There are two types of people in this world. The people that love going uphill, and the people that love going downhill. I’ve found that these groups are usually mutually exclusive. 

Me? I HATE uphills, but I’m happy as a bunny when I’m going downhill. 

Why the dichotomy? 

There are a few different reasons:

• Your individual muscle fiber ratio: slow-twitch/fast-twitch fibers.
• Individual strength differences in your hips vs. knees vs. ankles.
• Strength differences on different muscle contractions: Concentric and Eccentric contractions.

I want to focus primarily on the last two points, strength and muscle contractions. These two points are the easiest and fastest factors you can effect by doing specific exercises. 

First off, let’s talk about the specific muscles you use getting yourself up that hill…just to meet that next switchback (see why I hate going uphills again?). 

To propel yourself up that hill, you have to use your extensors: your glutes, quads, and calves. These muscles work on extending your hip, extending your knee, and pushing off through your toes, respectively. If you have a significant weakness at any point in the chain of movement, you’ll probably develop compensatory patterns. For instance; If your glutes are not strong enough to push yourself up, then you’re probably looking your quads working too hard, which can put a lot of pressure through your kneecap, which, over time, will lead to pain along the front of the knee. 

This is a pretty simplified picture because I’m not even going to go into your stability musculature; that’s a post for a whole different day. 

Now let’s talk about control. What if you’re pretty strong in all of those points, but it’s still hard for you to get uphill? There are two different kinds of muscle contractions: Concentric and Eccentric. 

A concentric contraction is when a muscle shortens. For example: If you were to do a bicep curl, the concentric contraction is when you bend your elbow for the bicep. The muscle is shortening here. The concentric contraction takes a lot of energy. Going uphill requires primarily CONCENTRIC contraction of your glutes, quads, and your calf muscles. 

An Eccentric contraction is when your muscle lengthens. Going back to the bicep curl example, this contraction happens when you’re lowering or straightening your elbow. This contract is difficult because it requires a lot of control. 

To work on concentric contractions to get yourself uphill is fairly simple. Squats and lunges are great exercises to work on getting uphill. To isolate the concentric contraction, when you’re down in your squat, push up SLOWLY to stand. Then squat down quickly. Same thing with lunges: When you lunge on that front leg: bend the knee fairly quickly, then push up or straighten the front leg slowly. If this is easy, add weight! If you don’t have any of the metal kind, load down your day pack or backpacking pack, since that would be the goal for you anyway!

So, to get your booty up that hill, do exercises that:

• Work your Glutes, Quads, and Calves. 
• Focus on Concentric contractions. 
• Load up!

Want some specific exercises? I have a great progression and series on my Instagram at PainAndPancakes. Check it out, and feel free to shoot me a message with any questions!