Pilates for runners: three moves that matter

Running is a single leg activity repeated a few thousand times an hour, in one direction, on hard ground. It is very good at making you fit and not very good at keeping you balanced. Most of the runners who come to us arrive with the same shopping list of complaints: tight hips, a lower back that grumbles after long runs, and one side that has always been the weaker one.

You do not need a whole new training programme. Three things cover most of it.

1. Hips: the single leg bridge

Runners tend to be strong in the front of the hip and quiet in the back of it. The glutes are meant to extend the hip and hold the pelvis level while the other leg swings through. When they do not, the lower back and the hamstrings pick up the difference, which is where a lot of running niggles start.

Lie on your back, knees bent, feet hip width. Lift one leg so the knee stays level with the other. Press through the standing foot and lift your hips, then lower slowly, one vertebra at a time. Eight each side. The point is not height. The point is that the hip on the free side does not drop, and that you can feel the glute rather than the hamstring cramping. If it cramps, bring your foot slightly closer to you.

2. Core: the dead bug, done properly

The job of your trunk while running is to resist movement, not create it. Every time your foot lands, something has to stop your ribs and pelvis twisting apart. That is what this exercise trains, and it is the reason it looks so unimpressive.

On your back, knees over hips, shins parallel to the floor, arms straight up. Exhale and reach one arm overhead while the opposite leg lowers towards the floor. Stop the moment your lower back starts to lift away from the mat. Come back and swap. Six each side, slowly.

Almost everyone goes too far on the first attempt. Half the range with your back quiet is worth more than the full range with it arched.

3. Feet and ankles: heel raises with a pause

Your calf and foot take the first hit on every stride and they are usually the least trained part of a runner's week. Stand on one leg, rise up onto the ball of your foot, pause for two seconds at the top, then lower over a slow count of three. Ten each side. Do them barefoot where you can.

The slow lowering is the part that matters. Rushing it turns the exercise into a bounce and skips the bit that builds tendon capacity.

How to fit it in

Twice a week is plenty. Ten minutes after an easy run, when you are already warm, works better than a separate session you will skip. On the reformer we do the same three patterns with spring resistance and a moving carriage, which adds a balance element you cannot get on a mat, but the mat versions are genuinely useful on their own.

Keep it away from your hard sessions. This is not meant to make you tired, it is meant to make the miles cost you less.

One honest caveat

If something hurts while you run, and it has hurt for more than a couple of weeks, strength work is not the first answer. See a physiotherapist, get it looked at, then come back and build. We work alongside a few in the neighbourhood and are happy to point you at one.

If you want these done with eyes on you, Reformer Sculpt and our private sessions are where most of our runners end up.