How to Run Uphill: Technique, Pace and Hill Repeats

How to run uphill: the short answer

Running uphill means changing how you run, not just slowing down. The guide is effort, not speed: on steep sections aim for about 8 out of 10 on perceived effort (Garmin uses this level, on the Borg scale, for hill running) and let your pace drop. Shorten your stride, raise your cadence, keep your upper body slightly forward from the ankles and do not bounce.

This guide covers five technique points, how to read your uphill pace from real data, six hill-repeat sessions with distances, grades and recoveries, where to put hills in your weekly plan and the mistakes that cost most. If you first need to understand how much climbing your routes have, read how to choose a running route.

Uphill technique: five things to check

1. Upper body: lean from the ankles, not from the waist. Runners who bend forward at the hips tend to lock their breathing and lose push.

2. Stride: shorter and quicker. To go faster uphill, increase cadence, not stride length.

3. Foot strike: land with the foot under your centre of mass, not with a heel reaching out in front. As the grade increases, use more of the sole for a stable push, and avoid driving off the toes far behind the body, which tires the calves.

4. Arms: elbows close to the body, moving forward and back with purpose. The arms set the rhythm: if they go slack, your legs lose rhythm too.

5. Eyes and shoulders: look 5-10 metres ahead, not at your feet. Keep shoulders low and your jaw loose.

The key point is not to bounce. Every bounce costs energy and does not take you up any faster.

Uphill pace: why it drops and how to read it

Uphill pace should not be compared with flat pace. On a climb your pace drops, and that is normal. A practical way to judge how hard a run is: metres of climbing per kilometre. Up to 10 m/km is flat or nearly so, 10 to 20 m/km is hilly, and above 20 m/km is demanding. Example: 10 km with 300 metres of climbing is 30 m/km, a hard run even if the average pace looks slow.

Without a heart-rate strap, use your breathing: on a climb you should still manage a full sentence. If your watch shows heart rate, Garmin suggests roughly 85-90% of maximum heart rate for long climbs. To set your zones, use the heart-rate zone calculator. To estimate race times on the flat, the running pace calculator is the reference.

Six hill-repeat sessions you can use now

Hill repeats are one of the most effective sessions, but they need dosing. Before starting, run 15 minutes easy and do 3-4 strides of 80-100 metres. Finish with 10 minutes of easy running. Recover by walking or jogging back down.

1. Short hills, 60-100 metres at 6-8% grade: 10-15 reps, recovering 60-90 seconds.

2. Medium-short hills, 150 metres: 8-12 reps, recovering 1 min 30 to 2 minutes standing.

3. Hills of 200 metres: up to 10 reps, recovering 2 to 2 min 30 sec standing.

4. Medium hills, 250 metres at 3-5% grade: 10 reps, with easy running downhill to recover.

5. Long hills, 1,000 metres at 3-5% grade: 4-6 reps, with easy jogging in between.

6. Continuous climb of 4-8 km at 3-5% grade: once every two weeks, never in a recovery week. Garmin's guide suggests 4 km at 5% for a short race, 5-6 km at 4% for a half marathon and 8 km at 3-4% for a marathon.

Sessions 1 and 2 suit beginners best, because the body learns technique with low volume. Keep long climbs in check: one a month while you build a base, and never the day after your long run. For the full structure, read hill repeats training guide for runners.

Downhill and recovery: the part people skip

Recovery on the way down matters as much as the climb. If you run down too hard, your legs arrive at the next repeat already tired. Walk or jog down with short, light steps. Braking with stiff legs on a steep descent is the quickest way to hurt your quads; a quick, relaxed step is safer.

When walking is the smarter choice

On very steep sections, roughly above 10-12% for many runners, running technique breaks down: the upper body folds, the stride stretches and the feet slap the ground. Walk briskly there, with arms working, and start running again where the gradient eases. On trails this is normal: even the strongest runners walk the hardest sections.

Where hills fit in your weekly plan

Most plans need just one hill session a week, kept away from the long run and speed work. A continuous climb every two weeks helps when you prepare for a half or full marathon. Leave the recovery week free of hard hills. For the cadence side of running, which helps you carry the same effort with less strain, read running cadence: how to train it.

Common mistakes and when to see a doctor

1. Going all out from the start: the first hill of a session should be at an easy effort, not your maximum.

2. Pushing with the legs while keeping the upper body stiff: a tall posture and a high cadence work better.

3. Repeating hard hills every day: several hard sessions in a row overload calves and the Achilles tendon.

4. Ignoring pain: if the calf or Achilles hurts and the discomfort stays, reduce the load and get it checked.

If you feel chest pain, dizziness, breathlessness that does not settle or pins and needles on a hill, stop and get help. If you have a heart condition or have not run for a long time, talk to your doctor before doing repeats. For persistent pain in tendons, knees or ankles, a physiotherapist or podiatrist is the right person. You can also read our guide to preventing running injuries.

Sources and notes on the calculations

- Garmin, Running uphill: effort, technique and hill repeats (in Italian): effort around 8 to 8.5 on the Borg scale, hill-repeat structure, gradients and continuous climbs.

Metres of climbing per kilometre and the rough 10-12% threshold for walking are practical rules of thumb from the editorial team, not figures from a source.