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Article - 5 Reasons I LOVE Running Hills

Article by Stacie Mahoe

If you're looking for an effective way to stay in great shape during the off season or even improve your speed and explosiveness for softball without adding hours of training to your already busy schedule, read on...

A few months back I came across Uphill Fitness Training. When I first heard about it, I admit I was a bit skeptical. Is it really that effective? Can something that simple really help me get into the kind of shape I want to be in? However, now that I've tried it, I know it works. There are a number of things I like about it, but here the top 5 things I love about Hill Sprinting:

1. No equipment necessary: One of the best things I love about running hills and making it a part of my workout routine is it doesn't involve a lot of fancy, expensive equipment. All I need is a good pair of shoes and a hill and I'm good to go. No machine to buy, no power supply required, no equipment to lug around. I just put my shoes on and head on over to the hill of the day.

2. Hill sprinting works your entire body: You'll use all the major muscle groups of your body which is shown to burn more fat than traditional low intensity cardio work. Running hills makes your muscles strong and powerful, both great assets in softball. You know as well as I do that the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. After my very first hill sprinting workout, I could tell that my entire body did, in fact, get a workout. I thought I'd "feel the burn" in my legs the most, but it surprised me when my arms were just as tired especially because I had been working my arms out a lot more than my legs with throwing and hitting. But not only were my arms just as tired, they were a little more tired than my legs were. Plus, with proper running technique, I also felt the muscles in my core working as well. Yup, those abs get a workout too and we all know how important the core is for softball players.

3. High intensity builds muscle and burns fat: High intensity workouts, like uphill training, have been shown to boost natural Human Growth Hormone production. When you are young, HGH is the key to building muscle tissue. As you get older, this hormone is a key factor in burning fat in your body. So as you can see, boosting this hormone helps you on your way to your training and fitness goals and high intensity exercise does just that.

4. Quality, not quantity: I like the fact that low volume and high intensity beats high volume and low intensity. I don't know about you, but I get bored running for 30 minutes on end (or longer) at the same pace. Many in the softball/baseball community don't believe in "long distance training" anyway. I'll tell you though, I LOVE the way high intensity hill sprints make me feel during the workout. It's not just some boring, monotonous task. It doesn't even take up much of my time, but I feel fast and strong when sprinting. I feel like I’m getting fit! Another great thing about it is that when all is said and done I know I've had a great workout! That's a feeling all athletes love.

5. It's a group thing: One thing that makes a workout program easier to stick to is having someone to do it with. The Uphill Training Program is just about the ONLY workout routine I’ve been able to convince other family members and friends to do. When my friends and family hear that all I'm going to do is run up a hill 5-6 times, then walk back down, they figure "how hard can it be" plus it's only going to take about 15-20 minutes tops, from beginning to end so that's appealing as well. This is the only workout I've never had to do by myself and that's a big reason why it's easy to incorporate into my regular training routine.

Now, as you can imagine, there are other benefits to hill sprinting, but these are just the major factors that make it great for me. If you'd like to learn more about the other benefits of hill sprinting, such as increased speed and more explosiveness, check out Uphill Fitness Training today. Learn what a simple hill sprinting workout can do for you and your athletic career.