An effective at-home workout is always handy if you are a runner. Sometimes you can’t get out and run for whatever reason, and you don’t want that to impact your fitness. An excellent at-home workout can enhance your running performance and even reduce your risk of injury when you get back outside.
Here are our suggestions for an at-home workout for runners. Doing this routine a few times a week (2 or 3 times) will significantly benefit your running and your overall fitness levels.
Do one minute each of these exercises, and reap the rewards!
Note: Some of these exercises have an option to use resistance bands like the ones here (link no longer available). Resistance bands increase your flexibility
and go a long way towards reducing your risk of injury. You don’t have to use bands, of course, but they add an extra fitness challenge, as you’ll see!
#1 Squats
- Stand with both feet shoulder-width apart and sink into a squat while your back is straight.
- Bring your butt down till your thighs are parallel with the floor.
- Pause here, then come slowly back up and repeat.
To make these squats more challenging, you can add in a jump. Once you are down in a squat, jump up as high as possible and then sink back down into a squat.
Resistance band option: Wrap a hip circle band around your thighs and work against the band’s tension as you squat.
#2 Side steps
- Starting from the same position, sink into a squat.
- Now step your right foot out to the side about 3 feet while staying in a squat.
- Bring your left foot to meet it and move sideways again with your right foot.
- Keep doing this ten times (or till you reach the other side of the room!)
Repeat on the other side.
Resistance band option: As in the previous exercise, you can wrap a band around your thighs (above your knees) to add difficulty to these moves.
#3 Planks with toe taps
- Get into a plank position by lying flat on the floor. Your legs should be straight and your weight rests on your elbows and the balls of your feet.
- Staying in plank position, move one leg out to the side and tap your toes on the ground.
- Move the leg back and do the same with the other leg.
Resistance band option: Wrap a resistance band around your ankles and work against the band as you tap each foot.
Planks are excellent for your core, which often gets ignored by runners – although your core muscles are what keep you strong while you run.
#4 Bicycle crunches
- Flip over to lie on your back.
- Bring your hands up next to your temples and raise your legs off the ground.
- Your knees need to be bent at a 90-degree angle, with your calves parallel to the floor.
- Now straighten your right leg out so that it almost touches the floor while you bring your right shoulder up to your bent left knee as you exhale. You will need to twist your torso while keeping your lower back on the floor.
- Repeat on the opposite side.
Resistance band option: Wrap a longer resistance band around the middle of both feet so that you are giving your legs an extra workout when you bend and straighten.
Note: Make sure you are lifting your shoulders from the floor towards your knees, not your elbows.
#5 Bridge pose
- For this exercise, stay on the floor and bend both knees.
- Put your feet flat on the floor, about a foot away from your glutes.
- Now raise your hips until your trunk forms a straight line with your thighs (squeeze your glutes while you do this).
- Pause at the top, then lower slowly.
To make this more challenging, you could straighten one leg towards the ceiling and keep it extended while you use your glute strength to push it up for a one-legged bridge.
Resistance band option: Wrap a hip circle band around your thighs and pulse your legs outward when you reach the height of the position.
#6 Reverse lunge with twist
- While standing, take a big step backward with your right leg and lower till both your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle.
- Twist your trunk to the left, then come back to the centre position and back up to the standing position.
- Repeat on the other side.
Resistance band option: Wrap a small resistance band around your wrists and pulse your straight arms away from each other when you