Strength exercises will give you a strong core to help you hold your running form longer and deeper. Your upper body will prove invaluable in delivering a more powerful arm drive helping propel you forward faster. There is no doubt though that developing stronger legs is a priority for runners.

Deadlift

The deadlift is a great exercise for developing powerful glutes and hamstrings and will also work lower back and calves. Form is key to ensure you are lifting safely and effectively. It’s worth spending the time to perfect your technique and make the deadlift a regular part of any leg session.

Work in the 8-12 rep range and gradually build up the load. You want to feel your muscles working on the last 2-3 reps. Engage your abs and squeeze your glutes, keep your back straight and drive through your heels.

Start off with a Kettlebell and progress to a barbell when confident with the technique and weight. And again start with lower weight and working 8-10 reps to develop good movement patterns. Over time reducing the reps to the 4-6 range going for higher weights and more power.

Single Leg Deadlift

The single leg deadlift should be your ‘go to’ exercise. You will very quickly uncover any imbalances and dominant sides with this exercise. We are only ever on one leg when we run so vital we train that way.

This exercise will strengthen the glutes, hamstring and calves on each leg independently. Stand tall with weight focused on one leg and hold a kettlebell on the opposite side. Drive your none weight bearing leg backwards keeping it straight, hinging at the hip and allowing the kettlebell to travel straight down towards the floor. Remember to engage your glutes and drive back up to start position performing 8-10 reps.

Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat

Split squats again have the benefit of training our legs independently forcing our weaker less dominant side to work. With one foot elevated on a step or box, step forward to open up your stride.

Working with body weight, dumbbells or kettlebells, keep the weight through the front leg and drive the rear knee down to within a few inches of the floor. Push through the heel of the front leg and return to start position. Similar to the Deadlift this is a great exercise just light weights or even body weight for 10 or more reps or progressing to using a barbell racked across the shoulders and taking the reps down to 4-6 reps.

Hip Thrusters

The Hip Thruster is possibly the king of glute focused exercises. They require power to drive the hips through to extension. This exercise can be performed with body weight, or using a free weights.

Squeeze your glutes at the top but keep the load constant by not fully returning to the floor at the end of each rep. Remember to keep your back straight and chin tucked to ensure the load is taken by your glutes and not lumbar.

Calf Raises

Its easy to neglect our calves in a strength session, but given the huge role they play in tolerating our running load and the amount of injuries that relate to calf and achilles issues, we should never underestimate the importance of regular calf strengthening.

Calf raises or heel lifts are a great way to really focus on developing this key muscle group. But its important to understand the role each element of our calf complex plays in running to understand how we best do these exercises. These soleus muscle which sits lower and deeper to more prominent gastrocnemius muscle actually plays a more significant role in distance running, has more slow twitch muscle fibres and assists with deceleration at ground contact and drives us forward at toe off.

To really target the soleus muscle, keep your knee bent and raise your heel off the ground on to the ball of your foot using kettlebells and working to around 15 reps.

Strength Exercises Summary

It’s very easy to get overloaded with information and plans which may lead you to procrastinate. You need to find what works for you, in your environment, time available and equipment. My recommendation would be to pick 5 exercises, create a routine of 3-4 sessions per week. Once that habit is established you can start to add/change your routine. 😎

See YouTube for plenty of examples of other running exercises which will help build strength.

See my other post on 6 key strength exercises for runners if you want further strength ideas. Furthermore, see my guide here on apps which can help establish a good routine.

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With these strength exercises for runners, time doesn’t have to be an issue. Once/twice/three times a week. Find what works for you, it shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes to complete a core/strength circuit. All of them can be completed using your own body weight making them super simple without equipment or weights 😎

How many and how much?

This is entirely up to you. If I was starting out I would try 5 repetitions of each exercise and see how it felt. if that’s too easy find the number of repetitions or time where you feel challenged but not exhausted. Remember the aim is to be consistent finish workouts feeling positive which won’t happen if you smash yourself to pieces. That can come later! 😀

Examples,

• One by one – do 10 of each exercise, take a brief break (10-15 seconds) and go again 3 times (sets).
• Compound – some research states that by doing two exercises one after the other than resting has more benefit. Double up on exercises that target different areas though!
• Circuit – do 30 seconds per exercise, take 5 seconds and move onto the next one. Once you’ve completed all 6, take a longer 30s recovery and repeat 2 more times to complete 3 sets.

Of course, add any other exercises if you wish. My go-to is 10 exercises in a circuit which takes 6 minutes per set. I use a great app to complete circuits which I’ve reviewed here.

1. Press Ups

The classic press-up! A great, simple exercise to get started. This will help strengthen the chest, shoulders and arms to improve posture and drive when running. Pictures Link.

Lay down with your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart on either side of your chest. You can adapt this as needed depending on your strength and experience:

• Easier. on your knees! No shame, if this works for you go for it. You can then aim in the future to complete 1 or more full push-ups, this is also a good indicator of progress.
• Standard. On your toes, with a flat, straight body.
• Harder. There are multiple ways you can multiply the push-up. From putting your feet on a block (first few steps of your stairs) to using weights or even a young child sit on your back 😂

2. Squats

Good form is important so check out pictures. Keep your back straight, stand your feet shoulder-width apart and lower your body to the ground, putting the weight into your heals so don’t lean forwards. Raise your body back up and that’s 1 repetition.

This will strengthen your major running muscles in your legs (i.e. hamstring, glutes, quads).

• Easier. Simple down and back up, keeping good form. Keep the number of repetitions small.
• Standard. Down, hold for 2 seconds then back up. Increase the repetitions.
• Harder. Hold a weight close to your chest (Kettlebell, Medicine Ball, Dumbell or even a large bottle of water!)

3. Lunges

Similar advice to squats, pay attention to form and check out the pictures. The lunge can be performed on the spot of walking, I prefer the latter but depends if you have the space! The lunge will strengthen leg muscles but isolate each leg.

• Easier. Simple down on one knee, back up and repeat with the other leg, keeping good form. Keep the number of repetitions small.
• Standard. Down, hold for 2 seconds then back up. Increase the repetitions.
• Harder. Hold a weight close to your chest (Kettlebell, Medicine Ball, Dumbell or even a large bottle of water!)

4. Glute Bridges

Great for hip flexors, quads and hamstrings. See pictures to see how to perform this exercise.

• Easier. Lower the repetitions or go half-way. Good form is important so aim to create a straight line in your body when your hips are raised but is you’re struggling go halfway, to begin with.
• Standard. Lying on your back, raise your hips up. Hold for 2 seconds then lower down.
• Harder. Consider adding weight and/or single-leg bridges. Ensure you do an even number of each side unless you’re looking to correct an imbalance.

5. Dead Bug

An excellent core exercise which is performed lying on your back. Look at the pictures for how this can be performed. This is great for your core and difficultly can be increased purely with body weight so should be a go-to exercise. Using opposing legs and arms, keep your arms and legs at 90 degrees lowering each to be parallel to the ground.

• Easier. Focus on keeping good form with the legs first, keeping your arms on your chest
• Standard. Hold for 2 seconds when each leg is parallel to the floor.
• Harder. No bending the legs and arms. Full reach and aim to touch your alternating leg and arm above your body.

6. Planks

My final key strength exercise for runners is the humble plank!

Unlike other exercises, this is static so you would perform this over time. The plank will help strengthen your core as your body will want to dip – your aim is to fight this by keeping straight. The aim is to hold steady, keep a straight back with no dipping. The pictures show examples of good form.

As you can be on your elbows for an extended period I sometimes use a cushion.

• Easier. On your knees. Practice good form over shorter repetitions
• Standard. On your toes and elbows facing the floor. Focus on a straight line, flighting your body which will want to dip.
• Harder. Varying ways:
  • Alternating holding one leg off the ground whilst holding the rest of your body still.
  • Turned them into press-up planks.
  • Dip your hips from one side to the next throughout
  • Increase the time, I don’t advocate going over a few minutess but many do. The word record is eight hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds!!! 😛

Extra credit, strength exercises for runners

You’ll find lots (and lots) of stretch exercises for runners with a simple search so here are my other favourites to consider. Click on each to see pictures 😎

• Bicycle Crunches
• Russian Twists
• Superman
• Dumbell Row
• Tricep Dips
• Step-ups
• Single-leg deadlift
• Leg raises
• Side Planks

Thank you for reading my post on strength exercises for runners 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Remember this can all bodyweight so all you need is some floor space, you have few excuses. If lack of motivation is holding you up, just jump on the floor and start your first exercise, don’t think about it and don’t procrastinate.

The same mantra about running is true, the hardest part is starting 😎

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