16+ Best Hip Strengthening Exercises for Runners

Hip strengthening exercises for runners should be one of the cornerstones of any training plan. Not only will they help build stability in your hips and pelvis, but they’ll also pair beautifully with glute activation drills to keep your stride strong and effective.

The best hip exercises will strengthen your glute and hip muscles—but there are several non-hip exercises to strengthen your core and legs that’ll give support to your hips.

Fortunately, learning how to strengthen your hips for running is relatively straightforward. With 16 exercises to choose from, you won’t be forced into any monotonous routines. From your glutes to your hip flexors, we got you covered.

Below, we’ll take you through the best hip exercises, drills, and mobility work so you can start supplementing your training today.

Why Runners Should Be Doing Hip-Strengthening Exercises

The hip region is central to a runner's biomechanics. Strong hips contribute to better alignment, propulsion, and overall stability during each stride. Unfortunately, hip weaknesses are prevalent among many runners, and this inadequacy can lead to poor running mechanics, inefficiencies, and increased injury risks.

Here's why runners should prioritize hip-strengthening exercises:

Injury Prevention

• Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome: A common overuse injury among runners, IT band syndrome often stems from weak hip muscles, particularly the hip abductors. Strengthening the hips can alleviate and prevent IT band-related issues.
• Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (Runner's Knee): Weak hips, especially the gluteus medius, can cause the knees to move inward while running, leading to knee pain. Stronger hips ensure better knee alignment.
• Lower Back Pain: A strong hip region can reduce the load on the lower back, as weak hips may transfer stress upwards when running.

Improved Running Economy and Performance

• Efficient Stride: Strong hip flexors and extensors contribute to a more powerful and efficient stride, helping runners maintain good form, especially during the latter stages of a race when fatigue sets in.
• Enhanced Propulsion: The hip muscles, notably the gluteus maximus, play a pivotal role in driving the body forward. Stronger hips can lead to a more forceful push-off.

Better Stability and Balance

• Pelvic Stability: The hip muscles, particularly the gluteus medius and minimus, are crucial for maintaining a level pelvis during running. A level pelvis ensures that other parts of the body, such as the knees and ankles, function in optimal alignment.
• Ground Contact: As running is essentially a series of one-legged stances, strong hips provide better balance and stability with each foot strike.

Enhanced Mobility

Hip-strengthening exercises often go hand-in-hand with hip mobility work. Maintaining good hip mobility is essential for runners to achieve a full range of motion, which can contribute to better stride length and reduced injury risk.

Posture and Core Integration

The hips and the core are intrinsically linked. Strengthening the hips can enhance core stability and vice versa. A stable core and hip region improve overall posture and biomechanics during running.

Compensation Prevention

When the hip muscles are weak, other muscles, like those in the lower legs or the back, may compensate. This compensation can lead to overuse and strain in areas not designed to handle the extra load.

Given the importance of hip strength, runners should integrate exercises targeting this region into their regular training routine. Not only can these exercises lead to better running performance, but they also play a critical role in ensuring long-term running health.

16 Best Hip Strengthening Exercises for Runners

Bridges: The Ultimate Hip Strengthening Exercise For Runners

The bridge is the best hip exercise for building hip strength for several reasons.

• It’s scalable (you can make it easier or harder)
• It’s self-correcting (you know right away if you’re doing it correctly)
• It works the hips and glutes simultaneously (who doesn’t want to save time?), which reinforces the relationship between the two muscles

We’ll cover 4 variations here, suitable for the very beginner all the way to someone experienced with strength training. Each variation will challenge the hips in a different way, contributing to overall strength and control.

1. Basic Bridge

Starting off with this variation gives you a chance to practice feeling your gluteus medius, that side hip, working in conjunction with your gluteus maximus to lift your hips up. Keep your back in a neutral position to avoid hyperextension.

It might be tempting to jump straight into the other variations, but make sure your form is spot on before progressing.

• Start by lying on the ground, knees bent and feet planted firmly
• Your hands can be at your sides, on your hips, or anywhere that feels natural
• Press your heels into the ground to lift your hips up, focusing on squeezing your butt to engage the glutes and protect your low back
• Avoid letting the knees drift in or out
• Lower hips back to the ground between reps

2. Single-Leg Bridge

The next variation will still focus on using bodyweight only, but the demand for stability increases. By moving from a bilateral (both legs) to unilateral (single leg) movement, the hips have to work twice as hard to keep your hips level.

This is a fantastic variation to understand just how your hips work while running to prevent that hip drop.

• The starting position will look the same as the basic bridge
• This time, extend one leg in front of you, toes pointed forward
• Lift your hips up by pushing the heel of your bent leg into the ground
• The temptation will be to let the hip of your straight leg drop
• This is where your hip strength comes in to keep your hips level

3. TRX Bridge

Again we’re upping the demand on your strength by adding instability. Instead of moving on a single leg, both legs now work to counteract the movement of the feet being suspended. It may look easy, but once you try it you’ll feel your hamstrings light up to assist. Be sure to focus on keeping the glutes working and don’t let the hamstrings overcompensate.

• Start off by propping your heels in the TRX straps and lie back on the ground
• Adjust your proximity to the straps so your knees are bent at 90-degree angles
• As you lift your hips into the air, focus on keeping your heels in the same location as when you started, i.e. don’t let them drift away from your body
• Keep your butt squeezed to make sure your hamstrings aren’t doing all the work

4. Weighted Bridge

The final variation moves back to stable ground but adds weight. By holding a dumbbell across the hips, you’ll build strength in addition to stability. If you don’t have a dumbbell, try pinning one end of a resistance band under your right foot, pull the band across your hips, and pin the other end under your left foot.

• Prop a dumbbell across your pelvis to load the movement and build strength in your hips and glutes
• You can perform these with both feet on the ground or as a single leg variation

Glute Activation Drills For Runners

By now you’ve got a good feeling for how your hips contribute to your single-leg strength, stability, and balance. Building on that, the following glute activation drills will help build that awareness. Just like the best hip strengthening exercises, you’ll notice that even though these are glute activation drills you’ll still feel your hips working. Just another example of how these two muscle groups work in tandem through these movement patterns.

For the following simple hip exercises, you’ll need a small miniband to help isolate the glutes, which can be widely found online or in your gym.

5. Side Stepping

• Place the miniband around both legs above the knees, feet together
• Resist the band by pushing your knees out, which is the first step to activating your gluteus medius
• Keeping your feet pointing straight forward and your knees pushing out, step your left foot to the side
• Step your right foot in the same direction so your feet are together again

6. Bridge with Miniband

• Another variation of the bridge to really light up the glutes
• Execute just like the basic bridge, but with the miniband above your knees
• This is a great variation to try between the basic and single leg bridge

7. Banded Air Squat

• Start with your feet hip-width apart and the band above your knees
• Again, resist the band by pushing your knees out
• Slowly pull yourself down into the squat position, keeping your back straight and knees out
• Especially at the bottom position, you should feel your outer hip or gluteus medius firing as they resist the pull of the band
• Stand back up, being sure to keep your weight in your heel and avoid rocking forward onto your toes

Play around with the order in which you perform these two groups of exercises and see if you notice a difference. If you activate the glutes first, can you feel more engagement while performing the bridges? On the other hand, if you complete your bridges first, are you more aware of your hips working to stabilize your leg while completing the glute activation drills?

There is no right or wrong here. It’s all about building awareness of your individual body and how you get the most out of your work.

Hip Flexor Exercise for Runners: Good For Prehab or Rehab

Lastly, let’s take a look at how one of our favorite mobility drills can help you prevent injury and improve your range of motion so you can amp up your training.

This drill, called the couch stretch, looks deceptively simple. It’s an intense mobility hip exercise that targets the front of the hip, the hip flexors (it’s actually our favorite hip flexor exercise for runners).

You’ll also feel a big stretch in the quads of the bent leg. By working at the end range of the hip flexors, you’ll actually be increasing your hip extension capabilities. In other words, you’ll be able to swing your leg farther back behind you. This allows for a bigger stride for when you want to bump up your speed.

As for injury prevention, by keeping slack in the muscles of your quads, you’re helping prevent runner’s knee. When the quadriceps muscle is tight (tight calves can be a culprit here, too), it can pull on the knee, causing pain. Those tight quads can also pull on the hip, encouraging it to tip forward and cause an anterior tilt or arched low back. None of those are good things for a runner!

There are 3 levels of progression with the couch stretch, so play around to find the right setup for you.

8. Hip Flexor Exercise 1

• Begin on all fours at the corner of a wall or box and the floor
• Nestle one knee into the corner while keeping your hands on the floor
• Your other knee can be somewhat ahead, wherever is comfortable
• Drive the hips  forward by squeezing your glutes

9. Hip Flexor Exercise 2

• From the set up above, progress by bringing your foot up by your hand
• Keep your hips pushed forward with engaged glutes
• You’ll feel more stretch in the quad and hip flexor than in the basic stretch

10. Hip Flexor Exercise 3

• Hit your end range of motion by bringing your hands off the ground and your torso upright
• Keep your glutes squeezed to avoid hyperextending your back

Whichever version you choose, try to stay in the position for 2-3 minutes per leg to be most effective. It’s best done after the hip exercises and drills above so your muscles are already warmed up.

For even more information about how your hips and glutes relate to your running, check out Coach Nate’s video on engaging your glutes while running. He’ll walk you through 6 extra awareness drills to keep you running well and injury-free.

6 Extra Hip Exercises for Runners

Give this quick video a watch to learn the best hip exercises for runners. Nate will run you through a few simple drills to help you engage your glutes and strengthen your hip muscles.

Run Better With Strong Hips—Here’s How

Even a runner with some miles and races under their belt might wonder, what’s the difference between training my hips and my glutes? You’re not the only one! The hips and glutes work closely together to move your body through space, whether forward, backward, or side-to-side.

We can separate the two muscle groups for the sake of understanding their respective roles, but remember that they are closely intertwined, both anatomically and in the movements they perform.

Think about every step you take while running. In the moment of impact with the ground, your body weight is solely on that landing foot.

All sides of the hip (abductors, adductors, hip flexors) are working to keep your balance, stabilize your leg, and prepare for the next step forward. In the case of weak hips, the body will call on other muscle groups to support you, whether that’s the glutes, hamstrings, or back.

Done often enough, this can lead to overuse or compensation injuries and an inefficient running form. It’s important that every part of the chain does its share of the workload.

Imagine that your hips and pelvis are a bowl. When you set the bowl on a table, it’s level. If your hips drop to one side or the other as you run, it’s like the bowl is being tipped to the side. Whatever is inside will slosh out. Your hips are put in a similar position, and each drop side to side can cause problems such as lower back pain, knees that collapse inward while running, or IT band pain.

If you’re interested in learning more, click here to read about how hip posture affects your running form.

How to Strengthen Hips and Glutes

It’s hard to strengthen one without the others.

Now, let’s be sure to understand how your glutes work with your hips. You’ve probably already heard that the glutes are the largest muscle in the body, and that’s true. They are made up of three different regions: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus. All together you’re looking at all the musculature from the top of your hamstrings to the bottom of your lower back.

The gluteus medius is located on the side of your leg at the hip and is often the first spot to look at when it comes to strengthening your hips and engaging your glutes. By ensuring that the gluteus medius are working, they take some of the demand of the hips, preventing fatigue and lending strength to your stride. The glutes also help add stability to your pelvis, preventing the hip drop mentioned above.

Hip Strengthening Exercise Progression Plan

Some of these exercises are harder than others, and rushing into an advanced hip-strengthening exercise could do more harm than good. Here's a progression plan to help you build strength safely.

This plan will guide you from basic hip-strengthening exercises to more advanced variations over an 8-week period. Remember to maintain proper form and listen to your body throughout each phase.

Weeks 1-2: Foundation Phase

Objective: Establish a strong foundation with basic exercises that focus on form and muscle activation.

Basic Bridge:

• 3 sets of 10 reps
• Focus on engaging glutes and maintaining a neutral spine.

Side Stepping with Miniband:

• 3 sets of 10 steps each side
• Keep your knees pushing out against the band.

Hip Flexor Exercise 1:

• 3 sets of 1 minute each side
• Maintain a forward drive with hips and engage glutes.

Weeks 3-4: Stability Phase

Objective: Increase the stability and strength of the hips with more challenging exercises.

Single-Leg Bridge:

• 3 sets of 8 reps each side
• Ensure hips remain level and avoid dropping the hip of the extended leg.

Bridge with Miniband:

• 3 sets of 10 reps
• Focus on glute engagement and resist the band by pushing knees out.

Hip Flexor Exercise 2:

• 3 sets of 1 minute each side
• Advance from the previous hip flexor stretch to a deeper range.

Weeks 5-6: Strength Phase

Objective: Build additional strength and start integrating instability elements.

TRX Bridge:

• 3 sets of 10 reps
• Keep heels in the same position and focus on glute engagement.

Banded Air Squat:

• 3 sets of 10 reps
• Push knees out against the band to engage hip muscles.

Hip Flexor Exercise 3:

• 3 sets of 1 minute each side
• Progress to the most challenging variation for deep hip and quad stretch.

Weeks 7-8: Advanced Phase

Objective: Integrate weighted and highly unstable exercises to maximize hip strength and stability.

Weighted Bridge:

• 3 sets of 10 reps
• Use a dumbbell or resistance band to add weight to the bridge exercise.

Jumping Air Squats:

• 3 sets of 8 reps
• Focus on explosive power from the hips and maintain control during landing.

Couch Stretch with Hip Flexor Focus:

• 3 sets of 2 minutes each side
• Hold the stretch longer for deeper muscle engagement and flexibility.

Progression Tips

1. Consistency is Key: Perform these exercises 2-3 times per week, allowing rest days in between to let your muscles recover and grow stronger.
2. Monitor Your Form: Proper form is crucial to prevent injuries. Consider working with a coach or using mirrors to ensure you're performing exercises correctly.
3. Listen to Your Body: If you experience pain (not to be confused with discomfort), stop the exercise and consult a professional if necessary.
4. Adjust Intensity Gradually: As you become more comfortable with each exercise, gradually increase the number of reps or sets, or add more weight to continue challenging your muscles.

Start These Hip Strengthening Exercises Today

Don’t wait for a hip injury to start strengthening your hips. Start incorporating these hip strengthening exercises for runners into your normal routine to boost your power and prevent injury.

The best hip strengthening exercises are the ones you actually do, so don’t try to compile a huge list to do with your strengthening routine. Instead, find a few from the list above that you enjoy. Focus on developing your form with these.

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