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Which Muscles Do I Use for Running?

Running uses the muscles in the thighs (quadriceps), the backs of the legs (hamstrings), calves, hips, low back, and buttocks, and the upper body cannot be ignored since you use your torso (back and abdominal muscles) as well as your arms and shoulders to help you stabilize, balance, and move forward. Here are a few tips for running-based muscle building.

1. Run up and down hills to focus on tightening and toning your thighs and buttocks.

2. Doing speed work or intervals (where you sprint for a few minutes at high speeds and then recover at a slower pace) is comparable to leg exercises in the gym (leg press, leg extension, etc.), so you can skip your leg work on the days that you do these workouts.

3. Run backward if you want to work your ankles, lower back, and thighs (hamstrings and quadriceps) and improve your balance.

Educating ourselves on the muscles we use while exercising is important. The more we know about our body, the better we can protect it by treating it with care and avoiding injury.

Running on a regular basis has many benefits, including weight loss, stress relief and maintaining a strong and healthy body. As it is one of the more physically exerting activities, it can also cause damage to your body such as a pulled hamstring or dislocation of your kneecaps. With a little knowledge, we can help prevent these injuries with the right equipment and by properly stretching your muscles before the run.

Primary Muscles Used While Running

Primary muscles will get the most impact from your movement and therefore should receive more care. 

Your primary muscles while running will include your quads (quadriceps femoris), hamstrings, gluteus maximus, iliopsoas, and your calf muscles.

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quads

Quads (Quadriceps Femoris)

Your quads are muscle groups of four basic muscles located on your front thighs. You will be able to see and identify these muscles on the picture to your right. They are:

The rectus femoris, The vastus medialis, The vastus lateralis, and The vastus intermedius.

Your quads are responsible for moving two of the joints used in running, your knee joint and your hip joint. The work together to straighten your knees and bend your hips.

If you are interested in strengthening your quad muscles consider doing squats and lunges. Increasing strength in your muscles apart from running can decrease your risk of injury and  increase your speed.

PJM 3106 Anatomi .Pisioiogi - PJM2SFEB2012 2012

hamstrings

Hamstrings and Gluteus Maximus

Your hamstrings are made up of four muscle-parts on the back of your thighs. As pictured, these are known as:

The semitendinosus, The semimembranosus, and The biceps femoris (two parts: long head and short head).

These four parts of your hamstrings allows you to flex your knees. The semitendinosus, semimembranosus and the long head biceps femoris work together to extend the hips. As you may have noticed, your hamstrings work opposite your quads in how your knees and hips move, creating a systematic medley that works well for you body.

The gluteus macimus, also pictured though not labeled, is the largest of the gluteal muscles. You will recognize it easily as it is the muscle that contributes most to creating the shape of the buttocks, better known as butt or rear-end.

This muscle will help you keep proper erect posture by extending your hips.

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iliopsoas

Hip Flexors (Iliopsoas)

Your hip flexors (or iliopsoas), like your quads, is comprised of a muscle group of two muscles:

The iliacus and The psoas major.

As you can see on the picture to your right, the shortest muscle, the iliacus, begins on your pelvic crest (the iliac fossa) and stretches over to your thigh bone (femur). The larger of the muscles, the psoas major, stretches from your T-12 spinal vertebrae to your L-5 spinal vertebrae and there attaches to the femur.

These two muscles work together to help your hips flex.

The iliopsoas are often the culprit behind sever hip pain. If you experience hip pain while running, you should stop your routine immediately, and go see your doctor or a

PJM 3106 Anatomi .Pisioiogi - PJM2SFEB2012 2012

chiropractic specialist. Do not begin running again until they have determined it to be safe.

calf muscles

Calf Muscles

Your calf muscles are located on the back of you leg, below your knee. Though many anatomists see the calf muscle to be a single muscle (triceps surae), most say that it is a muscle group, like your quads and hip flexors. This group consists of two main muscles, the:

The gastrocnemius and The soleus.

Your calf muscles will allow you to flex your knee and planter flex your ankle. Like your quads, your calf muscles can be strengthened by doing squats. Other good strength-building exercises would include calf muscle raises and skipping!

Supporting Muscles Used While Running

Though your supporting muscles may not come under as much strain as your primary muscles, it is a good idea to educate yourself about them and protect them as well. Your supporting muscles are:

The abdominals (both upper and lower) and The biceps brachii.

PJM 3106 Anatomi .Pisioiogi - PJM2SFEB2012 2012

Your abdominals are located at your abdomen. These muscles will allow you to maintain good posture during your workout, helping you to prevent injury and maximizing your time.

Your biceps brachii (better known as your biceps), are located above your elbow and allows you to rotate your forearms and flex your elbows. You will only use this muscle if your elbow is bent, making your running more efficient.

Leg Muscles Used in Running

To understand how leg workouts can benefit runners, it helps to have a basic knowledge of the muscles in your legs and how they work together. Nearly all the leg muscles are used in running. By strengthening each group, you will improve your running form and balance.

As you move your leg forward, you use mainly the quadricep muscles at the front of your thigh. They bend your hip and straighten your knee. The quads also stabilize the knee and help absorb the shock of impact as you land.

As your body moves forward, the action switches to your hamstrings, the muscles at the back of your thigh, which straighten your hip and begin to bend your knee. The hamstrings also work to help you lift your knee behind you.

At the same time, the muscles of your lower leg, the soleus (inner calf) and gastrocnemius (outer calf) extend and flex each foot as you land and push off. These muscles also help absorb impact and give your stride spring.

In addition to these primary running muscles, several other muscle groups play a role in running form and are important to include in your leg workouts. The gluteal muscles form the buttocks. They help extend the hip, straightening it beneath you. Just as important, they stabilize the trunk and keep you upright. Strong glutes contribute to good running form and alignment.

The hip muscles are also important. Because they lie deeper than hamstrings and quads, they are often neglected in workouts. Hip flexors and extenders work with the quads and hamstrings to move the legs forward and back. The hip rotator muscles stabilize the hip joint and contribute to good running form.

Your leg workouts should be aimed at strengthening all these muscles and achieving overall development, especially where opposing groups are concerned. Exercises aimed at the quadriceps, for example, should be balanced by a hamstring workout.

Read on to learn how some simple exercises that you can do at home can strengthen the muscles and improve your running form.

PJM 3106 Anatomi .Pisioiogi - PJM2SFEB2012 2012

Muscles Used When Running

There are three types of muscles used when running:

Primary Supporting Auxiliary

The “Primary” Muscles

The “primary” ones used in running include:

The quadriceps femoris The hamstring The gluteus maximus The iliopsoas The calf muscle

The quadriceps femoris — also called the quadriceps or the quadriceps extensor or the quads — is actually a muscle group that comprises several ones on the front of a thigh, including:

The rectus femoris The vastus medialis The vastus lateralis The vastus intermedius

A quadriceps muscle group on a thigh moves two joints — the hip joint and the knee joint — specifically to flex (bend) the hip and to extend (straighten) the knee.

The hamstring comprises four on the back of the left or right thigh, including:

The semitendinosus The semimembranosus The biceps femoris long head The biceps femoris short head

All four in a hamstring move a knee joint — specifically to flex the knee.

PJM 3106 Anatomi .Pisioiogi - PJM2SFEB2012 2012

PJM 3106 Anatomi .Pisioiogi - PJM2SFEB2012 2012

Three of the four in a hamstring move a hip joint — specifically to extend the hip. Because the biceps femoris short head crosses only one joint — the knee — it does not participate in hip extension.

The gluteus maximus is one of the three gluteal muscles, is the most superficial and largest among them, and is the primary contributor to the shape of the buttocks.

The primary purpose of the gluteus maximus is to maintain the trunk of the body in the erect posture — that is, to extend the hip. This explains why other primates, which ambulate on all fours, tend to have much flatter buttocks than the buttocks of humans.

The iliopsoas — also called the hip flexors — is actually a muscle group that comprises two muscles:

The iliacus The psoas major

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The iliacus, which is the shorter of these two, originates on the iliac fossa of the ilium (on the pelvic crest) and attaches on the femur (the thigh bone). The psoas major originates on the T-12 to L-5 vertebrae (of the spine) and attaches to the femur.

The iliopsoas — with the psoas major doing the majority of the work — supports hip flexion.

The calf muscle — considered by some anatomists to be a single muscle called the triceps surae — is usually seen as a muscle group that comprises:

The gastrocnemius The soleus

The purpose of the calf muscle is to plantar flex the ankle and to flex the knee.

The “Supporting” Muscles

The “supporting” ones used in running include:

The biceps brachii The upper abdominals The lower abdominals

The biceps brachii — also known more simply as the biceps — is a muscle on the upper arm whose purpose is to rotate the forearm and to flex the elbow. Because running is more efficient when the elbow is bent, the biceps brachii supports running.

The upper abdominals comprises the muscles in the upper half of the abdomen.

The lower abdominals comprises those in the lower half of the abdomen.

Together, the upper and lower abdominals support the core strength that runners need for maintaining good posture, which is crucial for maximizing performance and avoiding injury. Because running can cause a lot of rotation of the spine, it is important to have strong upper and lower abdominals to stabilize the spine and to minimize the dissipation of energy during the transfer of power to the extremities.

The “Auxiliary” Muscles

Some would say that technically there are no “auxiliary” ones used in running. But others would point out that your entire body is involved when running and therefore that you could list ones such as these:

The external intercostals The internal intercostals

PJM 3106 Anatomi .Pisioiogi - PJM2SFEB2012 2012

The external intercostals aid in forced inhalation.

The internal intercostals aid in forced exhalation.

And the list could be supplemented with others in the body, such as those that help you to keep your head erect while running.

When running, the muscles of the lower body help to move the body through four stages - heel strike, single limb support, push-off and leg swing.

Running on Level Ground

When running on level ground, the muscles that are most activated are the adductors, the gracilis and the hamstrings, which consists of the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris. These muscles assist with knee flexion, hip extension and stabilizing the pelvis during single limb support, push-off and leg swing. The abdominals are active when running at all times to help stabilize the pelvis and maintain balance during the different stages.

Running Uphill

During uphill running, the muscles most activated are the adductors, biceps femoris, gluteals, gastrocnemius and the vastus group of the thigh -- vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and vastus intermedius. This is due to the greater forces generated to extend the knee and hip while running uphill. The biceps femoris is one of the hamstring muscles used during push-off and at the beginning of the swing phase. The gastrocnemius is used mostly during the push-off phase, but is also active during heel strike.

References

Jap.physiology.org: Lower extremity muscle activation during horizontal and uphill running

Jap.physiology.org: Muscle coordination in cycling: effect of surface incline and posture

Dynamoty: Dynamic Human Anatomy; Whiting, William C.; Rugg Stuart, 2006