5 Must-Do Exercises for Runners

Have foot or knee pain, but want to keep running? Try these hip exercises.

More than 23,000 people per day in the United States require medical attention for ankle injuries (Young, 2019). One of the most common reasons for ankle injuries, especially in active people is running. Running is known to cause lower extremity injuries in both the ankles and knees and the risk for injury is recognized to increase with weak hip abductor and hip extensor muscles. The primary hip abductor muscles are the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus – both of which are located directly under the gluteus maximus and are responsible for moving the leg to the side and away from the body. The primary hip extensor is the gluteus maximus muscle which is responsible for standing from a chair or the up motion of a squat.

Maintaining Balance

Running is a high-intensity, dynamic activity that requires physical effort, mental attention, and postural control or the ability to maintain, achieve, and restore balance during activity. Most runners can identify with the concept of postural control – the moment that they stepped on an uneven sidewalk and felt their ankle turn and correct automatically, or they had a brush with disaster when they stepped off the side of a treadmill belt, but quickly adjusted and kept stride.

Other common examples of postural control occur when a runner encounters an unexpected rough surface or needs to move from the sidewalk to the grass and does so seamlessly. Postural control helps the runner to adapt to surface change readily and continue running. The strength of the gluteus medius and minimus muscles is directly related to the ability to maintain postural control and quickly restore it when the running environment changes and thus strong hip abductor muscles are a key to prevent common ankle injuries from running (Gafner, 2018).

Proper Running Mechanics

Whereas weak hip abductor muscles can lead to diminished balance during running weak hip extensor muscles are known to alter running mechanics for the worse. Specifically, persons with weak hip extensor muscles are more likely to stand too upright while running which leads to relying too much on knee extension to propel the body forward and overuse injuries of the knee can result (Teng, 2016).

Suggested Exercises to Improve Hip Abductor and Extensor Strength

Research has shown a significant positive correlation between performance on balance tests and hip abduction strength (Wilson, 2017), demonstrating that strong hip abductors muscles are necessary to maintain balance during running to prevent injuries. The exercises listed below are common exercises known to work the primary hip abductors – the gluteus medius and minimus, in order from the least to most advanced exercise. And because the gluteus maximus muscles are needed to maintain proper running mechanics and spare the knees, exercises that also work them are shown with an asterisk.

1. Lying hip abduction.
2. Seated machine hip abduction.
3. Standing cable hip abduction.
4. *Side lunge.
5. *Single-leg squat.

Sample Workouts for Hip Abductors and Extensors

Workout #1

Repeat the exercise sequence three to four times.

Note: The side lunge is suggested with bodyweight only; however, resistance can be added where appropriate.

Workout #2

Repeat the exercise sequence three to four times.

Note: the single leg squat can be done using a partial range of motion (ROM) as the exercise utilizing full ROM is very difficult and suited only for the most experienced exercisers; body weight only is recommended.

Gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus muscles make quick postural adjustments possible during running and maintain proper running mechanics – both of which enhance running performance and reduce the risk of injury. Keeping those muscles strong is critical to success and enjoyment with running and strength can be built and maintained with a few common hip strengthening exercises.

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 References

Simone C. Gafner,Veronika Hoevel, Ilona M. Punt, Stefan Schmid, Stephane Armand, & Lara Allet (2018). Hip-abductor fatigue influences sagittal plane ankle kinematics and shank muscle activity during a single-leg forward jump, Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, Volume 43. 75-81.

Hsiang-Ling Teng & Christopher M Powers. (2016). Hip-Extensor Strength, Trunk Posture, and Use of the Knee-Extensor Muscles During Running. Journal of Athletic Training. 51. 519-524.

Benjamin R. Wilson, Kaley E. Robertson, Jeremy Burnham, Michael C. Yonz, Mary Ireland, & Brian Noehren. (2017). The Relationship Between Hip Strength and the Y-Balance Test. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 27. 1-24.

Craig C Young, MD, (2019). https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1907229-overview#a6, Retrieved April 22, 2019.

Author Biography

Amy Ashmore, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a physical therapy continuing education provider located in Las Vegas, NV.