Lydiard Hill Training

Jonathan G Campbell said:

(Sorry, in spite of numerous attempts, I cannot post to the original
thread.)

I was very impressed with it's effects on me. I used to use it twice a
week for just two weeks in the periodised buildup that Lydiard
specified in his book.

Ok, thanks. That's good to know that it may not require 3x / week for 2
months, but I suspect benefits depends on training before starting and a
person's goals.

My version: 15--30 mins warmup; 400m. up hill

Quoted message said:

with exaggerated knee-lift (about 90 secs.), about 30 secs. jog, back
down the hill quite fast with 200m. fast stride. Each lap = 3 mins.

Wow. I'll probably make mine a little longer per lap but fewer laps -
and adequate recovery before the downhill. One of my big issues is
strength endurance for some of these hills. One of the trails I usually
run has an assortment of hills of various heights and slopes, but
there's only a few with a flat or gentle area at top and/or bottom.

Quoted message said:

One theory I heard about the springing action -- that the large
muscles above the knee (name?) are the largest in the body; and hence
the greatest consumers of oxygen; hence significant training of the
cardiovascular system. Plus flexibility training.

Right. I think steep hills will get the hams and butt also. The
springing itself probably works some of the finer muscles in the foot /
ankle area. I'm finding snowshoe running, even on flats if it's the
right texture, works some of the larger muscles really well also.

Quoted message said:

From my point of view, the downhill strides/sprints were important.
Many runners are scared to let themselves go on a downhill.

Tell me about it 😉 When I was a total newbie, the downhills in this
area used to scare me - and some still do, but even though still a
beginner, I've run them enough times now that my legs are getting
stronger, I'm developing better technique, and gaining more confidence,
which then allows for more relaxed running. Since a lot of these are run
in Alaska winter on snow last year, I've had soft footing for the
downhill - and also soft if I wipe out - so that's helped a lot in
developing experience. I still don't stride out on the steeper ones
(15-30%) (and probably won't on the steepest), but the times when I'm on
the 10% or less, I really have a blast.

It sounds like enough people have had positive results to make some
variation worthwhile. Thanks for your comments.

Dot

--
The goal is training and adaptation, not destruction and injury.
- John Hardy
http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/misc/training.shtml