Running is one of the most popular forms of exercise on the planet. It is accessible, effective, and, for many people, a genuine part of their identity.
It is also among the most injury-prone sports.
Roughly 50 percent of runners experience an injury each year that prevents them from running for a period of time, and 25 percent of runners are injured at any given time. (PMC, 2021) The knee, ankle, and lower leg are the most common sites. And the vast majority of these injuries are not from falls or accidents. They are from repetitive stress, the same motion, repeated thousands of times, on a body that was not adequately prepared to handle it.
If your entire training plan is running, that is part of the problem.
What Running Actually Demands From Your Body
Running is cardio. Most people stop there. But the physical demands of running go well beyond your lungs and your heart.
Every time your foot hits the ground, your body absorbs a peak force of approximately 2.5 to 2.8 times your body weight. (Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 2025) Your ankle has to stabilize. Your knee has to absorb and redirect that force. Your hip has to control the alignment of your entire leg. Your core has to maintain the stability that keeps everything above the waist from collapsing inward.
And here is the part most people do not think about: for a brief moment during every single stride, you are balancing entirely on one leg. One foot. Every rep. For the entire run.
If those joints and the muscles supporting them are not strong enough to handle that load consistently, the repetition does not build you up. It wears you down.
This is compounded by the fact that most of us run. Humans evolved running on dirt, grass, and uneven natural terrain that absorbed impact and varied the demands on our joints with every step. Most of us now run on pavement, concrete, and asphalt. Hard, flat, unforgiving surfaces that return every bit of impact force back into the body with minimal give. That is not a reason to stop running. It is a reason to make sure your body is built to handle it.
The Case For Strength Training Around Running
When I was coaching people who ran as part of their fitness routine, those who also strength-trained consistently stayed healthy. That is not a scientific study. That is an observation from working with real people.
The research on strength training and running injury prevention is actually more nuanced than most people realize. Some studies show a meaningful reduction in injury rates, particularly when hip and core strengthening is supervised and specific. One study found that runners who performed foot and ankle muscle training 4 times per week for 12 months were 2.4 times less likely to experience a running injury than a control group. (Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 2024) Other studies, including a well-designed randomized trial of first-time New York City Marathon runners, found no significant difference in injury rates between a strength training group and a control group when the program was self-directed and unsupervised.
What that tells you is not that strength training does not matter for runners. It tells you that generic, low-effort strength work done inconsistently probably will not save you. Targeted, progressive, specific strengthening of the joints and muscle groups that running demands the most from, done consistently and with intention, is a different story.
Where Runners Need Strength Most
The three joints that take the most abuse during running are the ankle, the knee, and the hip. All three need both stability and mobility to function properly under repeated load.
Hip stability is the one most runners overlook and arguably the most important. Your hip controls the alignment of your entire lower leg during each stride. Weak hip abductors and external rotators allow the knee to cave inward on every foot strike, which, over time, contributes to some of the most common running injuries, including IT band syndrome, patellofemoral pain, and hip pain. Exercises like single-leg deadlifts, lateral band walks, and lunges directly target the hip stabilizers in a way that running alone never will.
Knee stability depends heavily on the strength of the quadriceps, hamstrings, and the muscles above and below the joint working in coordination. Hamstrings are vital to endurance but tend not to strengthen just from running as some other muscles do. If you do not specifically exercise them, they become more fatigued toward the end of a run and more susceptible to injury. (Houston Methodist, 2024) Most runners have relatively strong quads from running and relatively underdeveloped hamstrings. That imbalance increases the risk of injury over time.
Ankle stability is where many overuse injuries start, often quietly. The repetitive motion of running on hard surfaces places enormous demand on the tendons, ligaments, and smaller stabilizing muscles of the ankle and foot. Strengthening these through calf raises, single-leg balance work, and ankle-specific exercises builds the foundation that absorbs impact before it travels up the kinetic chain.
The Core Is Not Optional
Your core is the transfer point between your upper and lower body during every stride. A weak core means energy leaks, posture breaks down, and compensations develop that load joints unevenly over hundreds of thousands of steps.
Core training for runners is not about visible abs. It is about developing spinal stability and anti-rotation strength to keep your running mechanics clean when you are fatigued. Planks, single-leg exercises, and rotational movements all contribute to this in ways that no amount of running will replicate.
A Brief Note on Plyometrics
Running is an explosive activity. Every stride involves a rapid stretch and shortening of the muscles and tendons that propel you forward. Plyometric training, things like box jumps, bounding, and single-leg hops, trains the neuromuscular system to respond quickly and powerfully under load, which mirrors the demands of running more closely than traditional slow strength training does.
You do not need an elaborate plyometric program. Even basic explosive movements incorporated into your routine begin to develop the reactive strength that protects your joints at impact and improves your running efficiency over time.
What This Looks Like In Practice
You do not need to spend as much time in the gym as you do on the road. Two focused strength sessions per week are a meaningful starting point for most runners. The movements that give you the most return:
Single-leg deadlifts or staggered stance deadlifts train the entire posterior chain through single-leg stability. Reverse lunges, which load the hip and knee in the same pattern as running, are used. Calf raises, both double- and single-leg, which build ankle and Achilles tendon resilience. Lateral band walks, which directly target the hip abductors. Plank variations that build core stability to hold your form together at mile eight.
None of these requires a gym. Most require only your bodyweight or a resistance band to start. The goal is not to become a powerlifter. It is to build the foundation that lets you keep running without breaking down.
The Honest Bottom Line
Running on its own does not prepare your body for running. It trains your cardiovascular system, it builds sport-specific endurance, and it strengthens certain muscles. But it leaves significant gaps in the stability and strength your joints need to absorb thousands of impacts per run, on hard surfaces, week after week, year after year.
Strength training fills those gaps. Not because it is guaranteed to prevent every injury, because the research is honest that nothing is, but because it builds the physical resilience that running alone cannot.
If you love running, do the work that protects it. Two days a week. Focus on your hips, knees, ankles, and core. Add a few explosive movements when you are ready.
Your runs will feel better. Your joints will last longer. And you will spend a lot less time on the sideline wondering what went wrong.
If you want to check any of the research cited here against the peer-reviewed literature yourself, EvidenceCheck is free at evidencecheck.io
And if you want help figuring out one realistic action to take today based on where you actually are, The Reset Compass is free at compass.evolutionofwellness.com
Marcus Clark is the founder of Evolution of Wellness LLC and holds a Master of Public Health degree. This post is for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for personalized guidance.
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