My calves and achilles can't cope with hill sprints. What alternatives have a similar training effect but with less lower leg injury risk? Obvious candidates are flat sprints done harder than normal, or long hill repeats at LT - any good?
My calves and achilles can't cope with hill sprints. What alternatives have a similar training effect but with less lower leg injury risk? Obvious candidates are flat sprints done harder than normal, or long hill repeats at LT - any good?
Stadiums
al20 wrote:
Obvious candidates are flat sprints done harder than normal, or long hill repeats at LT - any good?
Neither of those are good. Best equivalent would be sprints soft turf/grass.
Actually I can see why LT hill repeats wouldn't be a good replacement, but why wouldn't hard flat sprints do the same job? Your suggestion is basically that but on a soft surface, right?
al20 wrote:
why wouldn't hard flat sprints do the same job?
injury risk
How about you do less of them?
fafadfasdfasdfasdfasd wrote:
al20 wrote:
why wouldn't hard flat sprints do the same job?
injury risk
Yes, flat sprints can beat the sh!t out of you if you're not used to them. Hill sprints reduce the impact because they're done at a slower speed.
something something else wrote:
fafadfasdfasdfasdfasd wrote:
injury risk
Yes, flat sprints can beat the sh!t out of you if you're not used to them. Hill sprints reduce the impact because they're done at a slower speed.
Agree with this^^^. I do both flat sprints and hill sprints, and flat sprints are unquestionably harder on my legs.
Elliptical set on max incline .
Let your upper leg internally rotate with knee lift and push down.
Just go easy and do bursts of speed alternately . Figure out your workout.
Do incline calf raises to make up the missing pieces .
What drop [heel-toe] is on the shoes do you use? It's possible you just need to raise the heel level to reduce the strain on the achilles. Get a higher drop shoe, or you can get some padding (about 3mm - 4mm) to put underneath the heel area of the insole / sockliner. That might be all you need to reduce the flex angle of your ankle, to take some of the excess stretch off your achilles.
Thanks for all the tips. I find flat sprints not very taxing (am naturally mpre a sprinter) but it's a good point about grass,
I like the elliptical idea for a no-impact workout. Last year I did intervals on a stationary bike where you stand on the pedals for the hard parts with high resistance. It was a killer but it made a difference - might try that again plus the eliptical.
Finally, I have a typical 10mm drop but because I'm up on my toes so much when going fast I don't feel even a much bigger drop would touch the ground when sprinting. You're right that it's excess stretch in the achilles though - that's the problem. I've done tons of straight/bent leg calf raises and don't find it reduces injury in the specific case of hill sprints (maybe because it strengthens the muscles but not the tendon)
RunnerSam wrote:
Stadiums
Any stairs. Down escalators run non-stop.
In New York City subway escalators run all night. When I return from running in Central Park I do a few laps on the subway; it feels wonderful.
al20 wrote:
My calves and achilles can't cope with hill sprints. What alternatives have a similar training effect but with less lower leg injury risk? Obvious candidates are flat sprints done harder than normal, or long hill repeats at LT - any good?
Take major steps to improve your ankle mobility, your calf strength and mobility, and use a lacrosse ball religiously on your hips and the muscles in between the knee and foot.
If that doesn't work, then I would say there is no exercise that rivals the hill sprint in the way you're looking for. Your best bet is to find a way to be strong enough to do them, or get in the gym and do unilateral strengthening exercises and pair that with cardio; do both vigorously. I agree with what others have said about hills being way more gentle on my legs and joints than flat sprints. Flat sprints have always beat me up more; however, I've seen way more people vomit from hills.
Good luck!
JumpsDoctor wrote:
Flat sprints have always beat me up more; however, I've seen way more people vomit from hills.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Are you exploding into the first step (or two) like you would out of the blocks? Because it the first step is already on an incline, you're putting a tremendous strain on the Achilles with the acceleration phase.
Try (1) rolling into the acceleration more slowly/gradually for the first 5 steps or so, and/or (2) starting the uphill sprint on a level section before it begins to incline.
This becomes more of a factor as you get older. The acceleration phase [without blocks] is a big stressor on the achilles. Even moreso on an incline. Make your start super-slow for about 5-6 steps until you're at about 70% effort before really smashing the rest of the uphill sprint.
I would try heavy weighted vests or sled pulls keeping your shin angled similarly to hill running. Weighted best runs are more convenient but sleds mimic what you want better. I like to use both with contrasting loads. Doing a run resisted followed by a three minute break than run a sprint of the same distance unassisted. I cover this in further detail in the Sprinter's Compendium.