I have always endorsed hill running as an easy way to lose weight. The thing I really like as a middle-aged man is I can run slower and get more of a workout!
I have started up my exercise schedule in the last couple of weeks from a few hours a week to about 10 hours a week. Part of this was the realization that I had lost some ground in my weight loss due to a lack or focus. I have since refocused again and I am now splitting up my exercise between mountain biking, bag work, hill running, jogging and some walking.
In this post I’ll talking out the run I love to do a few times a week (and I am about to do after I post this). I’ll intersperse a couple of music videos but first here is a hill running form video.
The route I take is about four miles. it takes about a mile and a half to get to the hill and about a mile back and down. The grade on the part I have been running is about 10% but I like to actually hike a 20% grade (when the grass dies off so I don’t get too many stickers). Here is one related song my wife practices to (she is a singer).
Now that your blood is pumping (Bruce always does that for me) I’d like to speak of the merits of hill running. My knees are not what they used to be so I really try to run (jog really) slow. I do need the workout so I run hills slowly and get the same workout as if I ran on a flat surface fast. The difference is my knees do not get jarred about much.
Another plus for me is I don’t seem may people on the hilly trails. If I was running on the flat – walkers sometimes pass me 
Even though I’m in my fifties – I still do not think of myself as getting older so to have a walker pass me is a blow akin to a vw bug passing me on a highway! Here is a version of a song – running up that hill.
I’m not one of these guys that can just diet and lose weight easily because I like to snack and drink a bit. All of which can add 300 – 400 calories a day. While I could maintain weight snacking and drinking without exercise (if I was fairly good about diet) – I cannot lose weight and snack without exercise.
So what I have been doing is kick up my exercise routine to to the point that dieting and snacking can co-habitate. As much as I would like to say I love to exercise (and that is true), I actually need to exercise to keep my blood pressure low, weight under control and slowly increase my fitness level (I can can surpass my grandfathers longevity – he lived to be 97)!
So enough said – I have a long run to do before dark. Remember to run to the hills and run up that hill!
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