One of the biggest differences between road running and trail running are the hills. Trail runs are typically on hilly terrain, often with stairs as well.

To improve your performance, and make the whole running experience more enjoyable, it helps if you can run uphill efficiently.

Watch this video for some helpful tips on what you can do to become a great uphill runner.

If you live in a flat area with no access to hills, and you are training for a hilly ultra, there are a couple of options that will help your training.

Uphill Treadmill Running: One option you could try is using a treadmill to replicate the uphill running. You could do some long treadmill sessions, varying the gradient and alternating between a fast hike and a run. This is good preparation for the uphill sections of a race, but it doesn’t prepare your legs for the downhills, nor is it particularly helpful for preparing your legs to cope with stairs.

Lunge-Squat-Lunge-Run Session: This is an easy way to help strengthen your legs for uphills, downhills and stairs no matter where you live. The idea is to use lunges and squats to increase the load on your leg muscles and also to get your joints and muscles working through a bigger range of motion. You then run 1km and repeat the squats and lunges – multiple times.