Muscle Imbalances In Your Legs: 8 Exercises To Identify And Fix Them

Few things about running are more scary or concerning to runners than getting injured. 

No runner wants to be sidelined with plantar fasciitis, shin splints, IT band syndrome, piriformis syndrome, a stress fracture, or runner’s knee among any of the other common running injuries.

For this reason, runners stay abreast of all the common potential risk factors for running injuries, such as increasing your training volume too quickly, wearing worn out shoes, and not warming up before a run.

Another major risk factor for injuries that often makes the list is muscle imbalances.

Although most runners are familiar with the term muscle imbalances and know that they aren’t a good thing, many aren’t really sure what muscle imbalances entail, how muscle imbalances affect your running, and if there are exercises to identify and fix leg muscle imbalances.

In this article, we’ll give you the foundational information you need to understand muscle imbalances and the best exercises to identify and fix leg muscle imbalances.

We will cover: 

• What Are Muscle Imbalances?

• What Causes Muscle Imbalances In Runners?

• How to Identify Muscle Imbalances In the Legs

• How to Fix Muscle Imbalances From Running

• 8 Exercises to Fix Muscle Imbalances In Runners

Let’s get started!

What Are Muscle Imbalances?

A muscle imbalance refers to a noticeable difference in the size or strength of muscle groups.

These discrepancies can be between two opposing groups or between the same muscle group on opposite sides of the body.

An example of the first type of muscle imbalance could be a runner with much stronger quads relative to their hamstrings, while an example of the second type of muscle imbalance would be a runner with a right calf muscle noticeably larger and stronger than the left one.

What Causes Muscle Imbalances In Runners?

There are quite a few potential causes of muscle imbalances. 

For example, if you always do exercises like push-ups or chest press with dumbbells but you don’t do pulling exercises like rows and pull-ups, you can develop muscle imbalances between your pressing muscles in your chest (pecs) and triceps and your pulling muscles in your back (lats, traps, and rhomboids).

Running itself can cause muscle imbalances. Runners often have asymmetries between the right and left left leg if they run on the shoulder of cambered or sloped roads. 

The leg that is relatively lower down accepts more force, and the pelvis tilts, which can cause differences in the size and strength of the glutes and calves.

Another common muscle imbalance from running is between the quads and hamstrings.

A quad-dominant runner will tend to have an uneven stride from a power standpoint, and are at an increased risk of hamstring and knee injuries.

The quads, which run down the front of the shin, are responsible for knee extension and hip flexion. The hamstrings are located in the back of the thigh and they flex the knee and extend the hip.

If you have relatively stronger quads, your quads will overpower the hamstrings when you run, which can lead to knee injuries like runner’s knee or IT band syndrome.

Another common muscle imbalance in runners is between muscles that move the body in the sagittal plane (front and back like the motion of the legs when you run) versus those in the frontal plane (side to side).

For example, runners often have very weak hips from a side-to-side stabilizing perspective.

The gluteus maximus might be decently strong, but the gluteus medius, piriformis, and gluteus minimus, which help stabilize the hip and move the leg to the side, are often notably weak.

Finally, another common muscle imbalance in runners is between the calves and shins.

Runners tend to have strong calves and relatively weaker shin muscles (tibialis anterior). This can increase the risk of shin splints.

How to Identify Muscle Imbalances In the Legs

If your muscle imbalances are visually noticeable, you might already be aware of what asymmetries you have.

For example, if your right quad muscle is much larger than your left, you can be certain that you have a muscle imbalance in your quads.

However, not all muscle imbalances are as obvious.

In these cases, it’s often best to get an evaluation from a physical therapist to help identify muscle imbalances in your legs.

Many PTs use a screening tool known as the Functional Movement Screen (FMS).

If you don’t have access to a physical therapist or want to try to identify muscle imbalances at home, you can try doing a few assessments. 

You’ll need to record a video of yourself performing the exercise and review it afterwards.

Most of these exercises are part of the FMS.

Deep Overhead Squat

This is a great exercise for identifying weakness in your hips or tightness in your calves and Achilles’ tendons.

1. Stand upright with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your arms straight up overhead holding onto a broomstick. Your hands should be nice and wide like the letter “Y.”
2. Squat down, sitting your hips back and going as deep as you can towards the ground as you bend your knees.
3. Press through your heels to stand back up.
4. Complete three reps.

Pay attention to your knees caving inward, and inability to squat much lower than 90°, or your heels coming up as you squat down.

If your knees are caving in, it is a sign of weakness in your hips. If you cannot squat down low, your quads and glutes are weak. 

Finally, if your heels are lifting up off of the floor when you get into the deep squat position, you have mobility issues in your ankles, which may be caused by tight calves.

Hurdle Step

This exercise can identify stiffness, tightness, weakness, or mobility issues in your hips.

1. Grab a string and affix it to both sides of the door jamb at knee height.
2. Stand directly in front of the string so that the front of your toes is just an inch or two behind the string on your side of the doorway. 
3. Use your core to lift your leg up and over the string, tapping your heel on the floor on the other side of the string (just move your one leg to do this).
4. Lift your leg back up to return to the starting position.
5. Switch sides.
6. Repeat three times per leg.

If you have to turn your foot or knee in order to clear your foot over the string, you may have weak or tight hips.

Same-Side Bird Dog

This exercise can identify muscle imbalances and weaknesses in the core and pelvis.

1. Get down on all fours in a tabletop position with a neutral spine. 
2. Brace your core as you extend your right arm straight in front of you and your right leg straight back at the same time.
3. Hold for 5 seconds.
4. Return to the starting position.
5. Repeat on the left side.
6. Do three reps per side.

If you lean to one side or have difficulty balancing or holding the position, you could have instability or weakness in the pelvis and core.

How to Fix Muscle Imbalances From Running

To correct muscle imbalances from running, you have to perform strengthening exercises that target the weak muscle groups or weaker side of the body and gradually build up the strength and size in these compromised groups until they approach the same size and strength as the dominant counterparts.

At that point, bilateral exercises, or strengthening exercises for both opposing groups, can become the focus.

8 Exercises to Fix Muscle Imbalances In Runners

The specific exercises you need to do to correct muscle imbalances in your legs depends on the particular asymmetries you are dealing with, but the following exercises can address some of the most common muscle imbalances in runners:

#1: Single-Leg Bridges

Bridges are great for building glute strength and hip stability, and they strengthen the pelvic floor and core as well.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, one foot flat on the floor and one up in the air.
2. Squeeze your glutes to lift your hips up all the way until they are in line with your body from your knees to your head.
3. Hold and squeeze for one breath then slowly lower.
4. Repeat 15 times and then switch sides.

#2: Single-Leg Balance

Single-leg balance sounds easy enough, but it can be very helpful for runners with weak ankles and hip instability.

1. Simply stand on one leg with a relatively straight knee (though not locked out). Hold for 30-60 seconds and build up knee time. Close your eyes to make it more difficult.

#3: Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, chest up and proud, arms at your side, and a dumbbell in your right hand.
2. Bring your left arm out to your side for balance and engage your core.
3. Bend your left knee (the one on your standing/support leg) about 20 degrees to activate your hamstrings and glutes while you lift your right leg off the ground.
4. Contract your glutes and hinge from your hips to bring your torso towards the floor, keeping your gaze on the floor to prevent hyperextending your neck. Your right leg should extend behind you as a counterbalance.
5. Reach the dumbbell in your right hand down towards your left foot until you feel enough of a stretch in the hamstrings of your supporting leg.
6. Engage your core and glutes to come back up, extending your hips until they are fully locked out. If you need to regain your balance, you can touch your right foot back down to the floor; otherwise, keep it lifted and move into your next rep.
7. Complete 10 reps per side per set.

#4: Single-Leg Squat

Single-leg squats are one of the toughest exercises for muscle imbalances, but they’re highly effective for functional strength for runners. 

Running is a unilateral activity (one leg supporting you at a time), so this exercise will build the pelvic stability, core strength, and quad and glute strength you need for running.

1. Stand upright with good posture and your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Lift your left leg and use your abs to draw it up towards your chest and hold it there, or bend it behind your right leg and let it hover above the ground. You can also extend it straight in front of your body.
3. Bend your right knee and sit your hips all the way back as you drop down into a single-leg squat.
4. When your right knee is bent to 90 degrees and your thigh is parallel to the ground, press through your right heel to stand back up.
5. Complete 10-15 reps and then switch sides.

#5: Clam Shells

This is a great exercise to strengthen your hip abductors (such as gluteus medius and piriformis) and glutes. It’s a good exercise for muscle imbalances that involve weak hip muscles in the frontal plane (side-to-side movement and stability).

1. Lie on your left side with your knees stacked on top of one another bent 90 degrees. Place a resistance loop band on your thighs just above your knees.
2. Prop your head up with your left hand by placing your elbow on the ground and rest your right hand on the floor in front of your chest.
3. Press your heels together and lift your feet off the ground so that they’re hovering about 3-4 inches off the ground.
4. Lift your right knee (the top one) towards the ceiling against the resistance of the band, rotating your hip to open your groin. Remember to keep your feet together and off the ground. (Beginners can rest them on the ground).
5. Complete 10-12 reps, and then switch sides.

#6: Single-Leg Calf Raises

Calf raises are one of the best calf-strengthening exercises, so if you have a muscle imbalance between your right and left leg, you can perform single-leg calf raises on the weaker side.

1. Stand on one leg on a step or box with your heels hanging off the back. Hook your other foot behind the ankle of the supporting leg.
2. Hold a dumbbell in the opposite arm.
3. Drop your heel down so that you’re sinking down into the heel and then raise up onto your toe so that you’re on your tiptoes.
4. Repeat 15 times and then switch sides.

#7: Heel Walks

This is a good exercise for muscle imbalances between your calves and shins because it strengthens your shins and ankle dorsiflexors.

1. Simply walk on your heels with your toes pointing up towards the sky for 50 meters..

#8: Bird Dog

Work on the same-side bird dog as described above as well as opposite side bird dog (right arm with left leg) to build pelvic, glute, and core strength, and spinal stability.

Let’s get those muscles imbalances fixed up as soon as possible to be able to run at our very best. If you are looking for a well-rounded strength training program, take a look at ours, here.