Running is one of the most effective and accessible types of cardiovascular exercise and is a fast way to tone your lower body. However, if you don’t balance your running with other fitness activities you will develop muscle imbalances which, over time, can lead to pain and even injury. The key to running strong is to understand how running affects your body so you can complement it with other exercises to strengthen your muscles, prevent imbalances and ensure that you stay healthy.
Common Imbalances
Personal trainer and running coach Kelly Doyle writes on her website, K’s Body Shop, that even strong runners commonly have weak gluteals, hip abductors, hip adductors, the tibialis anterior -- the shin muscle-- trunk stabilizers and abdominals. The imbalances in the smaller leg muscles, such as hip flexors, can lead to problems with stability due to weakness, while the lack of core strength can affect posture, which in turn can lead to poor breathing patterns.
Causes
Running is excellent for developing the hamstrings, calves and, to a lesser extent, the quads and glutes. However, as Doyle notes, there are muscles that are underutilized during running, such as the core and upper body muscles, which support posture, and the hip muscles that help stabilize the pelvis during gait. Runners who have problems with posture, or biomechanical issues such as hip drop or leg length discrepancy, poor leg alignment or bad mechanics, can develop other muscle imbalances because they are trying to compensate for the lack of symmetry in their stride.
Injury Risks
The American Chiropractic Association notes that muscle imbalances are likely to cause overuse injuries. A runner who has good alignment and muscle balance can cope with strenuous training while runners with biomechanical problems cannot withstand even a moderate amount of running without developing various types of overuse injuries. For this reason you may want to consider having your stride professionally analyzed by a trainer or physician to determine if you have any biomechanical problems that will increase your injury risk. Then you can target the muscles that need to be strengthened.
Prevention
The best way to prevent injury from muscle imbalances is to add strength training and cross-training to your fitness program. This will help prevent and treat muscle imbalances and improve your overall running capacity. According to Michael Fredericson, M.D., and Tammara Moore, P.T., some of the most beneficial exercises are core exercises with a stability ball, which targets your trunk muscles, as well as moves like step-ups and side lunges, which work your quads, glutes and hip flexors.
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