Hill Sprints

I assume you are talking about hill repeats, and not necessarily sprints (going as fast as you can). I would start out at 6 hill "sprints" for a length of about :50- 1:00, with a jog down recovery. Do it maybe once every 2 weeks. Go at a fast pace, but in control, maybe around mile effort.

I would find a hill with 6-10% grade. Once a week do hill sprints of 6-10 seconds with at least 2:30-3:00 min. recovery between reps, 5+ min. between sets. Start with 2 sets of 2-3 and work up from there. Make sure to get a good warmup and some drills and strides in before the workout.

gmxc wrote:

I would find a hill with 6-10% grade. Once a week do hill sprints of 6-10 seconds with at least 2:30-3:00 min. recovery between reps, 5+ min. between sets. Start with 2 sets of 2-3 and work up from there. Make sure to get a good warmup and some drills and strides in before the workout.

6-10 seconds ?

I think that's more 100m runner workout.

For distance runners I'd say at least 20 seconds is needed.

College teams around the country regularly mix in 6-10 sec hill sprints for distance runners... same idea as strides, works done fast twitch, mechanics and strength!

The Kenyans had a strategy for hill training.

When asked how they do hill sprints, this is their answer:

"We find a hill, we run up and walk/jog down. We stop when we can't do it any more".

Unless you are elite it doesn't need to be any more scientific than that. If you're elite, apparently the same applies.

gmxc wrote:

I would find a hill with 6-10% grade. Once a week do hill sprints of 6-10 seconds with at least 2:30-3:00 min. recovery between reps, 5+ min. between sets. Start with 2 sets of 2-3 and work up from there. Make sure to get a good warmup and some drills and strides in before the workout.

Are hill sprints considered a workout? Can they be done on easy recovery days or days before a hard workout? Or can they be added to a regular speed or tempo workout?

when to do these wrote:

gmxc wrote:

I would find a hill with 6-10% grade. Once a week do hill sprints of 6-10 seconds with at least 2:30-3:00 min. recovery between reps, 5+ min. between sets. Start with 2 sets of 2-3 and work up from there. Make sure to get a good warmup and some drills and strides in before the workout.

Are hill sprints considered a workout? Can they be done on easy recovery days or days before a hard workout? Or can they be added to a regular speed or tempo workout?

Both.

On Thursdays, before a Friday workout, I’ll do 8-10 x 10 second hills with 80s recovery.

You could add them in as part of a workout too, such as after a tempo run.

20s is needed for what? Both OP and this poster could be more specific with what they consider the desired outcome of hill sprints to be. Yeah 6-10s hill sprints is a significantly different stimulus than 20s sprints, but that doesn't mean they are only beneficial to 100m specialists. Distance runners benefit from the faster top-end speed, improved neuromuscular communications, greater maximal power, and improved running economy. XC runners get the added bonus of working on specific hill strength and uphill running economy.

It appears OP is asking about these kinds of hill sprints, which are typically used earlier in a macrocycle to introduce top-end speed work before hitting the track. Many also use them year-round for general top-speed maintenance and specific power.