The Basics of Building a Strong Core for Running

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There’s a well-known saying in strength and conditioning by Charles Poliquin: “You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe.” You can probably imagine that if you fired a cannon from a canoe, either it wouldn’t hit where you wanted it to, or you’d sink the canoe—and likely both. Accuracy and stability require a solid platform. Similarly, a poorly developed core in a runner can result in mechanical inefficiencies and injury issues.

Most of us at least know a few things about anatomy and core strength, but the nuances are often overlooked. Specifically, it’s the tiny muscles called multifidi, interspinalis, and rotatores along your spine and the transverse abdominis and obliques that are really important, more so than the six-pack abs we all know about.

Spinal Stabilizers

When the multifidi, interspinalis, and rotatores spinal stabilizers are weak or inactive, our body will either suffer the consequences of instability or find an inefficient way to create stability. The consequences of instability in the lumbar spine can create different lumbopelvic injuries, cause pain, aggravate nerves, inhibit muscle recruitment, accelerate disc degeneration and have negative effects on running economy.