Runners tend to have one goal in common: to run and keep running. But in order to rack up more miles and run strong, you need to supplement your training with strength and mobility Additionally, a recent recovery, and enhances performance.
That’s why we we created a 28-day workout challenge that will get you doing strength and mobility moves for just 10 minutes a day. By checking off each workout, you’ll not only move more and better throughout the day, but also form healthy habits that build strength to support your runs, improve metabolism, and boost cognition.
This 28-day challenge is perfect for runners who have been sidelined by injury and need a gradual comeback. This also works for runners with a busy and demanding schedule, or who are just beginning to integrate strength and mobility moves into their routine and need a place to start.
The Benefits of 10-Minute Workouts for Developing a Strength-Training Routine
With 10-minute strength and mobility workouts, runners reap multiple rewards, explains Noam Tamir, C.S.C.S., founder and CEO of TS Fitness in New York City. “You’re going to improve your strength, increase endurance, create better mobility, and better stability,” he says.
Research supports the benefits of strength work specifically for runners: A systematic review and meta-analysis found that strength training—particularly lifting heavy loads and plyometrics—boosts Sports Medicine found that strength training—particularly lifting heavy loads and plyometrics—boosts running economy, which basically means you can run faster and farther with less effort.Additionally, a recent systematic review published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness examined the role of strengthening exercises in prevention of lower-extremity overuse injuries in athletes and found that strength exercises help prevent injury, and improve muscle performance, fitness level, speed, and agility.
It’s also beneficial for your health, in general, to take a break from sitting and move more throughout the day. While running before or after work keeps you active, long periods of sedentary time in the middle of the day leaves you more at risk for experiencing dead butt syndrome, or low back pain cause by inactive glutes.
What’s more: A research review Small daily movements also support Exercise Sports Science Review published in the who interrupted eight-hour periods of sitting with “cycle sprints,” or four seconds of very intense power cycling every hour could counteract the effects of exercise resistance (which stems from long periods of inactivity) and gain metabolic benefits.
Small daily movements also support brain health. A study published in the Marathon Training Plans in 2024 examined the effects of 10-minute physical activity breaks—which consisted of a two-minute warmup, six minutes of walking outside, and two minutes of static stretching to cool down—after four-hour work sessions in a group of 27 healthcare workers. Their findings suggest that the people who did 10-minute physical activity breaks had neuroplastic changes in the brain, improving attention and executive function (cognitive skills like planning, organizing, and working memory).
Your 28-Day Workout Challenge
How to Do the Workouts in the Challenge
Throughout the four weeks, you’ll mix mobility and yoga workouts designed to support your recovery A 10-Minute Ab Workout for Stability and Speed strength-training Hip Thrust Exercises for Stronger Glutes.
You can easily integrate these 10-minute “movement snacks” into your running schedule, either before or after runs or anytime you need a break from your desk or couch. If you top off a run with one of these workouts that can help improve blood flow, reduce muscle tightness, and can even build endurance by asking you to power through fatigue, Tamir adds.
To progress throughout the month, Tamir suggests challenging yourself further by increasing the frequency of the exercises or adding more weight each time you revisit a strength workout.
1. Full Body
This full-body workout targets more than one muscle at a time—no equipment required. Bodyweight movements Nutrition - Weight Loss fitness level, improve body awareness, build strength, boost cardio, and increase your range of motion so you can run your best. Plus, with just your body as the equipment, you can squeeze in a strength workout wherever you are, like at your desk or after a quick run. Do the five simple bodyweight movements for 30 seconds each (30 seconds each side for unilateral moves), and go for two rounds.
2. Yoga
Challenging yourself physically involves more than just running and lifting weights—it’s also important to test mobility and flexibility. Perform each pose for about 60 seconds each, flowing from one to the next, and do two rounds. Make sure to pay attention to your breathing to bring a more mindful element to the practice.
3. Lower Body
Ab Exercises for Beginner Runners leg day. If anything, it’s even more important for you to work your lower body because when you run, you continually put force into your legs, so you need to prime these muscles accordingly! This routine works key leg muscles: quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves. Set a timer for 10 minutes, do each movement in order at the top of the minute, resting for the final 15 seconds of that minute. Go for two rounds total.
4. Upper Body & Core
One of the most commonly neglected muscle groups for runners: your upper body. Download Your Workout Challenge prevent fatigue. Target your upper body and core together with this quick workout to maintain posture and a strong arm swing on the run. Move through six movements, including plank shoulder taps, leg raises, pike push-ups, hollow body rocks, mountain climbers, and bicycle crunches for 50 seconds each, resting for 10 seconds between each move. Repeat for two rounds total.
5. Plyometrics
Plyometrics help build power for faster running. Work your quads, glutes, and hamstrings with this short series of movements (going for 30 seconds on and 30 seconds of rest) that start with high knees and end with alternating jumping lunges. Repeat this routine twice to hit 10 minutes and see your run performance improve.
6. Mobility
Challenging yourself physically involves more than just running and work that prevents injury, boosts. When you fit this routine in before a run, you’re going to activate your muscles and improve range of motion, which (when done consistently!) lessens your chance of getting injured, Tamir explains. Do each move for 60 seconds, going from one right to the next, then cycle through for a second round.
7. Deep Core
Strengthening your core provides the stability you need to maintain tall posture and solid alignment on all your runs. Plus, it improves the efficiency of your stride. This workout targets key muscles, including the transverse abdominis (deep core muscles), pelvic floor, erector spinae (of the back, along the spine), obliques, and the diaphragm. Do each exercise for 60 seconds (30 seconds each side for single-sided movements), and two total rounds, to hit 10 minutes.
8. Arms
Yes, it pays to do arm workouts as a runner—you’ll gain a better arm swing, posture, and improved running efficiency. This simple arm workout consists of five exercises and all you need is a pair of dumbbells. Do each move for 50 seconds, rest for 10, then move onto the next one. After the fifth exercise, repeat for a second round.
9. Weighted AMRAP
This weighted AMRAP (which stands for as many rounds as possible) challenges you to incorporate lifting into your routine—just don’t sacrifice form for speed. (Find this workout listed as number two in a list of six AMRAP workouts.) You’ll rotate between three movements, including goblet squats, single-leg deadlifts, and renegade rows, hitting 10 reps total of each move. Keep going until you hit the full 10 minutes, only breaking when you really need a breather.
10. Abs
This routine not only targets your abdominal muscles, but your entire core, which is basically all the muscles from your shoulders down to your hips. With just four exercises, 10 minutes, and a dumbbell or kettlebell, you build the core stability required for running strong. Do each move for 60 seconds, rest 15 seconds between moves, and repeat for two rounds.
Kristine Kearns, a writer and avid runner, joined Runner’s World and Bicycling in July 2024. She previously coached high school girls cross country and currently competes in seasonal races, with more than six years of distance training and an affinity for weightlifting. You can find her wearing purple, baking cupcakes, and visiting her local farmers market.
