With Coach Tim, offering Online Running Coaching for We Run and the We Run Virtual Running Club
Your pelvis and hips are your stable foundation when you run, allowing you to put your energy into driving forward efficiently. Too much twisting, tilting, dropping, or movement in the pelvis, or too little at the hips, is a sign that some flexibility or strength work may be in order!
The Pelvis – Your Foundation
Your pelvis is the foundation of your body. It’s a very strong circle of bone that carries the weight of, and controls the movement of, your legs. As you run, your pelvis will rotate, tilt, and move slightly, but ideally, you want it to be as controlled as possible. This prevents twisting movements from traveling down your legs or up your back where they could cause niggles. It also enhances performance as your energy is expended driving you forward, not lost in extra sideways or rotational movements.
When looking at a runner’s technique, I’ll check two key areas of movement in the pelvis:
- Side to side: Do the hips drop noticeably to the side after landing?
- Tilting: Imagine the pelvis as a bucket of water—it can tip forward so the water pours out the front, arching your lower back, or it can tip back, rounding your lower back.
Many of these issues can be improved by strengthening your glutes, which play a big role in stabilising your pelvis, as well as doing core work like plank exercises.
The Hips – Where Your Power Comes From
With a stable pelvis, the hips become the root of your power. A key element of great running form is how you drive your legs backward from the hips; the glute muscles provide a lot of power.
Checking if your hip flexors (the muscles across the front of the hips) are tight is a good starting point; tightness here inhibits backward leg drive. From there, glute strength provides the strong drive and speed for running. Hill training is a great way to practice this!
The stabilising glute muscles also help control rotation and sideways movement of the leg in the hip socket. When running, we want the legs to move forward and backward—not sideways or twisting—making these muscles key!
Summary Tips
- Your pelvis should be a stable, strong foundation for your running.
- Your hips should be stabilised by your glute muscles but also drive backward well to add speed to your running.
- Glute strength and core strength work can help here, as well as stretching the hip flexors and quads.
Exercises to Improve Your Hips and Pelvis for Running
- Lateral band walks to strengthen your pelvic and hip stabilisers
- Plank and side plank exercises
- For a more complete solution, our Virtual Running Club includes running strength workouts to help you improve your glute strength and hip mobility.
