The One Exercise Every Runner Should Do for Running Longevity

Lots of runners over 50 have a common goal: keep running, maybe even for as long as possible. And one factor that’s crucial to succeeding there is maintaining bone health. As we age, our bones naturally become less dense. Some moderate bone density loss is called osteopenia; when it progresses, it’s called osteoporosis, and it can lead to breaking bones more easily.

Because running is a high-impact, weight-bearing exercise, it can help keep bones strong—to an extent. It is, of course, primarily a straight-ahead motion, which might not place enough impact on your hips to keep the bones there strong. In fact, in one small Archives of Osteoporosis study of older adults with an average age of 71, researchers found regular sprinters had greater hip bone density compared to people who didn’t run, but regular endurance runners didn’t.

“Your hips are working hard to control side-to-side movement every time you land,” says Pamela Mehta, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and founder of Resilience Orthopedics in Los Gatos, California. “That lateral control helps keep your pelvis stable and your knee aligned through your stride. If you never train it, you’re missing a key part of your strength and stability.”

One of the best ways to train your hips is with lateral, weight-bearing movement, like the skater exercise. “Skaters combine single-leg loading, lateral movement, and a plyometric element, so you’re training strength, balance, and impact tolerance all at once,” Dr. Mehta says. “That’s a lot of bang for your buck, especially in a sport where you’re always on one leg.”

The strength benefits of adding this move to your routine can help you in running and in everyday life, adds Ryan Schultz, PT, DPT, a physical therapist at Orlando Health Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Center in Lake Mary, Florida. “Skater exercises are really good for strengthening the lateral hip musculature to prevent hip drop,” he says, which is when your pelvis dips during your running stride, making the movement less efficient. But building that strength might also help you get up off the floor more easily, for example, he adds.

Runners of any age will benefit from the skater, as it can help build lateral hip strength, single-leg control, balance, and the ability to absorb force. “That translates to better stability, coordination, and injury resilience,” Dr. Mehta says.

How to Do the Skater

1. Start standing with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent.
2. Push off of your right foot, hopping laterally to the left.
3. Land softly on your left foot, with a slight bend in your knee, and let your right foot sweep behind your left leg.
4. Immediately explode off your left foot to hop back to the right.
5. Continue alternating sides for all your reps. Swing your arms naturally back and forth throughout (like in speed skating).

If you’re new to this movement, go slower than you think you’ll need to at first, Schultz says. Make sure you feel stable and under control before you bound back in the other direction. “Stay tall, keep your pelvis level, land softly, and make sure your knee tracks over your foot,” Dr. Mehta adds. “Own the landing before going into the next bound.”

If you’ve already been diagnosed with osteoporosis or have a history of fractures, you should get cleared by your doctor before incorporating this kind of high-impact exercise into your routine, she says.

Even if you don’t have osteoporosis or other bone concerns, it’s worth working up to this movement if you’re not quite there yet. “It has to match where you are,” she says. “If you’ve got a reasonable strength base and no significant pain, go for it. If you have more advanced osteoporosis, poor balance, or a recent stress injury, scale it down first and build toward it.”

An Alternative to the Skater: the Lateral Lunge

If you could use some time to build up to a skater, try a lateral lunge instead, she says. “You get the same side-to-side pattern without the impact,” she says.

1. Start standing with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent.
2. Take a large step to the left with your left leg, keeping your feet pointing forward.
3. Bend your left knee and push your hips back to lower your body until your left thigh is parallel with the floor. Keep your right leg straight.
4. Press through your left foot to return to start.
5. Finish all your reps, then switch sides.

From there, you can build up to a small side-to-side hop before progressing to full skater bounds. As that starts to feel more comfortable, make your bounds bigger, Schultz says.

How to Add Skaters to Your Routine

Skaters aren’t a standalone fix to any strength or bone density concerns, of course, but they can be part of your overall strength- and bone-building plan. You can do a few reps after a dynamic warm-up, but before your run, or on a dedicated strength day, Dr. Mehta suggests. “The key is to do them while you’re fresh enough to land with good control,” she adds.

One to two times per week is plenty. She recommends starting with two sets of six to eight reps per side and building up to two to three sets of eight to twelve reps as your form improves. Speaking of which: form is key. “For older runners especially, I’d much rather see fewer clean reps than a lot of sloppy ones,” she says.

Even though many runners are tempted to only run, Schultz stresses the importance of making time for strength training: “If you just run, you’re going to get great at that, but it can leave the door open to issues in other areas,” he says. He recommends two strength sessions a week of about 30 to 45 minutes that work all your major muscle groups.

If you’re an experienced runner, he suggests pairing a hard run in the morning with a hard strength-training workout in the afternoon or evening on the same day. “That way, that day is a hard day, and then the next day I can recover,” he says.

Whether you add skaters to your routine or another type of lateral movement, you can feel good about making a decision to protect your future running. Just remember it’s only a piece of the puzzle: “Bone health needs resistance training, impact exercise, balance work, good nutrition—including calcium and vitamin D—and adequate recovery,” Dr. Mehta says.