Hill training on very steep hills 20% incline. Good or bad?

I've run hills as steep as 27% according to Garmin, but as far as training goes I personally wouldn't train on gradient thar steep due to injury risk. I can get the benefit from a hill less steep without jeopardizing my training on something like that. Just my thoughts....

Too steep for intervals to make sense, unless you are training for a steep hill climb or similar fringe event. For sprint repeats, look for a hill definitely less than 10%. For slower repeats, less than 15%.

The issue with too steep of a hill is that it is so dramatic of a change that it forces you out of normal running form. So now it becames training for steep hill climbing, when you wanted to get better at running normal races. It would be aerobic, so better than not running at all, but it wouldnt be that much better for your running than a cycling workout.

Feel free to include hills like this in normal runs though, a minute or two of a hill like this in an easy 10 mile run isn't a problem.

I think you can safely do sprints of 10-12" (i wouldnt do longer at that incline unless you want a full blown out anaerobic session). Say 8x10", with 2' off. A good session to focus on running technique and thats it. Maybe alternate with some short sprints on the flat every other week but i wouldn't be concerned about injury as you are not running down. I would make sure the calf area is properly warmed up though.

KAV wrote:

I think you can safely do sprints of 10-12"

I do stadium stairs, separate from hill repeats. Sprint up the stairs, walk down jog over to the next stairs, sprint up. You can probably jog down the hill, but you probably want a pretty flat place to jog if you will do it for two minutes like KAV suggests.

A hill this steep is more of a drill than hill repeats.

Hmmm. Good thoughts. I’ll try doing just the 10 second sprints.

Does running slowly up a hill like his have much benefit? Should I avoid it during long runs or is it beneficial to have something so taxing?