Exercise Library
How to perform every strength movement in your training plan — setup, cues, and common mistakes.
Squats & Lunges
Air Squat
The unloaded squat — the foundational lower-body pattern, used for warm-ups, circuits, and building movement quality.
Back Squat
The barbell squat — the heaviest-loadable lower-body strength lift, building quads, glutes, and trunk strength together.
Forward Lunge
The classic lunge stepping forward and pushing back — adds a braking (deceleration) demand that builds resilient quads.
Goblet Squat
A front-loaded squat holding one weight at your chest — the friendliest way to load the squat pattern with an upright torso.
Lateral Lunge
A sideways lunge that strengthens the legs and hips in the frontal plane — movement running never trains but injury-resilience depends on.
Rear-Foot-Elevated Split Squat
A split squat with the back foot on a bench — one of the best single-leg strength builders for runners.
Reverse Lunge
A lunge stepping backward instead of forward — same single-leg strength with less knee stress, so it is often the first lunge to use.
Split Squat
A stationary single-leg squat in a split stance — single-leg strength without the balance demand of a lunge.
Step-Up
Stepping onto a box under control — single-leg strength with an obvious carry-over to climbing and hills.
Walking Lunge
Alternating forward lunges travelling across the floor — single-leg strength with a balance and coordination demand that transfers directly to running.
Wall Sit
An isometric squat hold against a wall — quad endurance you can feel, useful late in plans and for knee-tendon conditioning.
Hinges & Glutes
Deadlift
Lifting a barbell from the floor by hinging at the hips — the fundamental full-body strength lift for the posterior chain.
Glute Bridge
Lifting the hips from the floor lying on your back — the simplest glute activation and strength exercise, a staple in warm-ups and rehab.
Hip Thrust
Driving the hips up against load with the upper back on a bench — the most direct way to load the glutes heavy.
Kettlebell Swing
A powerful hip-snap projecting the kettlebell to chest height — explosive posterior-chain power and conditioning in one movement.
Nordic Hamstring Curl
Lowering your body forward from kneeling under hamstring control — the best-evidenced exercise for reducing hamstring-strain risk.
Romanian Deadlift
A hip hinge lowering the weight from standing, keeping the legs nearly straight — the go-to hamstring and glute strength builder for runners.
Single-Leg Glute Bridge
The glute bridge on one leg — doubles the load on the working glute and exposes side-to-side differences.
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian deadlift on one leg — hamstring strength plus the hip stability and balance running actually demands.
Calves & Lower Leg
Single-Leg Calf Raise
The calf raise on one leg — the standard for building running-specific calf and Achilles capacity, and the base of most Achilles rehab protocols.
Standing Calf Raise
Rising onto the balls of the feet — the basic strength move for calves and Achilles, the tissues that take the biggest pounding in running.
Hip Stability
Clamshell
Opening the top knee from side-lying with feet together — targeted activation for the deep glutes that control the knee in running.
Copenhagen Plank
A side plank with the top leg supported on a bench — the standard for building groin (adductor) strength and injury resilience.
Lateral Band Walk
Sideways steps against a mini-band — glute medius strength for hip and knee control on the run.
Side-Lying Leg Raise
Raising the straight top leg from side-lying — simple, honest glute-medius strength work.
Core
Bicycle Crunch
Alternating elbow-to-opposite-knee crunches with a cycling leg action — abs and obliques with a coordination element.
Bird Dog
Extending opposite arm and leg from all-fours with a still trunk — back-friendly core stability and hip-extension control.
Crunch
The classic short-range ab curl — simple direct ab work when programmed alongside the stability movements.
Dead Bug
Lowering opposite arm and leg from your back while the trunk stays rigid — anti-extension core control with zero spinal stress.
Farmer's Carry
Walking tall with heavy weights in hand — grip, trunk, and postural strength with almost nothing to get wrong.
Hollow Hold
The gymnast’s banana-shaped hold — total anterior-core tension that transfers to a stable, tall running posture.
Mountain Climbers
Running the knees toward the chest from a push-up position — core stability under fast limb movement, plus a conditioning hit.
Pallof Press
Pressing a band or cable straight out while it tries to twist you — anti-rotation core strength, the trunk control running quietly depends on.
Plank
The basic straight-body hold on forearms and toes — trunk endurance that keeps your running posture from crumbling late in long efforts.
Russian Twist
Rotating the torso side to side from a leaned-back seated position — rotational core strength and control.
Side Plank
The straight-body hold on one forearm — lateral core strength that stabilizes the pelvis every single running stride.
Superman
Lifting chest and legs from lying face-down — simple strengthening for the spinal erectors and glutes that hold you tall when tired.
Upper Body
Bench Press
Pressing a barbell or dumbbells from the chest lying on a bench — the standard heavy upper-body push.
Bent-Over Row
Pulling weight to the torso from a hip hinge — upper-back and lat strength that balances all the pressing and hunching in daily life.
Biceps Curl
Curling weight from a long arm to the shoulder — direct arm strength; hammer grip (palms in) hits the forearms too.
Dumbbell Flye
An arc-path chest movement lying on your back — stretches and loads the pecs without pressing.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Raising light dumbbells out to the sides — the classic shoulder-width builder for the lateral delts.
Floor Press
A bench press from the floor — the same pressing pattern with a built-in range limit that spares the shoulders.
Inverted Row
A horizontal bodyweight pull under a bar or table edge — the pulling twin of the push-up and the on-ramp to pull-ups.
Lat Pulldown
The cable version of the pull-up — same back-building pull, fully adjustable load.
Overhead Press
Pressing weight from the shoulders to overhead while standing — shoulder and trunk strength that carries a tall posture.
Pull-Up
Pulling your chin over a bar from a dead hang — the benchmark upper-body pull. Chin-ups (palms toward you) are the slightly easier sibling.
Push-Up
The classic bodyweight press — chest, shoulder, and arm strength wrapped inside a moving plank.
Reverse Curl
A curl with palms facing down — shifts the work to the forearms and brachialis for elbow resilience and grip.
Triceps Dip
Lowering and pressing your bodyweight between bars or off a bench — direct triceps and chest strength.
Power & Plyometrics
Box Jump
An explosive two-foot jump onto a box with a soft landing — leg power and landing mechanics for stronger, springier strides.
Burpee
Squat-plank-push-up-jump in one continuous movement — full-body conditioning that shows up in circuits and time-crunched sessions.
Pogo Hop
Fast, springy straight-leg hops off the ankles — trains tendon stiffness and elastic recoil, the free speed in your stride.
Single-Leg Hop & Stick
A single-leg hop landing frozen in place — landing control and ankle-knee-hip stability, the plyometric with the most direct injury-prevention payoff.
Squat Jump
A countermovement squat exploding into a vertical jump — straightforward leg power with a soft, controlled landing.
More Exercises
Around the World
Circling a light weight around the head or body — shoulder mobility and control through a full circle of positions.
Dumbbell Shrug
Straight-arm shoulder elevation with heavy dumbbells — direct upper-trap strength for posture and carries.
Overhead Triceps Extension
A single-weight press from behind the head — isolates the triceps through their longest range.