Core Strength for Runners: Why It's Not Just About Your Abs
If you’re a runner, you've probably been told you need “a stronger core.” Either you’ve gone straight to the internet for videos of exercises to try, or maybe you've been prescribed planks, dead bugs, or crunches from your trainer or physical therapist. But here's the thing: core strength for runners is more than having strong abs. Every time your foot hits the ground, your body has to absorb force, stabilize your joints, transfer energy through your trunk, and quickly produce force outward to propel you into the next stride. Your arms and legs are moving in opposite directions while your trunk keeps everything coordinated and stable. Whether you're logging easy miles, climbing trails in the mountains, training for a marathon, or simply trying to stay strong as you get older, your core is an important part of the system that makes it all happen. In this article, we’ll break down what core strength really means for runners, how it influences running mechanics, and which exercises can help you feel stronger and more resilient than ever while training.
What Does "Core Strength" Actually Mean for Runners?
When most people hear "core," they tend to think only of the abs; however, the core also includes the muscles of the back, pelvis, hips, and diaphragm, all working together to control your trunk and transfer movement between your upper and lower body. For example, think about what happens during a single running stride.
You land on one leg.
Your hip and knee have to control your body as you accept your weight and the force from the ground.
Your pelvis needs to remain relatively stable (not dropping) while your opposite leg swings forward.
Your trunk rotates slightly as your arms counterbalance your legs.
Then you push off and transition into the next stride.
Your core is involved in all of it, and although stability is important, it doesn’t mean your trunk remains completely still. Running requires movement, and your spine and pelvis are supposed to rotate as you run. The goal isn't to make your body rigid, but to have enough strength and coordination to manage that movement efficiently. A systematic review published in 2018 in Physical Therapy in Sport supports this theory, and suggests that effective core stability requires a combination of muscular strength, proprioception and neuromuscular control to help produce, transfer, and control force and movement during functional activity (1).
How Core Strength Affects Running Mechanics
Running is essentially a series of repeated single-leg forward hops. Every stride requires you to control your pelvis and trunk while your legs and arms produce force, reciprocally. Your core contributes to running mechanics in several important ways.
Pelvic control: Your pelvis provides the foundation, connecting your trunk to your extremities. When running, you need enough control to prevent excessive pelvic rotation, shifting, or dropping while you alternate between single-leg stance. That doesn't mean your pelvis should remain perfectly still; rather, the goal is to ensure the movement is stable, not rigid.
Trunk control: Your trunk (meaning, your spine and ribcage) naturally moves during running as well. Your arms and legs counter-rotate, and your center of mass moves with each stride. The core muscles regulate these movements so that your trunk isn't unnecessarily collapsing, rotating, or extending with every step. This becomes particularly important when fatigue changes your ability to control your mechanics.
Force transfer: Your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles generate substantial force when running. Your trunk and pelvis provide the stable base from which that force can be transferred, via the core musculature. A strong runner is able to both produce force and coordinate the entire movement while maintaining good form.
This is one reason strength training for runners should go beyond isolated exercises and include compound movements, plyometrics, stability exercises, and progressive overload. Research consistently shows that resistance training can improve running economy and performance in runners, with results obtained in as little as 2-3 times per week over 8-12 weeks (2).
The Best Core Exercises for Runners
If your goal is to improve running performance, then your best core strength program should include exercises that challenge your ability to resist unwanted movement while producing or absorbing force, not just random variations of “crunches.” Some examples include:
Dead bugs — Teaches your trunk to stay controlled while your arms and legs move in opposite directions, the same coordination pattern running requires.
Bird dogs — Resists unwanted extension and rotation through your low back while your opposite arm and leg reach away from each other.
Side planks — Builds the lateral trunk and hip control that keeps your pelvis from dropping during single-leg stance.
Pallof presses — Trains your core to resist rotation, which is what keeps your trunk from over-rotating as your arms and legs counterbalance each stride.
Suitcase carries — Loads one side of your body and forces the opposite trunk muscles to hold you upright while you walk. Closest to the demands of running of anything on this list.
Med ball rotational throws — Adds the force production side of the equation, training your trunk to transfer power quickly rather than only resisting movement.
Many of these exercises don't look like traditional isolated abdominal exercises, and that's intentional. For runners, the most useful core exercises often integrate the trunk with the hips and extremities rather than training just the “six pack” muscles (3).
Core Strength Is Only One Piece of a Runner's Strength Program
Your core shouldn't exist as a separate 10-minute workout that you tack onto the end of your running plan and forget about. It should be integrated into your overall strength program. Remember, a runner needs the ability to produce force, then absorb it, then quickly produce it again, and do that thousands of times during a run. That's where strength and plyometric training become important. Heavy strength training can help improve force production, tendon strength, and running economy. Plyometric training adds another layer by challenging your body to produce and absorb force rapidly, under precise control. Many scientific studies exist that suggest both heavy resistance and plyometric training can improve running economy and overall performance in trained runners (4, 5). Your core plays a role throughout this progression. A strong trunk helps you maintain control while you squat or deadlift. It helps stabilize your pelvis during a single-leg exercise. And it helps you maintain that control when the movement becomes faster and more dynamic. That's much closer to what actually happens when you run.
Can Core Strength Help Prevent Running Injuries?
This is where the conversation needs some nuance. It would be inaccurate to say that doing core exercises will automatically prevent running injuries. In fact, any statement that guarantees the prevention of running-related injuries should be taken with a large grain of salt. Running injuries are multifactorial and can involve training load, tissue capacity, biomechanics, recovery, previous injury, strength, sleep, nutrition, and many other factors. That said, we can minimize the chances of injuries happening due to poor form or muscular fatigue by addressing these issues via strength training. A systematic review published in 2018 found preliminary evidence that impaired core stability may be associated with lower-extremity musculoskeletal injuries, and a biomechanical modeling study published in the Journal of Biomechanics found that weakness in the deep core muscles increased loading on the lumbar spine during running (1,6). The key takeaway is that core training shouldn't be viewed as a magic tool for injury-prevention, but rather as one component of a program that builds a more resilient runner.
How Often Should Runners Train Their Core?
For most runners, you don't need to spend 30 minutes doing core exercises every day. A few specific, targeted exercises performed 2–3 times per week can be enough to complement a well rounded strength program that helps improve your performance while keeping your muscles, joints, and tendons healthy (2). That said, keep in mind the idea of progressive overload, which helps your body continue to build strength instead of plateauing overtime. As an exercise becomes easy, you can increase the challenge by:
Adding resistance, repetitions, or sets
Trying the exercise as a single-leg movement (i.e. 1 leg squats versus regular squats)
Increasing movement complexity (i.e. adding arm movements or rotations)
Remember that your core is already being challenged during exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, carries, and single-leg movements. Your strength program doesn't need to contain a separate "ab workout" to train your core effectively.
How Physical Therapy can Help Runners Build a Stronger Core.
A strong, well-coordinated core allows you to maintain efficient movement while your legs, arms, and trunk repeatedly absorb and produce force. For runners, that's the real goal of seeking better core strength.
At Boulder Sports Physiotherapy, we take an integrated approach to assessing and building strength for each runner. We look at how your imbalances, evaluate running mechanics, and ultimately figure out how to progressively build your capacity to do more of what you love while addressing any injuries along the way. Whether you're returning from an injury, increasing your mileage, training for a race, or simply want to stay strong enough to keep running for decades, strength training can be an important part of the process. Your core isn't about having better abs. It's about having a body that's strong enough, coordinated enough, and resilient enough to keep running. Schedule an appointment with Boulder Sports Physiotherapy and let's build your running strength, improve your permanence, and keep you logging miles for as long as possible.
REFERENCES:
De Blaiser, C., Roosen, P., Willems, T., Danneels, L., Vanden Bossche, L., & De Ridder, R. (2018). Is core stability a risk factor for lower extremity injuries in an athletic population? A systematic review. Physical therapy in sport, 30, 48-56.
Balsalobre-Fernández, C., Santos-Concejero, J., & Grivas, G. V. (2016). Effects of strength training on running economy in highly trained runners: A systematic review with meta-analysis of controlled trials. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(8), 2361–2368.
Fredericson, M., & Moore, T. (2005). Core stabilisation training for middle-and long-distance runners. IAAF New studies in Athletics, 1(20), 25-37.
Ramírez-Campillo, R., Álvarez, C., Henríquez-Olguín, C., Baez, E. B., Martínez, C., Andrade, D. C., & Izquierdo, M. (2014). Effects of plyometric training on endurance and explosive strength performance in competitive middle-and long-distance runners. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 28(1), 97-104.
Llanos-Lagos, C., Ramirez-Campillo, R., Moran, J., & Sáez de Villarreal, E. (2024). Effect of Strength Training Programs in Middle-and Long-Distance Runners’ Economy at Different Running Speeds: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis: C. Llanos-Lagos et al. Sports Medicine, 54(4), 895-932.
Raabe, M. E., & Chaudhari, A. M. (2018). Biomechanical consequences of running with deep core muscle weakness. Journal of biomechanics, 67, 98-105.