5 Essential Trail Workouts For Speed

When you come from road racing to trail running there is one lesson you will learn quickly: your pace is slower on the trail. Your body is working harder when it's dodging mother nature's obstacles on a single-track trail compared to a perfectly paved road. But that doesn't mean you can't get faster. Try incorporating these five trail workouts for speed.

5 Trail Workouts for Speed

1. Hill Sprints

Warm-up: Start at the trailhead and do a slow jog to find a nice hill. Make sure you are fully warmed up because this main set will be all about explosive power.

Main set: Set up at the bottom of the hill and do this set 6-10 times.

• 10-second full-power sprint uphill
• Rest 60-seconds
• Repeat 6-10 times

Cool Down: Easy jog back to the start

2. Run + Bear Crawl Intervals

In trail racing, sometimes you need to crawl to get where you want to go. This exercise #2 of our trail workouts for speed will build the full-body agility and power you need.

Warm-up: Start at the trailhead and do a little jog to find a nice stretch of grass or an open field. A variation is to do this workout on a hill, so feel free to scope out the place you used for workout #1.

Main set: When you get to the big field:

• 1-minute bear crawl
• Jog 1 minute
• Repeat 6-10 times

Cool Down: Easy jog back to the start

Related: Master the Bear Crawl: Pro Tips and Video Demo

3. Downhill Run Intervals

You need to practice running downhill. With some mastery, you can save a lot of time on the course by descending confidently. Running downhill on trails can be dangerous so if you're new, take your time.

Warm-up: Start at the trailhead and do a little jog to find a nice downhill stretch. Something technical.

Main set: 

• Run at a brisk and confident pace downhill. It can be 15 seconds or 3 minutes, depending on the hill you find.
• Upon getting to the bottom of the hill. Walk to the top and repeat.
• Repeat 6-10 times

Cool Down: Easy jog back to where you started.

4. Run + Burpees

We love burpees at Spartan because they are the perfect full-body exercise. Try #4 of our trail workouts for speed and build strength too.

Warm-up: Take a slow jog to warm up. Start at the trailhead and head into the woods.

Main set:

• 1-minute run
• 10 burpees
• Repeat 15 times

Cool Down: Easy jog back to where you started.

Related: How to Do a Burpee Like a Champion

5. Fartlek

Fartlek means "speed play" in Swedish. This style of training mixes fast running with periods of slower running.

Warm-up: Take a slow jog to warm up.

Main set:

• 1-minute hard run
• 1-minute jog
• 2 minutes hard run
• 2 minutes jog
• 3 minutes hard run
• 3 minutes jog
• Repeat!

Cool Down: Easy jog back to where you started.