How to get the benefits of hill sprints without doing any hill sprints

I have been writing about the benefits of hill running/sprinting lately.

But, it is possible to get some of these benefits without ever stepping foot on a hill?

Yes!

One of the big reasons to do hill sprints is that it can result in increases to your Leg Spring Stiffness, which, as I talked about yesterday, can indicate improvements in Running Economy, according to authors Hans & Ron.

So, if you live in an area devoid of hills or if you want to get off the hills for a day...

I have compiled a short list of other activities you can do to improve your Leg Spring Stiffness:

- Box & frog jumps
- Jump roping
- Barefoot running
- Single leg jumps
- Skipping (A, B, & C skips)
- Long jumping into a sprint

All of these are are fairly straightforward drills/exercises that you can find a visual instructional for on Youtube.

I recommend adding a few of these drills you like into your normal training routine as they will add a whole new texture.

And, if you want to see how beneficial these drills are, you should be monitoring your Leg Spring Stiffness.

Stryd reports Leg Spring Stiffness. You can analyze this value after your activity and begin to establish a trend over a period of weeks/months to see if you are maintaining/improving your Leg Spring Stiffness as a result of your drill work.

This data can be a great motivator to maintain your habitual drill work as you will know how it is quantitatively benefiting you.

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