14 Aug Benefits of Single-Leg Strength Exercises for Runners

Each one of us – runners AND non-runners – deal with muscular imbalances in our bodies. Both runners and non-runners can benefit from single leg exercises, but I’m specifically going to talk about why single leg exercises are so important for the former.

Since none of us is perfectly symmetrical, it’s beneficial to choose exercises that involve strengthening only one leg at a time. Let’s say your left leg is weaker than your right because you’re right-side dominant. Doing compound, bilateral exercises such as squats and deadlifts are incredibly beneficial for many reasons, but if there’s a glaring discrepancy between leg strength from your right to left leg, it would make more sense to concentrate on some unilateral, single leg exercises FIRST to bring your left leg strength closer to that of the right leg.

Second, running is, simply, a single leg sport! What does this mean? Well, it obviously means that we utilize only one leg at a time while running, but the greater implication of this is that if you have trouble spending time on only one leg at a time, you’re going to run into some issues while running. You might experience some issues with balance and stability, some issues with core strength and engagement, perhaps you lean a little to one side when you run, maybe you’ve developed strange compensation patterns, etc. So, yet again, the solution: single leg strength exercises!

Other benefits of single leg strength exercises include improving coordination, preventing injury, and improving proprioception (awareness of how your body moves through space).

Interested in adding single leg strength exercises to your routine for all of the above reasons?! Start here with a list of some of my favorites:

1. Single leg Romanian deadlift
2. Pistol squat
3. Bulgarian split squat
4. Step up
5. Elevated reverse lunge
6. Dynamic side lunge

Have any to add? Drop a comment below!