The Best Exercises for a Female Runner to Do

To perform their best, female runners need more than just miles in their workouts. They also need strength and stability exercises to help them avoid injuries and maintain strong bones. Because female runners often experience a drop in estrogen levels during heavy training, the best exercises for women include strength training lifts that help them maintain bone density and prevent stress fractures. Additional core stability exercises also rank among the best exercises for women, as they help promote proper running form and increased speed.

  1. Weights

    • The best exercises for female runners include strength-training exercises that target their lower body for power and speed and their upper body for form and efficiency. While building strong bones to prevent stress fractures, women can also build powerful leg muscles by doing compound moves such as squats, lunges and dumbbell step-ups. They can increase their running efficiency with a strong upper body by doing bench presses, seated rows, biceps curls, triceps extensions and shoulder presses.

    Core

    • The core is central to every runner's performance. Without strong abs, lower-back muscles and glutes, it’s impossible for a runner to run her best. The best exercises for runners include core moves that target the midsection to build stability, speed and efficiency and to decrease the risk of injury. The best moves include planks, side planks, supermans, glute bridges and metronomes.

    Hip Stability

    • Strong, balanced hips help female runners avoid pain and injuries such as iliotibial band syndrome, Achilles tendinitis, knee pain and muscle strains and pulls. Because the hips are responsible for supporting the movements of the lower body, the best exercises for women runners include body-weight exercises such as single-leg squats and standing wood choppers. Other top moves include resistance band exercises such as side leg lifts and lateral shuffles.

    Training Schedule

    • To maximize the benefits of the best exercises, all runners should complete two to three strength and stability workouts per week. Sessions should be performed on nonconsecutive days with between 48 and 72 hours between to allow the muscles enough time to recover. Lifting days should coincide with difficult running workouts to allow the muscles to get more rest on lighter training days. For consistent development, each muscle group should be trained at least once every week.