Leg Strengthening Exercises for Runners – Introduction
What are the best leg strengthening exercises for runners?
Running is a great way to get fit, lose weight, and even transform your body.
You can also take your running a little further by entering races, such as a local 5k fun run, a 10k, or even working up to a marathon.
If you want to get better at running, you need to run more, which is the very essence of the law of training specificity.
That said, strength training is also beneficial for runners.
Strengthening your legs builds endurance, will help improve your speed, and could even reduce your risk of suffering a running-related injury.
And, if you are running for weight loss, strength training could enhance your progress.
This article reveals the 12 best leg strengthening exercises for runners, all of which you can do at home.
Plus, I also have a simple workout for you to try.
Running 101
Running is a very natural activity and one that most people can do with little guidance or instruction.
Kids run simply to get from point A to point B faster!
Unless you are a sprinter, which is a very different type of activity, running is mostly aerobic in nature, which means your body produces energy in the presence of oxygen.
As such, running is a fat-burning activity.
That said, if you are running up a steep hill or speeding up to reach the finish line, you may slip into anaerobic energy production.
Still, you’ll soon need to slow back down to catch your breath and recover.
Running differs from walking in that, when you run, both feet are off the ground for a split second, and only one foot hits the deck at a time.
This makes running a high-impact activity, and your feet strike the pavement with a force equal to about eight times your bodyweight.
Also, supporting your weight on one leg is a major test of joint stability and balance.
Muscles Used by Running
The main leg muscles involved in running are your:
- Gluteus maximus – your butt
- Quadriceps – the muscles on the front of your thighs
- Hamstrings – the muscles on the back of your thighs
- Adductors – the muscles of your inner thighs
- Abductors – the muscles of your outer thighs and hips
- Gastrocnemius and soleus – your calf muscles
- Tibialis anterior – the muscles on the front of your shins
While running WILL improve the condition of your muscles, almost every runner will benefit from specific leg strengthening exercises.
The good news is that you don’t even need to go to the gym to develop stronger legs for running.
The 12 Best Leg Strengthening Exercises for Runners
The best way to get better at running is to get out and run several times a week.
Gradually run further and faster to see your fitness improve.
Also, use these exercises to increase leg strength.
As well as boosting your running speed and endurance, stronger leg muscles are more injury-proof.
#1. Prisoner squats
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abductors, adductors
If you only have time for one leg exercise, squats should be it.
The regular squat works all your running muscles at the same time.
Doing them “prisoner style” is also good for your posture and provides your chest with a beneficial stretch.
How to do it:
- Place your hands on your temples and press your elbows out and back.
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, toes turned slightly outward.
- Look straight ahead.
- Bend your knees and squat down until your thighs are about parallel to the floor.
- Do not round your lower back.
- Stand back up and repeat.
Prisoner Squat
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#2. Step-through lunges
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abductors, adductors
This challenging exercise not only develops your leg muscles, but it’s also good for balance, mobility, and coordination.
Best of all, it’s an excellent exercise for improving knee and hip stability.
Unstable joints are a leading cause of running injuries, and this exercise’s combination of rear and forward lunges will help you improve your balance and stability.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet together and hands by your sides.
- Take a large step forward and into a lunge.
- Bend your rear leg and lower your knee down to within an inch of the floor.
- Push off your front leg and straight back into a rearward lunge.
- Again, bend your legs and lower your back knee to within an inch of the floor.
- Push off your back leg and transition straight into another forward lunge.
- Continue for the prescribed rep range in the leg strengthening workout below and then take a short rest.
- Do the same number of reps on the other side.
Step-through lunges with dumbbell
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#3. Step-ups
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abductors, adductors
Step-ups work the same muscles as lunges but, instead of going forward and back, you move up and down.
This doesn’t make them any better than lunges.
Still, they do train your muscles in a different way, which makes them a valuable alternative.
How to do it:
- Stand in front of a knee-high step.
- Place one foot on top of the platform and, trying not to use your trailing leg too much, push down with your lead leg and step up, bringing your other leg up after.
- Step down with the same leg and then a) continue with the same lead leg or b) switch legs rep by rep.
Step-ups with dumbbells
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#4. Lateral hop-overs
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abductors, adductors, calves
This exercise is designed to increase knee and hip stability while improving leg power.
More powerful legs should help you run faster.
This IS a high-impact exercise, so take care when doing it, and feel free to omit it if it causes ankle, hip, or knee pain.
How to do it:
- Stand sideways on to a slightly lower than a knee-high step.
- Place your nearest foot on the top.
- Drive off your innermost leg and jump up and over the step.
- Land with your opposite foot on the top.
- Use your arms for extra momentum.
- Immediately leap back the other way.
- Try to keep your landings as soft and quiet as possible.
Lateral hop-overs
#5. Squat jumps
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abductors, adductors, calves
Squat jumps are a simple but powerful leg exercise that will improve your running speed.
They’re also useful for boosting cardiovascular fitness.
Squat jumps are an explosive movement and can be a little hard on your joints, so do this exercise on a forgiving surface, such as grass or an exercise mat.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward.
- Look straight ahead.
- Bend your knees and squat down until your thighs are about parallel to the floor.
- Do not round your lower back.
- Using your arms for extra momentum, extend your legs and leap up and into the air as high as you can.
- Land on slightly bent knees and then descend into another rep.
- Try not to pause between reps; land and go!
Squat Jumps
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#6. Box jumps
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abductors, adductors, calves
If you like the idea of doing jumping exercises but want to take it easy on your joints, box jumps are a good option.
You’ll be jumping up and onto a raised platform and then stepping down, which significantly reduces the impact.
How to do it:
- Stand facing a knee-high box, bench, or step.
- Your feet should be roughly shoulder-width apart.
- Bend your knees and descend into a half-depth squat.
- Swing your arms behind you.
- Using your arms for added momentum, jump forward and up to land on the box.
- Step (don’t jump) back down and repeat.
Box Jumps
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#7. Single-leg Romanian deadlifts
Muscles worked: Hamstrings, glutes, abductors, adductors
Running is a unilateral or single-leg activity, so including single leg exercises in your running workouts makes sense.
Standing on one leg increases inner and outer thigh engagement, and it is also good for your balance.
Done with semi-straight legs, the Romanian deadlift is also good for hip mobility and flexibility.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet together, arms by your sides.
- Shift your weight over onto one leg and bend your knee slightly.
- Hinging from the hips, lean forward and reach down to touch the floor.
- Extend your other leg out behind you as a counterbalance.
- Stand back up and repeat.
- Do the same number of reps on both legs.
Single-leg RDL with dumbbells
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#8. Hip thrusts
Muscles worked: Hamstrings, glutes, lower back
Hip thrusts work your posterior chain, which is the collective term for the muscles on the back of your body.
These are the muscles that drive you forward when you run.
Strengthening your posterior chain should help you run faster and make you more powerful uphill.
How to do it:
- Lie on your back with your legs bent, feet flat on the floor.
- Drive your feet into the floor and push your hips up toward the ceiling.
- Clench your glutes.
- Lower your butt back down to the floor and repeat.
- Too easy?
- Try working one leg at a time.
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#9. Standing calf raises
Muscles worked: Calves
Your calves are hard-working running muscles.
This exercise stretches and strengthens your calves, lowering your risk of injury while boosting your running performance.
How to do it:
- Stand on a step with the balls of your feet on the edge and your legs straight.
- Use your arms for balance.
- Lower your heels down toward the floor and then rise up onto your tiptoes.
- Lower your heels again and repeat.
- Make this exercise more challenging by standing on one leg.
Standing calf raises
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#10. Toe raises
Muscles worked: Tibialis anterior
The tibialis anterior is a very overlooked muscle that is important in running.
Located on the front of your shin, it’s responsible for pulling your toes up.
Weak tibialis anterior could cause shin pain, leading to a common running ailment called shin splints.
How to do it:
- Seated or standing, rest your heels on the edge of a block or step.
- Lower your toes down to stretch the muscles on the front of your shins.
- Pull your toes up as high as you can.
- Alternate between these two positions for the prescribed number of reps.
- Make this exercise more challenging by putting weights on your feet, such as ankle weights.
Toe raises
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#11. Banded clamshells
Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, hip abductors
Banded clamshells work the muscles on the outside of your hips.
This simple exercise is a great way to strengthen your gluteal muscles, as well as your abductors.
If these muscles are weak, your knees may roll inward, increasing the stress on your joints and reducing your running efficiency.
For this reason, the clamshell is a popular physical therapy exercise.
Use a booty band or a mini band for this exercise.
How to do it:
- Put your resistance band around your knees and lie down on your side.
- Stack your hips and your knees bent between a 45 and 90-degree angle.
- Rest your head on your lower arm and brace your core to stabilize your spine and pelvis.
- While keeping your feet together, lift and rotate your upper knee outward as high as possible without moving your hips or pelvis.
- Do NOT lean backward.
- Return to the starting position and repeat before rolling over and changing legs.
Banded clamshells
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#12. Conventional Barbell Deadlifts
Muscles worked: glutes, erector spinae, latissimus dorsi, abdominal core, hamstrings, quadriceps
In her final Olympic appearance on August 8th, 2021, Allyson Felix won her 11th Olympic medal in the 4×400 m relay and seventh Olympic Gold medal.
This amazing feat as a 35-year old mom of one made her the most decorated female runner in U.S. history as of 2021.
A relatively unknown secret is that the deadlift played a central role in her training.
While you might not associate deadlifting with track and field performance, don’t mention that to Allyson and her US Track and Strength Coach, Barry Ross.
Ross designed Felix’s strength program around the deadlift in 2002 and her Olympic records testify to its incredible value for runners.
So, if you are looking for one of the best leg exercises for runners on the planet, do not overlook the deadlift, even if you believe it is only for bodybuilders or powerlifters.
See 5 Allyson Felix Deadlift Workout Plan Results for the GOAT for more information on her strength workout with deadlifts as the foundation.
Conventional Barbell Deadlifts – Rich “Hashi Mashi”
How to do it:
- Stand with your shins about an inch from a loaded barbell.
- The bar should be over the middle of your feet.
- Push your hips backward (hip hinge) to lower yourself towards the barbell.
- Firmly grip the barbell with a double overhand grip.
- Keep your arms straight at all times and think of them as hooks.
- Do not ever attempt to lift the bar with your arms.
- Instead, raise your chest, pull the bar into your shins to engage your lats.
- Imagine you are bending the bar around your legs.
- And then drive your legs against the ground to lift the bar.
- Drive your hips forward when the bar reaches your knees.
See How to Deadlift for Beginners – A Step by Step Guide for more details.
Recommended Reading
An article on strength training for runners would be incomplete without a mention of Coach Barry Ross’s classic Underground Secrets to Faster Running.
Barry Ross’s strength program can dramatically increase your running speed, jumping height, muscle power, and injury prevention for all athletes.
Coach Ross chose the deadlift workout as the centerpiece of his strength exercises for runners.
Why the deadlift?
Because the deadlift works most of the muscles of your body and involves multiple joints.
“Why waste time and energy on squats or the leg press machine?” Ross wondered in his famous 2004 article ‘The Holy Grail of Speed Training”.
Leg Strengthening Exercises for Runners – Workout
Run further and faster with fewer injuries by doing this lower body workout routine 2-3 times a week.
Do it on non-running days or after easier runs.
Don’t do it before running, as you may increase instability and your risk of injury.
Before starting, warm up by doing a few minutes of light cardio, such as jogging or jump rope.
Next, do a few dynamic mobility and stretching exercises for your major lower body muscles and joints.
Bodyweight Running Workout | ||||
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Recovery | |
1 | Prisoner squat | 2-4 | 15-20 | 45-60 seconds |
2 | Single-leg Romanian deadlift | 2-4 | 8-12 per side | 45-60 seconds |
3 | Step-through lunge | 2-4 | 8-12 per side | 45-60 seconds |
4 | Hip thrust | 2-4 | 15-20 | 45-60 seconds |
5 | Lateral hop-over | 2-4 | 8-12 per side | 45-60 seconds |
6 | Calf raise | 2-4 | 15-20 | 45-60 seconds |
7 | Toe raise | 2-4 | 20-30 | 45-60 seconds |
Best Leg Strengthening Exercises for Runners – Wrapping Up
If you want to be a better runner, you need to run more.
However, increasing your muscular strength can also help.
That’s where the benefits of strength training come into play for runners.
You can use bodyweight exercises and compound free weight training such as deadlifts and squats to strengthen the muscles you need to boost your running performance.
This means you can train your legs at home, leaving more time for running.
Use these exercises and our tried-and-tested workout to strengthen your legs for running.
Not only will they boost your performance, but they could also mean that you suffer fewer injuries.
Related Posts:
- 5 Allyson Felix Deadlift Workout Plan Results for the GOAT
- 11 Best Steph Curry Deadlift and Training Secrets You Didn’t Know
- Saquon Barkley Squat: Secrets of an Electrifying NFL Runner
- 7 Deadlift Muscles Worked That Will Change Your Body & Life
- How Many Deadlift Reps and Sets Should You Do; A Beginners Guide
- The Simplest DIY Deadlift Platform for Beginners
Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer), an