🏃‍♀️ Want to Run Injury-Free? Science Says Strengthen Your Hips and Core

Based on the 2024 study
“Hip and Core Exercise Programme Prevents Running-Related Overuse Injuries in Adult Novice Recreational Runners: A Three-Arm Randomised Controlled Trial (Run RCT)”
by Leppänen, Viiala, Kaikkonen, Tokola, Vasankari, Nigg, Krosshaug, Werthner, Parkkari & Pasanen
Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine

If you're a beginner runner lacing up your shoes this spring, here's one thing you need to know: static stretching alone won't protect you from injury — but strengthening your hips and core just might.

That’s the key takeaway from a major new study — and it could change how millions of people warm up before a run.

The Problem: Novice Runners Get Hurt — A Lot

Running is one of the most popular forms of exercise worldwide. But for beginners, injury risk is high — up to 33 injuries per 1,000 hours of running. And overuse injuries are especially common: sore knees, aching hips, irritated tendons.

These injuries are often what stop people from sticking with their running routine — meaning lost fitness, missed goals, and sometimes months of recovery.

The Study: Three Warm-Ups, One Clear Winner

In the Run RCT, researchers followed 325 new runners over 24 weeks. Everyone did the same running program — but each group warmed up differently:

1. Hip & Core Group – strength training focused on the trunk and glutes
2. Ankle & Foot Group – strength and stability exercises for the feet and calves
3. Control Group – traditional static stretching

The Results: Strong Core, Fewer Injuries

The findings were clear:

✅ Hip & Core training led to:

• 34% fewer total lower body injuries
• 52% fewer serious overuse injuries
• Notably fewer thigh and foot injuries

🚫 Ankle & Foot training didn’t reduce injury risk — and actually resulted in:

• More acute injuries, especially muscle strains in the calves and thighs

💤 Static stretching didn’t prevent overuse injuries — but surprisingly, it may have helped avoid some muscle strains during sprints or hill runs.

Why This Works: The “Top-Down” Advantage

When your core and hips are strong, they help stabilize the entire chain: knees, shins, ankles, and feet. This reduces stress during each stride — especially under fatigue.

The ankle-focused exercises, while well-meaning, may not have prepared runners for high-impact loads — and didn’t show any real injury prevention benefit in this group.

What This Means for You

✅ Add 20–30 minutes of hip and core strength work before your runs:

• Glute bridges
• Side planks
• Resistance band walks
• Lunges with good form

⚠️ Use ankle/foot drills with caution, especially before sprints or hard runs

🚫 Don’t rely on stretching alone to prevent injury — it isn’t enough

What About Limitations?

Every study has caveats — and this one is no exception:

• 🧪 The results reflect ideal conditions: supervised training with physiotherapists. It's unclear if the same benefits would occur with unsupervised, at-home training.
• 📋 Injuries were self-reported via questionnaires, not diagnosed by clinicians.
• 👟 The study was designed for novice runners only. It may not apply to more experienced or elite runners.
• 🙋‍♀️ The participant pool was mostly female, so we don’t yet know if the effects are the same for men.
• 🔬 The study wasn’t powered to fully analyze rare or severe acute injuries — so those findings, while intriguing, should be viewed as preliminary.

Still, the results offer the strongest evidence to date that hip and core training can keep new runners healthier on the roads and trails.

Bottom Line

If you're new to running and want to avoid the all-too-common detour to injury, this study sends a simple message:

Train your hips. Strengthen your core. Then run.

It’s affordable. It’s low-tech. And — for once — it’s backed by science.