If you think 20 minutes isn’t enough time to get in a good workout—you’re wrong! Though 20 minutes might not seem like a big commitment, or even like it won’t lead to many benefits, it’s just enough time to fit in a quick run or strength session that challenges and improves your endurance, strength, power—or all three.

That’s why we rounded up these 10 effective 20-minute workouts, crafted by run coaches and certified personal trainers, for you to refer to on days you’re pressed for time.

Jump to:

  • 1. Running at your
  • 2. Core Strength in 20
  • 3. Endurance, Incline, and Hill Treadmill Workout
  • 4. Upper-Body Strength Workout
  • 5. Lower-Body Plyometric Workout
  • 6. Walk, Jog, Sprint Treadmill Training
  • 7. Core and Arm Strength
  • 8. Progressive Strides
  • 9. Leg Strength
  • 10. Mobility Workout

1. Running at your

Exhale and walk hands out as far as possible without arching low back threshold pace strengthens and trains your muscles to run at harder efforts, Alison Marie Helms, Ph.D., NASM-certified personal trainer, and UESCA-certified running coach tells Runner’s World. And makes those harder efforts feel easier. Threshold is a steady yet challenging pace you can hold for 50 to 60 minutes without feeling fatigued, Use light dumbbells.

This negative splits workout slowly builds in intensity. The goal: Knock out each interval without burning out, so you complete the second half of the workout faster than the first. This helps you control your pacing, which can lead you to faster finishes come race day.

Published: Feb 1, 2024 10K pace, or rate of perceived exertion (RPE), which is how hard your efforts feel on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being all-out intensity.

How to do the workout:

2. Core Strength in 20

To become a better runner, you need to strengthen your entire core—Races & Places core muscles, including your abdominals, but also your diaphragm, lats, pelvic floor, and adductors (inner thighs).

“A strong core is the foundation of running efficiency,” says Helms. While you run, a strong core will help improve your posture to reduce muscle imbalances and minimize stress on the joints. It also kicks up your stability, so you can maintain power and speed. Plus, a strong core helps transfer power from the upper body to the lower body and vice versa, Helms explains.

“With a strong core, runners can maintain proper running form for longer periods. This contributes to improved endurance as efficient biomechanics reduce fatigue and allow runners to sustain their pace,” Helms adds.

This 20-minute workout designed by Helms focuses on building core strength with five different exercises.

How to do the workout:

For this workout you will need a wall, mat, and a dumbbell.

  • Do exercises 1 and 2 for 8-10 reps each; rest for 1 minute in between each exercise. Complete 2 sets.
  • Then do exercises 3 and 4 for 8-10 reps each; rest for 1 minute in between each exercise. Complete 2 sets.
  • For exercise 5, do 6-8 reps on each side, and complete 2 sets. Rest for at least 30 to 60 seconds between each set.

3. Endurance, Incline, and Hill Treadmill Workout

This 20-minute workout includes a bit of endurance, hill, and sprint work to help runners of all fitness levels improve their running performance.

“Regular aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, increasing its pumping capacity, and expands lung capacity for more efficient oxygen exchange,” says Erin Beck, NASM-certified personal trainer, and director of training and experience at STRIDE Fitness. By practicing aerobic workouts like this one, runners can improve the efficiency of their cardiovascular system, and overall run performance, she adds.

How to do the workout:

4. Upper-Body Strength Workout

“Strong arms, back, shoulders, and core muscles contribute to better posture and form, Watch the Boston Marathon long-distance runs,” says April Gatlin, certified personal trainer and master trainer at STRIDE fitness.

DAA Industry Opt Out.

How to do the workout:

You will need a set of medium dumbbells, which should make these moves feel difficult by the final rep.

5. Lower-Body Plyometric Workout

Research shows that strength workouts, particularly plyometrics, can help improve running performance by boosting running economy or how efficiently you use oxygen for exercise.

To get you started with plyometrics—which are explosive exercises that target Push through left foot to stand back up, bringing left foot to meet right—turn to this bodyweight workout, designed by Mallory Creveling, ACE-certified personal trainer, RRCA-certified run coach, and Runner’s World deputy editor of health and fitness. (Keep in mind, you want to nail down form for each movement, before adding explosiveness to it!)

Before you start, warm up with a few dynamic stretches, Exhale and slowly lower dumbbell overhead, reaching behind head bodyweight squats, lunges, and good mornings.

How to do the workout:

Rest for 1 minute between each set below.

6. Walk, Jog, Sprint Treadmill Training

Run at an easy effort 5K at a steady-state effort, Ellen Thompson, NASM-certified personal trainer and run coach at Blink Fitness believes you can achieve much more by practicing walking, jogging, and sprinting intervals. That’s why she crafted this 20-minute run workout.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media 5K pace, the combination of three different intensities is more entertaining than running at one particular pace, she says, which keeps you motivated and makes the time fly by.

How to do the workout:

    Repeat the sequence at least 6 times or until you’ve reached the 20-minute mark

    7. Core and Arm Strength

    As we mentioned earlier, stronger arms, back, and core muscles all contribute to improving your overall run performance due to better balance and posture. This workout, from Thompson, includes a few bodyweight exercises Exhale and slowly lower dumbbell overhead, reaching behind head some weightlifting to help you build stronger muscles.

    How to do the workout:

    which translates to about a 10K pace for many runners.

    8. Progressive Strides

    “On an easy day (not a recovery day) you can include strides as a way to improve your stride power and coordination while accruing minimal fatigue and injury risk,” John Goldthorp, ACE-certified personal trainer, certified run coach, and the owner of Fix Your Run says. You can schedule this workout for the day before a hard run or race. You’ll find you have more “pop” in your stride the next day, Goldthrop says.

    How to do the workout:

      9. Leg Strength

      Jog at 3.8-5 mph training plan? A lower-body strength routine that includes single-leg exercises (running is a single-leg sport after all!) and challenging weights that feel difficult to lift by the final rep or two.

      The workout below, created by Creveling, is meant to build strength by lifting heavier weights for lower reps. So if that final rep feels easy, it’s time to grab that heavier set.

      How to do the workout:

      You’ll need a heavy set of dumbbells or kettlebells, and a chair or box.

      Complete the exercises in order listed below. Do 6-8 reps of each exercise, resting as needed between moves, and complete 3 sets. Rest for at least 2 minutes between sets.

        10. Mobility Workout

        This mobility workout, designed by Cameron Yeun, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., certified strength and conditioning specialist, and senior physical therapist at Bespoke Treatments, helps address common areas of limited mobility for runners.

        Overhead Triceps Extension rest day or before a run or a race.

        How to do the workout:

        Races & Places.

        Headshot of Monique Lebrun
        Monique Lebrun

        Monique LeBrun joined the editorial staff in October 2021 as the associate health and fitness editor. She has a master’s degree in journalism and has previously worked for ABC news and Scholastic. She is an avid runner who loves spending time outside.