Core training for runners – why you should care
- What do your abs have to do with your running ability and why should you bother training them?
- Core training helps with technique, preventing injury and maintaining posture when you get tired
Having a strong core is about more than just a rippling six pack for the beach, especially for runners. In fact, it encompasses more than your abs alone.
Your core is your abs, obliques, back, around your pelvis and even your chest. It is responsible for stability and is used in almost every movement in your body.
That includes running.
Core training will help your posture. Good, upright posture, will allow you to run more efficiently. As you drive with your legs, more of the energy is delivered into the forward movement and not lost if you are hunched over. Posture also makes your breathing more efficient, as your lungs and diaphragm can expand to their maximum, which in turn will make you less fatigued.
Training your core is particularly important for long-distance or ultra runners. As you get tired, so does your core – your technique and posture will begin to fade, putting you in a spiral of fatigue, poor form, then more fatigue.