How to Unlock Your Secret Weapon to Faster Running! - Lee Grantham

Aug 13, 2025

This is a quick summary of How to Unlock Your Secret Weapon to Faster Running! from Lee Grantham. It’s a great watch — we’re breaking it down so you can try the workout today. Be sure to check out the full video for all the details.

Key Points

Hill repeats are a skill and a strength tool; treat them like a speed session and place them on your interval day.
The optimal gradient for most runners is 5‑7 % – steep enough to feel a hill but gentle enough to protect the Achilles, calves, and small muscles.
Start with short, low‑impact reps (15‑30 seconds) to teach your body the movement pattern, then progress to longer, more powerful repeats.
Small, quick steps keep the effort on the heart & lungs while letting the glutes and hamstrings do the work, reducing early muscle fatigue.
Include downhill work: jog down initially, then practice mid‑foot landing, longer stride, and quad conditioning to finish strong in races.

Workout Example

Hill Repeat Session (5‑7 % gradient)

- Warm‑up: 10‑15 min easy jog.
- Main set: 10 × 1 min hill repeats (or 200‑250 m) at 5‑7 % gradient.
  • Keep steps short, focus on glutes & hamstrings.
  • Recover jog or walk back down for 2‑3 min.
- Progression: after 2‑3 weeks increase each repeat to 75 s, then 90 s.
- Cool‑down: 10 min easy jog.

Tip: Use a treadmill or a measured hill segment and keep the gradient constant so you can track progress week‑to‑week.

Closing Note Give this hill workout a try this week and tweak the paces to fit your own training zones in the Pacing app. You’ll feel stronger, faster, and more confident on both the up‑ and downhill portions of your runs. Happy hill training!