When you run, you’re never actually on both feet at once. Running is essentially a series of single-leg movements, which means that while traditional two-legged exercises can strengthen key running muscles, they don’t fully match the demands of the sport.
To truly make your strength training specific to running, it’s essential to train your body to handle the unique challenges of single-leg loading. Here's how!
The Biomechanics of Running
Every stride you take involves landing, stabilising, and pushing off, all on one leg.
When your foot hits the ground, your muscles and joints absorb forces roughly 2.5-3 times your body weight. The way these forces travel through your body depends on your running form and where your foot hits the ground when you land:
Heel strikers experience greater impact through their knees.
Midfoot strikers distribute the load more evenly between the foot and lower leg.
Forefoot strikers absorb more impact through the calf muscles and Achilles tendon.
You don’t need to worry about trying to change your foot strike: every runner has a natural way of landing and moving. What matters more is building the strength to support your unique running style. This is why single-leg training is great for developing the specific muscles that work hardest based on your foot strike.
Because of this, the demands on your muscles and joints can vary significantly depending on how you land. Single-leg strength training prepares your body to handle these forces more efficiently, reducing the risk of overuse injuries.
The Benefits of Single-Leg Training for Runners
Injury Prevention
Single-leg strength training reduces the risk of common running injuries caused by repetitive stress, such as runners knee, IT band syndrome, Achilles tendinitis, and shin splints.
It also improves your body’s ability to absorb impact more effectively with each stride.
Improved Balance and Stability
Single-leg work enhances balance and coordination, helping you maintain efficient running form, especially as fatigue sets in.
Better balance leads to smoother, more stable movement with less wasted energy.
Muscle Imbalance Correction
Most runners naturally have one side that’s stronger or more dominant. Single-leg exercises identify and strengthen weaker muscles, improving symmetry, posture, and running mechanics.
This ensures both legs share the workload evenly, avoiding compensation on a particular side, preventing tightness and fatigue that often affects one leg more than the other.
Improved Power
Building strength on one leg at a time develops a more powerful push-off, improving energy return and overall running efficiency.
Stronger single-leg power translates to faster running with less wasted effort.
Increased Core Strength
Single-leg training challenges your balance, forcing your core to stabilise and control movement.
This strengthens the deep core muscles that keep you upright and steady, helping you carry your body weight efficiently through every mile.
Key Single-Leg Exercises for Runners
Your personalised Runna plan includes strength work designed to complement your running and fit seamlessly around your schedule. Incorporating these single-leg exercises into your plan can make a huge difference to your performance, often a lot more than you think!
Single-Leg Squat
Works all the critical running muscles: glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core.
Builds strength, balance, and control simultaneously.
Single-Leg Barbell Calf Raise
Strengthens the calves and Achilles tendon, vital for running power and propulsion.
Helps reduce Achilles-related injuries and improves push-off strength.
Single-Leg Glute Bridge
Builds glute and hamstring strength which reduces the stress put through your knees.
Improves hip stability and posture during running.
Single-Leg Box Jump
Boosts power, coordination, and reactivity.
Trains your body for that quick landing-to-take-off transition in every stride.
How to Add Single-Leg Training Into Your Routine
Start by incorporating single-leg exercises 1-2 times per week as part of your strength or mobility sessions.
Your Runna plan takes the guesswork out of strength training by balancing single-leg and bilateral exercises for maximum performance and injury prevention.
Final Tips
Focus on form before load: start these exercises using bodyweight only, prioritising balance and control, before adding weights.
Alternate between strength-based (e.g., single-leg squats) and plyometric movements (e.g., box jumps) for a complete approach.
Don’t replace all of your two-legged exercises: instead, use single-leg work to complement them for a well-rounded strength program.
Takeaways
Running is, at its core, a single-leg sport so your strength training should reflect that.
By building single-leg strength, balance, and stability, you’ll not only boost your performance but also reduce your risk of injury and move more efficiently with every stride! Start incorporating these exercises into your next workout and feel the difference they make to your running.