Your core doesn’t only include your abs—your back and glutes also play a major role in midsection stability. That means you need moves beyond sit-ups and crunches Health - Injuries.
The good news is you don’t need a ton of time to fire up every muscle of your core. You also get an added bonus of Runner’s World run coach and certified strength coach, Jess Movold, as well as Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., Men’s Health All About Workout Splits for Strength Training Runner’s World and Men’s Health collaboration, called 20-Minute Functional Core, on the All Out Studio app. This program features four routines, all focused on increasing your core strength. And you get free access to the app and workouts when you sign up for a Runner’s World+ premium membership.
As you work through this quick circuit, you won’t only target those abs—you’ll get a full-body burn. As Samuel explains, the renegade row fires up your biceps and back, while the squat variation Running Sales & Deals.
How to do it anti-rotation, meaning your core has to fight off any side-to-side movement. This is exactly what you want your core to do on the run, too. As you move forward, you need your midsection to keep you stable and resisting rotation that can steal your power and efficiency, and therefore, your speed.
You also get an added bonus of: Perform each exercise below for the amount of time stated. Rest for 20 seconds between exercises. Repeat the entire circuit for 2 rounds—more if you have extra time to sweat!
Coach Jess and Samuel demonstrate the exercises in the video above so you can learn the proper form. You will need a set of dumbbells.
Offset Squat
Core Stability Exercises for Runners: Why it works lower-body move, adding a weight to just one side of the body means you add that anti-rotation element. Your core has to switch on to stop rotation. Plus, the squat itself targets the glutes—an important muscle group for pelvic stabilization The Best Resistance Bands.
How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out. Hold a dumbbell in left hand, elbow bent, racked at shoulder height. Send hips down and back to lower into the squat. Pause, then drive through feet to stand back up. Repeat for 40 seconds. Rest for 20 seconds. Then repeat for 40 seconds with the weight in right hand.
Renegade Row
Core Stability Exercises for Runners: This exercise also brings in an anti-rotation element, while working the deep core muscles (like the transverse abdominis that wraps around your torso like a corset and protects your spine when you’re on the move) and the back (crucial for strong posture). You also get an added bonus of shoulder stability.
How to do it: This 5-Move Plank Circuit Builds a Solid Core plank position, each hand on a dumbbell, shoulders over wrists, forming a straight line from head to heels. Place feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Pull right dumbbell up to ribcage, elbow staying close to side. Then return it back to plank. Repeat on left side. Continue alternating for 40 seconds. Keep hips as steady as possible.
Mallory Creveling, an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, joined the Runner's World and Bicycling team in August 2021. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. As a freelance writer, her work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, PA.
