Trail Running Training in the City: Train Without Mountains
You signed up for a trail race with 1,500 m (4,921 ft) of elevation gain, and your runs happen between traffic lights. Is your flat neighborhood a handicap? It depends on what you want to replicate: the climb, the descent, or the strength work.
The ELYO team
The sports coach that reads your workouts
The short answer
Yes, you can prepare for a trail race in the city, especially the climbs. Measured on a treadmill by Minetti and colleagues in 2002, the energy cost of running is about 5.6 times higher at a +45% grade than on flat ground. Stairs, ramps and an incline treadmill therefore reproduce the effort of climbing well. Downhill running requires eccentric work, which you introduce in small doses.
Key takeaways
- Climbing is easy to simulate in the city: the cost of running rises in a linear way with the grade, so stairs, ramps and an incline treadmill train the right muscles.
- Downhill is the hard part to replicate. It relies on eccentric muscle contractions, and it is what damages muscles the most in running.
- Heavy strength training is the best-documented way to improve running economy.
- A run on real hills before race day remains the best test of everything you have prepared.
Trail running is built on elevation, and hills don't grow around the corner. Many urban runners conclude they start at a disadvantage. That's only half true.
A trail race means climbing, descending and running on uneven ground. Each of these ingredients is trained differently in the city, with tools that work more or less well.
Start by reading the profile of your race
Before you look for stairs, check what's waiting for you:
- Elevation gain: the climbing part.
- Elevation loss: the descending part, the one that tires your legs the most.
- The terrain: roots, rocks and steps demand stability, not just endurance.
Downhill is the hardest part to simulate in the city. If your race has a lot of it, plan at least one run on real hills before race day.
Climbing: your neighborhood can reproduce it
When it comes to climbing, your physiology works in your favor. A 2017 review found that the energy cost of running rises in a linear way with the grade, with more joint work, especially at the hip.
So anything that makes you climb trains the right muscles: stairs in apartment buildings, train stations or along riverbanks, parking garage ramps and bridges, or the incline treadmill, where you set the grade and hold it.
No study found compares stairs with hills. The only study found (Loy, 1993) looked at 23 active female students. Nine weeks on a stair-climbing machine improved VO2max by 12% and time over 2,414 m (7,920 ft) by 8%, against 16% and 11% for a running group. The measurements were taken on a treadmill and a track, not on trails.
To set the treadmill grade, check the treadmill equivalence tool.
Free calculatorTrail effort-kmOpen the calculator →Downhill: the weak spot of the city
Climbing is about power, downhill is about braking. The energy cost drops on the way down, reaching a minimum around −20% grade, then rises again. You breathe more easily, but your legs work differently.
The good news is that your body adapts when you build up gradually. In trained female runners, a second downhill session reduced the pain felt after the effort. In an exploratory study of 36 trail runners entering a 106 km (66 mile) ultra, those who regularly repeated downhill efforts had less muscle damage after a 5 km (3.1 mile) test descent at −15%, and they kept more strength.
What the studies show is less pain and an association with less muscle damage, but no proof of a lower injury risk. What coaches recommend is to introduce downhill in small doses: a few short descents at the end of an easy run, on a ramp, a bridge or a park slope.
Strength training: your best urban asset
What the terrain takes away, the gym or your living room can give back. A 2024 meta-analysis concluded that heavy strength training (80% or more of the maximum you can lift once) can improve running economy, meaning the energy used at the same pace. The programs analyzed lasted 6 to 24 weeks, with one to four sessions per week. The effect may be stronger in faster runners (above 12 km/h, or 7.5 mph).
Since the power needed from the hip increases with the grade, target your glutes and hips: lunges, step-ups, glute bridges, with a load that really challenges you.
What you can do at your next workout
- Find a staircase or a ramp less than 10 minutes from home: climb, walk back down, repeat.
- Add one strength workout to your week, with a load heavy enough that the last reps are hard.
- Add a few short, controlled downhill efforts at the end of an easy run, then give your body two days to recover before you repeat them.
- Schedule a run on real hills now, on a weekend before the race.
To build a balanced week with these workouts, also read how to improve your running with 3 workouts a week.
This is the kind of reading ELYO does. It reads your workouts from your watch, looks at your volume, pace, heart rate and consistency, and adjusts your plan when your city week builds up faster than expected.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really prepare for a trail race with a lot of elevation if you live in a flat city?
Yes, for climbing: the cost of running rises with the grade, and stairs, ramps or an incline treadmill reproduce that effort well. Downhill is harder to simulate, so train it in small doses and add a run on real hills before the race.
Do stairs replace hill climbs?
They train climbing: the only study found (Loy, 1993), on a stair-climbing machine, showed endurance gains close to those from running. For downhill and technical terrain, you need something else.
Is an incline treadmill enough?
It's a good tool for climbing: you set the grade and hold it. It won't prepare you for uneven ground or the shifting footing of a trail.
How do you avoid sore legs after your first real downhill run?
Prepare your legs in advance: a second downhill session reduces the pain you feel, according to a study of trained female runners. Introduce downhill gradually in the weeks before the race.
Sources
- Vernillo G., Giandolini M., Edwards W. B., Morin J.-B., Samozino P., Horvais N., Millet G. Y. (2017). Biomechanics and Physiology of Uphill and Downhill Running. Sports Medicine. DOI
- Minetti A. E., Moia C., Roi G. S., Susta D., Ferretti G. (2002). Energy cost of walking and running at extreme uphill and downhill slopes. Journal of Applied Physiology. DOI
- Loy S. F., Holland G. J., Mutton D. L., Snow J., Vincent W. J., Hoffmann J. J., Shaw S. (1993). Effects of stair-climbing vs run training on treadmill and track running performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. PubMed
- Tallis J., McMorrow C., Shelley S. P., Eustace S. J. (2024). Repeated Bout Effect of Downhill Running on Physiological Markers of Effort and Post Exercise Perception of Soreness in Trained Female Distance Runners. Sports. DOI
- Martinez-Navarro I., Vicente-Mampel J., López-Grueso R., Suarez-Alcazar M.-P., Vilar-Fabra C., Collado-Boira E., Hernando C. (2026). Downhill Running-Induced Muscle Damage in Trail Runners: An Exploratory Study Regarding Training Background and Running Gait. Sports. DOI
- Llanos-Lagos C., Ramirez-Campillo R., Moran J., Sáez de Villarreal E. (2024). Effect of Strength Training Programs in Middle- and Long-Distance Runners' Economy at Different Running Speeds: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. DOI
Written with the help of AI.
