Running Strength Exercises
Running is a single-leg sport. Every stride lands on one leg, and that leg has to catch you, hold you steady, and push you forward again.
Your calf takes most of it. A 2012 study in the Journal of Experimental Biology put the load on the soleus, the deep calf muscle, at up to 8 times your body weight on every step. More running doesn’t build that strength. It only spends it.
Strength work pays you back two ways.
You get cheaper to run. A 2024 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine found that heavy strength training and jump training both improve running economy, which is how much oxygen you burn at a given pace.
You stay running. In a 2024 trial of 325 new runners in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the group that did hip and core exercises had 39% fewer overuse injuries in an average week than the group that only stretched.
Below are the 8 exercises we’d give any runner. Each one has a video, the reason it is there, the sets and reps, an easier version and a harder one.
How to use this
Two sessions a week, four exercises each. The sessions and a four-week progression are laid out at the bottom.
- Do them after an easy run or on a day off. Not the day before a hard workout or a long run.
- Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets.
- Start with the standard version. If you can’t hit the reps with clean form, use the easier one.
- When you hit the top of the rep range on every set, move to the harder version or add weight.
One honest note. Bodyweight gets you started, but the speed gains in the research came from heavy loads and from jumps, not from light, high-rep work. So add weight as soon as the standard version feels easy.
The 8 exercises
1. Single-Leg Lateral Step-Down
What it does: Push-off and landing in one move. You lower your whole weight on one leg, then stand back up on it, which is exactly what each stride asks for. The weaker side cannot hide.
How: Stand sideways on a low step on one leg, the free foot hanging over the edge. Bend the standing knee and lower the free heel to a light tap on the floor for a slow count of 3, then push back up to standing. Knee over the toes, hips level, chest tall.
Do: 3 sets of 6 to 8 per leg
Easier: Use a lower step and keep a hand on a wall.
Harder: A higher step, or hold a dumbbell at your side and try the crossover version.
2. Single-Leg RDL
What it does: Every landing. Hamstrings and glutes catch you on one leg, and the balance work teaches the hip to hold the pelvis level while it happens.
How: Stand on one leg with a soft knee. Hinge at the hips with a flat back and reach the free leg straight behind you until your chest is close to parallel with the floor. Stand back up tall without touching the free foot down.
Do: 3 sets of 8 per leg
Easier: Keep your fingertips on a wall for balance.
Harder: Drive the free knee to hip height at the top and hold it for 1 second, or hold a dumbbell in the hand opposite the standing leg.
Watch: Easier version · Harder version
3. Lateral Lunge
What it does: Side-to-side control for uneven trails, corners and curbs. Running only moves you forward, so these muscles get almost no work unless you train them.
How: Step wide to one side. Sit your hips back into that leg and keep the other leg straight, both feet flat. Push off and return to standing.
Do: 3 sets of 8 per side
Easier: Take a shorter step and don’t sit as deep.
Harder: Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest.
Watch: Harder version
4. Copenhagen Plank
What it does: Inner thigh and hip. The adductors steer the knee on every stride and tire fast on long runs, and they are the muscle group runners never train. This is the exercise for it, and it is hard from day one, so start short.
How: Lie on your side with the top foot or knee on a bench or chair, bottom leg under it. Forearm under the shoulder. Lift your hips until body and legs make a straight line, so the top leg is holding you up. Hold. Breathe. Lower under control.
Do: 3 holds of 15 to 20 seconds per side if you are new to it, building to 30 to 45 seconds
Easier: Top knee on the bench instead of the foot, bottom knee bent and resting on the floor.
Harder: Straight top leg on the bench with the bottom leg lifted to meet it, or add slow hip dips.
Watch: Easier version · Knees-bent version
5. Single-Leg Calf Raise
What it does: Calf and Achilles. This is your push-off and your shock absorber, and the slow lower off the step is what builds a tendon that can take the daily load.
How: Stand with the ball of one foot on a step and your heel hanging off. Rise as high as you can and pause for 1 second. Lower for a slow count of 3 until your heel is below the step. Keep the knee straight.
Do: 3 sets of 10 to 15 per leg
Easier: Go up on two legs, lower on one.
Harder: Hold a dumbbell on the working side.
Watch: Easier version · Harder version
6. Bent-Knee Calf Raise
What it does: The soleus, the deep calf muscle from the top of this page. A straight-leg raise misses most of it, and it is the muscle that carries the biggest load of all when you run.
How: Same setup as number 5, one hand on a wall. Bend the knee slightly and keep it bent the whole time. Rise, pause, lower slowly.
Do: 3 sets of 12 to 15 per leg
Easier: Do it on two legs.
Harder: Hold a dumbbell, or do it seated with a heavy weight on your knee.
Watch: Easier version · Harder version
7. Single-Leg Hamstring Bridge
What it does: Hamstrings. They take more load the faster you run, so this one matters most on speed days and at the end of races, when tired hamstrings are the ones that pull.
How: Lie on your back with one heel on a chair or step, knee slightly bent, and the other leg in the air. Push the heel down and lift your hips until your body is a straight line from shoulder to knee. Lower slowly.
Do: 3 sets of 8 to 10 per leg
Easier: Put both heels on the chair and hold the top.
Harder: Straighten the knee more, or rest a weight on your hips.
Watch: Easier version · Harder version
8. Side-Lying Hip Abduction
What it does: Hip stability. The muscle on the outside of your hip keeps the pelvis level every time you land on one leg, and weakness here is one of the most common findings in runners with knee pain. These are the muscles the injury-prevention trial above trained.
How: On your side, bottom knee bent, top leg straight and slightly behind you, toes pointing forward or slightly down. Lift from the outer hip, pause, three seconds down. If you feel it in the front of the hip, the leg has drifted forward.
Do: 3 sets of 12 to 15 per side
Easier: A smaller lift, or do it standing with a band around the ankles.
Harder: Hold a dumbbell on the thigh, or hold the top for three seconds.
Your two sessions
Everything in the order shown: the big single-leg moves first, the calf and hip work last.
| Session A | Sets and reps |
|---|---|
| Single-Leg Lateral Step-Down | 3 x 6 to 8 per leg |
| Single-Leg RDL | 3 x 8 per leg |
| Single-Leg Calf Raise | 3 x 10 to 15 per leg |
| Side-Lying Hip Abduction | 3 x 12 to 15 per side |
| Session B | Sets and reps |
|---|---|
| Lateral Lunge | 3 x 8 per side |
| Single-Leg Hamstring Bridge | 3 x 8 to 10 per leg |
| Bent-Knee Calf Raise | 3 x 12 to 15 per leg |
| Copenhagen Plank | 3 x 15 to 20 seconds per side, building to 30 to 45 |
The four weeks
Write down what you did. Each week, one small step. The grid below is how we would progress a runner who is starting from bodyweight.
| Week | Standard exercises | Copenhagen plank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bottom of every rep range, standard version | 3 x 15 to 20 s, knees-bent version if needed |
| 2 | Top of every rep range, standard version | 3 x 20 to 30 s |
| 3 | Harder version or add weight, bottom of the range | 3 x 30 to 40 s, straight leg |
| 4 | Harder version or add weight, top of the range | 3 x 40 to 45 s, or add hip dips |
After week 4, keep adding height or weight to numbers 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7. That is where the running economy gains in the research came from. Two sessions a week is enough. Missing a week is fine. Stopping is what costs you.
Sources
- Dorn, Schache and Pandy. Muscular strategy shift in human running. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2012.
- Llanos-Lagos et al. Effect of strength training programs in middle- and long-distance runners’ economy at different running speeds. Sports Medicine, 2024.
- Leppänen et al. Hip and core exercise programme prevents running-related overuse injuries in adult novice recreational runners. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2024.
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