Running Tips for Incline Surface - part of the women's fitness video series by GeoBeats. Running Tips for Inclined Surface When you’re running up a steep incline, your form is going to change a little bit from when you’re running on a flat surface. For example, when you’re running on a flat surface, you have your body fairly upright, with only a minor incline. When you’re going up a hill, you want to incline your body into that hill, and you also want to take slightly shorter steps. And you want to emphasize the high knee portion of your stride. So, when you’re going uphill you incline your body into the hill, have a slightly higher knee and take shorter steps. That’s just the most aerodynamic way to get yourself up that hill.