Hammer Intervals Add a New Challenge to Your Speed Workouts—Here’s How to Do Them

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The phrase “putting the hammer down” commonly refers to drivers smashing the accelerator pedal to pick up a burst of speed, often to beat a waning yellow light. Runners use this idiom in much the same way: It means shifting into high gear and cranking up the intensity.

While you may not have the term “hammer intervals” in your everyday training vocab yet, you will soon. Ahead, we break down everything to know about hammer intervals, including why they’re so effective and how to use them to sharpen your speed, toughness, and race-day edge.

What are hammer intervals?

As the name suggests, these aren’t your standard speed reps. At the most basic level, a hammer interval is a repetition within a speed workout that you run at a faster pace than others. It is designed to heighten your effort level so in the next rep you tackle, you’re a little more fatigued.

Modifying a traditional speed workout by including hammer intervals builds both physical and mental strength, specifically for navigating race-day pace fluctuations and building a robust finishing kick. “I’ve always considered [hammer intervals] a way that you can better mimic the exact physiological feelings or variables that you experience during a race,” says Jeff Gaudette, owner and head coach at RunnersConnect.

Hammer interval workouts aren’t just about speed, thought, they’re also about resilience, a quality that all runners should learn to embrace. “They’re for both ends of the spectrum: racing a mile or racing a marathon,” says former Olympic steeplechase runner and current RRCA-certified run coach with McMillan Running, Andrew Lemoncello. “Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable can be really helpful come race day.”

An important thing to remember before attempting hammer reps is they’re best suited for advanced runners with an excellent grasp of their training paces and a solid fitness base beneath them. Even if you fall in this category, they make speed workouts even more challenging.

Case-in-point: Gaudette says that for 90 percent of the runners he coaches, just a single all-out hammer interval suffices. Lemoncello calls for hammers every three or four reps of a workout, so that often equates to two to five challenging—but not all-out—intervals per workout.

How fast should you run hammer intervals?

The beauty of hammer intervals is that there’s no “correct” speed. By definition, as long as they are faster than your other repetitions, they are labeled as hammers.

Gaudette’s hammer interval approach is all about simulating the exhaustion of a finishing kick. He tells his athletes to run a hammer rep near the end of a workout as fast as they possibly can. ​​“It’s not necessarily trying to put a pace on it, but trying to teach your mind how to dig deeper during that corresponding part of the workout or race when your body really wants to quit,” says Gaudette.

On the other hand, Lemoncello’s guidance takes a more measured approach. He suggests a relatively modest 3 to 5 percent increase in pace for hammer intervals compared to other reps. This version of hammer interval training is less about completely exhausting yourself and more about learning to handle midrace pace changes. In other words, the pace should feel noticeably harder but still controlled.

These notable differences between each coach’s set of instructions produce slightly different training benefits.

How do hammer intervals help me get faster?

Speed workouts with consistent intervals don’t quite capture the sudden changes in pace and fatigue that naturally occur in races as thoroughly as workouts with hammer intervals, says Gaudette.

Below, you’ll find the reasoning behind both Gaudette’s and Lemoncello’s hammer interval strategies, and why you’ll benefit from employing either one of them in your training.

The All-Out Approach

Take this image as an example of regular speed intervals and how they line up with race performance. The red line loosely represents the effort given over the course of a 5K race and the black lines represent the effort delivered in a standard six-rep 800-meter repeat session—a “normal” speed workout.

Gaudette’s illustration explains how the rest after each rep of a normal speed workout brings your effort output down to a manageable level. In this case, as the green triangle denotes, you never experience the absolute peak intensity that comes during the finishing kick of a 5K.

Gaudette’s all-out strategy, as explained above, calls for pushing the fifth 800-meter repeat to the max—giving a full 10-out-of-10 effort on the rate of perceived exertion scale. This hard push simulates the intensity of a race’s final stretch. After taking the same rest as between the earlier reps, you’ll run the sixth and final interval at your original workout pace.

The result of all this? The ability to flip a switch and run your hardest when you need it the most.

The Strategic Surges Method

For Lemoncello, implementing hammer intervals all throughout your workout heightens your ability to respond to in-race changes. “[Hammer reps] are designed to take you out of your rhythm, which is really good for racing purposes,” Lemoncello says. “Being able to respond adequately and pick up the pace without much notice is a very good skill.”

Implementing more than one quicker rep during a speed workout not-so-subtly works you harder for the duration of the workout, leading to increased speed endurance, according to Lemoncello. “The fast reps should make the more steady reps feel a lot more comfortable,” he says. Then over time, you’ll continue to get more out of yourself. “I tend to find there’s more of a jump in fitness after these workouts,” Lemoncello continues, saying he’s seen his athletes adapt to faster paces quicker during stretches where they’re conducting hammer interval workouts.

How do you incorporate hammer intervals into speed workouts?

Hammer interval training is all about learning to strike the right balance between effort and volume without overdoing it. Runner’s World gathered the following three workouts from our experts to help you do just that. Whether you’re a 5K enthusiast or a seasoned marathoner, we’ve got a hammer interval workout for you.

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Short Intervals

Why it works: Although runners of all distances can benefit from it, this 200-meter repeat workout is especially useful for athletes focused on shorter races, like the mile up to a 10K. It trains you to handle the kind of sudden pace changes that naturally happen during shorter races, like surging to pass another runner, charging downhill, or just accidentally speeding up.

Lemoncello praises this workout because of its ability to train runners to return to—and sustain—a target pace after a quick bust of a harder effort. Doing this allows runners to develop the control and recovery skills needed to stay consistent and efficient in shorter races.

How to do it:

1. 15- to 20-minute easy warmup jog with form drills and strides
2. 12-20 x 200 meters at 5K pace (8-9 RPE) with 200-meter recovery jog between reps
   1. Hammer interval: Every 4th rep, pick it up to mile pace (9 RPE)
3. 15- to 20-minute easy cooldown jog with stretching

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Medium Intervals

Why it works: Gaudette’s single all-out hammer interval strategy fits perfectly in this 800-meter workout because the distance of the rep is just right, plus the two minutes of recovery after the hammer is just enough to get you through one final interval. Anything shorter and you recover too much, and anything longer you’re too exhausted, Gaudette explains.

How to do it:

1. 15- to 20-minute easy warmup jog with form drills and strides
2. 6-8 x 800 meters at 5K pace (or a bit faster) with 2 minutes rest between
   1. Hammer interval: The second-to-last interval, run as fast as you can manage for the entire rep (10 RPE)
3. 15- to 20-minute easy cooldown jog with stretching

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Long Intervals

Why it works: This workout from Lemoncello uses a similar principle to his first recommendation—recovering from a speedy section of a race—and applies it to long-distance efforts. By alternating hammer miles with controlled marathon pace segments, runners learn how to settle back into their goal race pace efficiently, which is a critical skill for maintaining consistency and avoiding burnout in the late stages of a marathon.

How to do it:

1. 15- to 20-minute easy warmup jog with form drills and strides
2. 12-18 miles at marathon pace (4-5 RPE)
   1. Hammer interval: Every third mile, speed up to half marathon pace (6 RPE) or even 10K pace (7-8 RPE) if you need an extra challenge
3. 15- to 20-minute easy cooldown jog with stretching

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How do I make the most of my hammer reps?

Tackling hammer interval workouts for the first time is daunting, there’s no question about it. However, the following three strategies from our experts will guide you through the toughest parts of implementing these sessions into your training plan.

Manage Your Workload

Hammer reps are incorporated into traditional speed workouts. They’re not a special piece of a training plan, and should remain in your schedule as a normal speed day.

Both experts recommend doing hammer interval workouts three to five times per training cycle, depending on your distance goal and your experience level. Additionally, executing these workouts during the build phase and stopping before the taper of your training plan is optimal. That way you have a base built up as you begin them and don’t push yourself too hard at the end that you’re overtrained come race day.

On a smaller scale, remember that the reps surrounding your hammer interval (or intervals) are just as important as the hammer itself. “It’s a complete package,” says Gaudette. “You want to get back on pace even though you’re tired.” Each rep is supposed to be hard, but not so hard that you can’t complete the full workout.

Find Flat Ground

By no means do these workouts have to be executed on the track—even the 200-meter repeats. “The road is really fantastic because typically that’s what you’re going to be racing on,” Lemoncello explains. “Being able to judge your effort by the length of the rep is really important because it gives you more perception of effort over distance.”

Essentially, rather than relying on the markers on a track, Lemoncello says repeating intervals on the road helps you become more in tune with your training.

Enjoy The Grind

“It’s fun pushing yourself really hard and getting the most out of your body,” Lemoncello says. “Sometimes, it’s just a great way to learn what you’re actually capable of.” You may even discover you haven’t been pushing yourself hard enough in your normal workouts. If that happens, then your training can take a huge leap.