Stay injury-free with these single-leg exercises

Running is a unilateral (one-leg at a time) action, and adding single-leg movements to your training regime can address muscle imbalances and lower your risk for injuries. In this video, Maine-based writer and adventure runner Ian Ramsey demonstrates four simple and quick exercises you can add to your routine tonight.

There are two predominant reasons runners strength train: injury prevention and improved performance. Single-leg exercises are ideal for the former because training each leg separately can help prevent one side from becoming stronger than the other or help your weaker side catch up.

A recent study also showed that when participants did single-leg exercises in an alternating pattern (instead of doing all your reps on one side and all of them on the other), their time to exhaustion improved, indicating that alternating unilateral movements may improve performance for endurance athletes.

Strengthening your glutes, hips, knees, and core (all targeted in this video) will make you a more sturdy and resilient athlete, and will help you maintain efficient running form even when fatigued.

Ramsey demonstrates a single-leg bridge, pistol squat, single-leg deadlift and step-ups, and explains how each exercise will benefit you as a runner. If you’ve been wanting to start strength training but have no idea where to start, Ramsey’s video is the perfect quick watch to get you going.

posted Thursday October 6th
by Running Magazine