Every Runner Should Have a Go-To Leg Workout

BETWEEN HILL REPEATS, tempo workouts, and long runs, your legs and glutes are regularly pushed to their limits. Do you really need a dedicated leg-day workout? Covering all that ground should be sufficient, right?

- JENESSA CONNOR

"Wrong," says Dane Miklaus, CSCS, founder of WORK Training Studio in Irvine, California. Focusing solely on running is a less-than-optimal training strategy that can hinder performance and eventually lead to injuries, he says.

Muscular imbalances (like strong quads and weak glutes) can cause compensatory movements when we run, Miklaus explains, which can make one muscle work harder than it should or take on more work when it's not ready for that load. This can not only affect efficiency and how well you perform, but it can also lead to that increased risk of injury, he adds.

A well-designed strength-training program that targets the legs and glutes, however, can help identify and correct injury-causing compensations.

Even if you do avoid getting hurt, consistently skipping leg day could be robbing you of speed and power that running alone won't help you achieve. "Fast-twitch muscle-fiber types are primarily responsible for our fastest, most explosive, and strongest movements. In your legs, these fibers help you go from a jog pace to a true sprint pace," Miklaus says. And to strengthen these fibers, you need weight training.