Issue 084

January 2012

Ditch regular road running for lofty hill sprints and climb your weight division

Barry Gibson BSc and MMA-CSCC is the owner/founder of GrappleFit Training, and an S&C coach focusing on combat sports

Hill sprints are great, not least because they are really tough, but also due to the fact you can drop a boat load of fat, increase your muscle tone, and improve your conditioning. They’re straightforward too; find a hill, run up as fast as you can, come back down on shaky legs, rinse and repeat.

To train for increased performance in combat sports, you need to look at the demands of the sport; what happens in a fight. For example, is the action standing or ground based? Do the fighters engage in long exchanges of punches, clinching, takedown attempts? If so, for how long? 

 Time each interval to see how long it lasts. Look at each muscle contraction. You’ll find that fights contain a host of actions and movements. In all of these, there are different energy systems at work. Isometric and isotonic contractions can occur in close and rapid succession. 

How this affects your training 

Possibly the most important question to be asked overall is: what pace are the fighters going at? This is crucial. If you plod the streets, you’ll plod in a fight – fact.

Combat sports are not performed at marathon pace, they are sprint events. And before the steady-state running brigade metaphorically lace up their running shoes to give me a kicking, I’m not suggesting the aerobic system has no place in combat athletics. However, training the anaerobic system is vital for combat performance. 

If you hit 400m, 600m and 800m run intervals you’ll stretch your aerobic system better than plodding at a gentle easy pace.

Let’s analyze long, steady distance running according to figures provided by Alwyn Cosgrove at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, Califormia, one of America’s premier fitness gyms. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you run a mile and it burns around 100 calories. Now to do this may take 1,500 steps. If every step you take forces 2–4 times your body weight through your lower extremities, i.e. ankles, knees and hips, that causes damage? The ankle joint takes 120% of the body weight whilst walking and 275% whilst running. So someone weighing 150lb applies a load of 63.5 tons through the ankle when walking one mile and 110 tons when running one mile – just imagine what it is doing to the rest of your joints! If you are going to do distance running, please pick your surfaces correctly – choose grass, sand or woodland trails to minimize joint stress. 

Here’s why hill sprints trump distance running: 

SAFETY

Due to the inclined surface you are restricted from achieving maximum limb speed and this acts as a protective mechanism for your hamstrings. That subsequently forces more workload through your lower back, glutes, and calves – giving these areas an incredible workout.

TECHNIQUE

As you are forced to lean forward as you sprint uphill this teaches you the proper acceleration mechanics necessary for when you are sprinting on a flat surface. Hill sprints also teach aggressive arm and shoulder action, which is so critical for maximum acceleration. This helps teach the coordination and little-appreciated upper-body drive needed to sprint effectively on a flat surface.

OPTIMIZATION OF THE FORCE-VELOCITY CURVE

Powerlifting guru Louie Simmons often uses the following analogy to explain the force-velocity curve: “If you try to throw a bowling ball as far as possible, it won’t go very far because the mass (read: force) is so great. If you try to throw a sponge ball as far as possible, you’ll also end up with a short throw because the sponge ball offers minimal mass to push against. A baseball, on the other hand, can be thrown far because it’s a perfect blend of force and velocity.”

Keeping this analogy in mind, hill sprints are the best of both worlds as they offer a “sweet spot” between lifting and sprinting. Also, hill sprints dramatically increase the caloric expenditure of level-ground running, which has amazing benefits on body composition. If you don’t believe me just watch the sprinters at an athletics meet – they have arguably the greatest physiques on the planet (bodybuilders and grapplers included).

SELF-DISCIPLINE

Unlike almost any other form of training, that hill has a way of making you work hard... Once you’ve got your momentum up, you won’t want to lose it, so you’re actually compelled to maintain or even increase your speed. Again, the hill becomes your coach. You’re compelled to work hard and you’re compelled to have awesome technique. What other exercise can offer this?

For any increase in performance or body composition, but especially for combat sports performance, at the top of the hill perform some type of upper-body plyo movement, for example; 10 clap push-ups, 30 seconds of shadow boxing or pummelling. Something that taxes your fighting energy system to the max and forces you to be explosive when your legs are heavy.

Next month, I’ll give you full workouts.