Is the knee drive the best exercise for running?

If you were allowed only one strength exercise to improve your running speed, which exercise would you use? This may be a tough question to answer but I believe if you compare or evaluate all the different exercises that are used, the knee drive will be your answer.

If you evaluate the strength exercises that are used in running in relation to how closely they duplicate what occurs in the running stride, you will find that there are very few that fulfill this criterion. Most strength exercises are good for strengthening some of the muscles used in running, but not as they are involved in running.

This is a major difference that must be taken into consideration when evaluating strength exercises. For example, many coaches would select the squat has been the best exercise but it has only limited value for sprinters and for long-distance runners.

Strengthening the quadriceps will prevent your hips from sinking too low on each touchdown. As a result you will be able to maintain your center of gravity on a more level plane which is a major plus factor.

Understand that in effective running there is very little up-and-down motion. The more level that you keep the center of gravity during the run, the faster and more efficient will be your run. Thus the squat is a good exercise for improving speed but it has limited value once you’re capable of maintaining a level center of gravity.

And other common exercise is the deadlift which is very good for strengthening the hamstring and gluteus maximus muscles but not as they are involved in the running stride. They improve running times in runners who are weak in this area but begin to have a limited effect for higher level runners who have these muscles well-developed.

For most runners the knee drive is the best strength exercise as it can continually improve running speed and the ability to maintain stride length throughout a run.  The reasons for this are as follows:

1. The knee drive is one of the key actions for increasing running speed. The more forcefully the thigh is driven forward, the greater your speed and  stride length, in the same amount of time.
2. A stronger knee drive allows for more time to execute a powerful pawback, the key action to minimize or eliminate negative landing forces. This action also provides for a longer stride length, an important factor for greater speed.
3. Greater muscular strength of the muscles involved in the knee drive enables you to drive the thigh forward with the same force for a longer period of time. This is needed in order to maintain the same stride length and frequency throughout the entire run. Understand that most runners are unable to maintain the same force in the knee drive because of the ensuing fatigue of the hip flexor muscles. As a result the runners slow down during the run.
4. When the knee drive is coordinated with the pushoff, the amount of force generated is greatest. This is especially important in sprinting but equally important in long distance running. However, in long distance running it is not necessary to display the same amount of force on each stride as in sprinting.

For more information on specialized strength exercises that duplicate what occurs in the running stride see Explosive Running.