Last Updated: March 2nd, 2022
Short on time? 10 minutes is all you need? Here is a 10-min bodyweight workout for runners that you can do it anywhere and without any eqipments.

10-Min Bodyweight Workout For Runners
We are going to provide you with a very short 10-min bodyweight workout routine so that you don’t miss out on your strength training, just because you are short on time. Here is what you will do…
1. Mountain Climbing
This will strengthen your abs and is great for your glute muscles as well.
Steps
- Get into a high plank position.
- Exhale and bring your right knee towards your chest,
- Inhale and move your right leg back.
- Repeat the same with the left knee.
- Do this for 5 rounds (left and right together is one round), 3 sets
2. Free Squat
Strengthens your glute muscles, hamstrings, and core.
Steps
- Stand on the floor with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Bring your hands towards your chest and intertwine them into a clasp.
- Now keeping the spine straight, start going down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- With a sharp upwards movement come up straight while sharply exhaling.
- Do this for 5 rounds, 3 sets
3. Eccentric heel drop
Strengthens your knees and your calf muscles.
Steps
- Stand on the edge of a step of the staircase.
- Your feet shoed be halfway inside the step and your heels hanging from the step.
- Push your heels down with your bodyweight until you feel a stretch in your calf muscles.
- Now push your body up, until you are on your toes.
- Do this for 10 rounds, 3 sets
4. Bridge
Strengthens your hips, glutes, hamstring.
Steps
- Lie down on your back.
- Fold your legs and keep your feet on the ground shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your hands on the floor next to your body.
- Now push your hips in the air as high as possible.
- Hold it for 5 counts.
- Now return your body to the floor.
- Do this for 5 rounds, 3 sets.
5. Leg Raise
Strengthens your lower abs and your glutes.
Steps
- Lie down on your back.
- Place your hands under your buttocks with palms facing down.
- With the help of your lower ab muscles raise your legs up in the air until it is 90 degrees to the floor.
- Return to the floor but make sure your legs are not touching the ground.
- Do this for 5 rounds, 3 sets.
Is a 10-minutes workout routine effective for runners?
10 min workout routines are good only if you do them occasionally. The main purpose of this workout is not to break the workout chain that you have built up.
You cannot do this routine on a daily basis and expect great results. For that, you will have to do a full strength training program.
However, if you are really short on time or really tired, or not in a mood to work out, then you can perform these exercises to keep the routine going.
Why are these exercises chosen for this 10-min bodyweight workout routine?
As a runner, your main area of focus will be to strengthen your core glutes and calf muscles. These exercises specifically focus on these parts of your body along with your knees and ankles. This is the reason that we have chosen these exercises in this routine.
Also, since the time to perform a routine is really short, only 10 minutes, we included exercises that involve compound movements and multiple muscle groups.
This way as a runner, you will be able to get the most out of this 10-minutes bodyweight workout routine.
Can I use any other exercises in this 10-min workout routine?
Yes, absolutely. There are a lot of exercises that you can include in this workout routine. However, you cannot perform a whole lot of exercises in this short period of time.
So instead try to keep the total number of exercises to at most 7.
Here are the alternate exercises that you can perform as a part of this 10-min bodyweight workout routine as a runner:
- Push up
- Plank
- Shoulder touch
- Russian Twist
- Superman
- Crunches
- Commando
- Bird Dog
- Hand Step up
- Forward bends (sitting or standing)
- Side bending
- Lunges
- Reverse Lunges


Madhusree Basu
Author, Admin
Blogger and a fitness enthusiast. She loves running and Yoga and everything in between. She started running to manage her weight and to eat to her heart’s content. A true foodie at heart she shares whatever knowledge she has gained throughout the years about weight management and fitness.