As you descend, shorten your stride and quicken your cadence. That way, you'll take lighter steps and land more on your midfoot instead of using your heel as a brake. And keep a slight bend in your landing leg to avoid absorbing all the impact in your knee, Wells says.
Going Down
Every 100 feet of elevation descent speeds you 3.6% of your average one mile pace (2% grade/mile).
The truth is that downhill running is harder on your body than you may realize. Your muscles as you run downhill stretch and elongate (opposed to constricting on the uphill) and, generally, as we train for downhill running less, it tends to tear muscles far more than regular and uphill running.
If you're looking to get the most bang for your buck out of an aerobic workout, consider pushing yourself to new heights by running at an incline. Incline running increases the effort of your workout, helping you lose more weight and trim more fat from your whole body, including your belly.