Why Your Core Might Be the Missing Link in Your Running Performance

When we talk about running performance, the conversation usually revolves around speed, stride, cadence and mileage. We might also touch on lower body strength, calves, footwear and running technique. But there’s one critical system that’s rarely mentioned, even though it quietly affects how well you absorb impact, transfer energy, and maintain form under fatigue. Many runners never train properly. That system is your core.

A Well-Trained Core Improves Running Efficiency and Speed

So does core training actually make you a better runner — or is it just fitness folklore?

A 2023 meta-analysis highlights an important point: core training enhances neuromuscular coordination and strengthens core muscles, which increases limb stability and improves energy transfer during exercise. When your core muscles are properly activated during athletic performance, the limbs work more efficiently, generating greater power through both arms and legs. In simple terms: train your core and enjoy better athletic performance. A 2025 systematic review continues this discussion, showing that in athletes, core training can improve dynamic balance and sprint speed.

Why Core Stability Makes You Faster

Efficient runners lose less energy because they maintain dynamic control of the trunk while the limbs move, transferring force cleanly through the legs into the ground. During running, the pelvis and thorax rotate in opposite directions, placing significant torsional demands on the trunk. If the deep core system cannot control these forces effectively, energy leaks occur, and running efficiency drops. Good lumbopelvic control allows the trunk to remain stable without becoming rigid, enabling smooth limb motion and optimal force transmission.

Poor core endurance increases stress on the lower limbs

A 2025 study examined recreational long-distance runners to explore the role of core muscle endurance. This study investigates the endurance aspect of core muscles in runners. It examined what happens to running mechanics when core muscles become fatigued. Thirty recreational heel-strike runners ran before and after a trunk-fatigue protocol, and researchers measured leg stiffness and how mechanical work was distributed between the hip, knee, and ankle. When the trunk muscles are fatigued, runners compensate by running with stiffer legs and redistributing mechanical load, especially toward the more distal joints (ankle and knee). Coordination under fatigue matters. This suggests that core fitness plays an important role in how forces are managed during running. Poor trunk endurance may increase stress on the lower limbs, potentially affecting both performance and injury risk, particularly toward the end of long runs.

Why traditional “Core Training” Often Misses the Mark

Now we know that the core should be trained to enhance athletic performance. But how should we train it? Traditional core training often focuses on maximal abdominal strength, long holds, and rigid bracing. Research shows that athletic performance depends more on timing, coordination, and adaptability of the core than on maximal core strength or rigidity. Even when we train core muscle endurance, it is not about over-bracing; it is about the ability of this muscle group to repeatedly exert force against resistance over an extended period without fatiguing.

Over-stiffening the trunk reduces efficiency. Biomechanics research, including work by Stuart McGill, shows that excessive co-contraction (“bracing everything”) increases energy cost, reduces spinal mobility, and interferes with force transfer between the upper and lower body. A rigid trunk acts like a brake, especially in cyclical tasks like running. Running requires elastic, not rigid, control. In other words, the core’s job is to coordinate movement, not to act like a concrete pillar. Being too stiff or over-braced can hurt performance. A locked-down core disrupts hip–trunk rhythm, limits pelvic rotation, and forces the legs to work harder for the same output.

Core stability does not equal maximal strength either. Motor-control researchers like Paul Hodges showed that the core stabilises the spine by contracting the abdominal and multifidus muscles in anticipation of reactive forces generated by limb movement. However, only a small increase in abdominal activation (about 10% of maximal voluntary contraction for rigorous physical activities) is needed to stiffen the spinal segments. This indicates that sensorimotor control is far more important than strength.

The central nervous system activates core muscles in anticipation of limb movement, milliseconds before the limbs move. This anticipatory activation is about timing and sequencing, not force output. Healthy movement uses just enough stiffness, adjusted moment-to-moment. A stronger core isn’t automatically a better core—a well-timed core is. Locomotion studies show that better overall neuromuscular coordination contributes to higher linear running speeds.

The core muscles should:

• Stiffen when needed (e.g., ground contact)
• Relax when stiffness isn’t needed
• Allow controlled trunk and pelvic motion during movement
• Coordinate trunk, hips, and limbs as a system

What Are These Core Muscles, by the Way?

Your deep core system functions like a cylinder and includes:

• Diaphragm – your main breathing muscle (top of the cylinder)
• Pelvic floor – the base of the cylinder
• Abdominal muscles – the front and sides of the cylinder
• Multifidi – the back of the cylinder

How to Train Neuromuscular Coordination of the Core Muscles

When done properly, deep core system training targets timing, coordination, endurance, strength, and integration with breathing and sport-specific movement. The goal is to restore and train dynamic core stability and neuromuscular coordination, rather than isolated strength.

Core exercises:

Restorative exercises:

Conclusion

Together, the core muscles provide dynamic stability for the trunk during movement. This coordination allows the body to remain stable without excessive muscle tension, which is critical for running endurance and efficiency. Train them in a smart, coordinated way and enjoy enhanced athletic performance.