Taking on the challenge of running up and downhill has increased
health benefits for you. If you run uphill you are working against
gravity and that taxes your muscles, making them work harder than they
do when on flat ground, which helps strengthen your quads, hamstrings,
glutes, and calves, helping you able to run faster and longer.
This is also helpful with injury prevention and to strengthen the
upper body, since your leg muscles tire more easily on uphill climbs you
will naturally pump the arms more to take some of the workload from the
lower body, which will also burn more calories.
Since running up steep hills is naturally more challenging than running on flat surfaces, both building lower-body muscles and increasing your lung function will enable you to run longer with ease.
Meanwhile when you run downhill, you increase speed since the pull of
gravity makes your quads and hamstrings work much harder to slow down
your pace to prevent your feet from pounding the ground with each step,
and as mentioned above, having stronger thigh muscles is one way to
build speed and power.
Since gravity also targets your shins, it is also very important to
engage your core to brace knees against the added impact a downhill run
can have on the body and after running up the hill provides a welcome
rest, it feels easier, which can give the muscles a break during a run
that allows conserving energy.
No comments:
Post a Comment