Build stronger, healthier knees to run pain-free with this 4-move dumbbell workout

Many people argue running is bad for your knees, however, Wattbike Ambassador and marathon coach Emma Kirk-Odunubi says different. “Running actually supports bone health more than people realise,” she tells us. “Recent research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that running can prevent osteoarthritis and doesn’t necessarily increase the likelihood of joint problems.”

To improve this, she says it’s important to make sure you’re including strength training within your training. You don’t need to carve out hours of your week lifting weights though, in fact, this quick, four-move dumbbell workout from fitness coach James Stirling, will help strengthen your knees and improve joint stability, so that you can run more comfortably and confidently. You'll just need a pair of dumbbells, but starting out with just your bodyweight is also fine too.

Runners! Build stronger knees to keep injury free! - YouTube

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What’s great about this workout is that it trains each leg individually to ensure you build balanced strength. It also covers various planes of motion, including the frontal plane (side-to-side movements) and the sagittal plane (forward/backward movements), which is also important for the body to move efficiently in multiple directions and avoid imbalances.

The workout consists of four exercises that you’ll move through as a circuit and repeat three times. You’ll perform each exercise for 30 seconds on each side of the body – so aim for quality reps within this time frame – followed by a 20-second rest before moving on to the next exercise. Here’s what you’ve got:

• Single leg Romanian deadlift – 8-10 reps per side
• Single leg squat – 8 reps per side
• Bulgarian split squat – 8-10 reps per side
• Lateral squat – 8-10 reps per side

As well as training your lower body, upper body training is also important for runners as it encourages better stability and balance, but it often gets forgotten. Here’s a six-move upper body workout from Olympian and COROS athlete Alex Yee, that you can do at home with dumbbells.