A Full-Body Conversation: Rethinking the Muscles Used During Running

When most runners think about the muscles used during running, they picture the usual suspects—quads, hamstrings, calves. But the truth is, your body is far more interconnected than that. Over the years, both as a coach and a student of human movement, I’ve come to realize that understanding how the body works as a system—not just a collection of parts—is the key to unlocking better performance, avoiding injury, and actually enjoying your runs. In this blog, I’m sharing 10 things I wish every runner knew about their body. From the power of the pelvic floor to the real reason your hips feel tight, we’ll explore the often-overlooked muscles and movement patterns that play a crucial role in efficient, injury-free running.

First, An Update

Yesterday’s podcast episode marked a big milestone! It was my 50th episode! Originally, I thought about sharing 50 things I wish runners knew. But let’s be honest, I’m not really a laundry list type and prefer to do more of a deep dive. So instead, I narrowed it down to 10 things I wish runners knew about their bodies and the muscles used during running.

But before we jump into the list, I want to share a personal update!

I’ve mentioned many times that I used to be a science teacher, and that I use that experience in my coaching. Well, about a month ago, I decided to apply for a middle school science teaching position here in town. I officially got the job and will begin on September 29th.

Returning to teaching has always been in the back of my mind. It started as more of a quiet whisper reminding me how much I missed it. With everything happening in the world, that whisper grew louder as I kept asking myself: What can I do?

For me, the answer that kept coming up was: contribute to my community through teaching science and strengthening scientific literacy. Every day’s headlines make it clear that critical thinking and scientific literacy are needed more than ever. Helping kids build those skills feels like the most direct way I can help create a better future. Then, this position at my son’s school opened up (plus the little “no running for you” nudge from my knee injury) and it felt like the universe was telling me to act.

What does this mean for the podcast, newsletter, this blog, and my coaching?

They’re not going anywhere, but things will look a little different as I adjust to being back in the classroom for the first time in 8 years. At least initially, the podcast will shift from weekly episodes to every other week, same with this newsletter on alternating weeks, and I'll be on social media a lot less. The biggest change is going to be significantly scaling back the number of athletes I work with in 1-on-1 capacity, starting with limiting the enrollment in the Women’s Running Academy Intensive that will begin on Sept. 29th. If you are thinking about joining this round, your best bet will be getting on this waitlist! 

Ok, let’s dive in…

10 Things I Wish Runners Knew About Their Bodies

Spoiler: there is a common thread throughout all of these! Most runners think of their bodies in parts: hips, knees, feet. But running doesn’t work that way. The body is a system and the muscles used during running work as a team. Every movement is connected, and when you understand that, everything changes.

1. The Pelvic Floor is the Foundation for Running for Everyone!

The pelvic floor sits at the bottom of your pelvis, working in tandem with your diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and back muscles. Together, they form your “core canister,” responsible for managing pressure and transferring force as you move.

When symptoms like leaking or peeing while running show up, they’re not just annoyances. They’re signs of a deeper issue: difficulty managing pressure, force, and power transfer in your stride.

The pelvic floor is also tied to hip rotation. To run efficiently, you need reciprocal rotation in both the pelvis and pelvic floor. And this isn’t just a “women’s issue.” Pelvic floor function matters for all runners, male and female, because it plays a direct role in power generation and efficiency.

Learn about the full body connection of the pelvic floor here.

2. Pronation is Not a Flaw - It's a Necessary Movement

True pronation is internal rotation at the hip, tibia, and foot that helps you put force into the ground and manage the forces that come back into your body.

What often gets labeled as “overpronation,” seen as a falling arch (often accompanied by a collapsing knee, and a hip jutting out, isn’t true pronation at all. Instead, at least the way I see it, it’s the body’s compensation strategy, trying to create internal rotation and force into the ground where it’s missing.

If you’ve ever been told you’re an “overpronator,” what you likely need isn’t arch support* but better hip strength, improved rotation, and proper integration of the entire system.

*Learn more about this myth of overpronation here.

3. Tight Hips Often Need Strength

“Tight hips” is one of the most common complaints I hear from runners. And the default assumption? I need to stretch more.

But often, tightness isn’t about needing more length in the muscle, it’s about stability. When your brain senses instability or weakness in a certain range of motion, it limits movement there to keep you safe. That sensation registers as “tightness.”

Endless stretching doesn’t fix the root cause. What does? Building strength through those ranges of motion, in all three planes of movement. By giving your nervous system stability, you unlock mobility far more effectively than stretching ever could.

Learn more about hip strength in the range of motion needed for running here.

4. The Truth About Hamstring Tightness

Hamstrings often feel tight not because they lack length, but because of pelvis position. An anterior tilt places the hamstrings under constant stretch, which creates the sensation of tightness. In other words, they feel tight because they are already chronically stretched. Stretching only makes the cycle worse.

Instead, the solution is targeted strengthening of the proximal hamstrings and restoring pelvic alignment. Even the classic “I can’t touch my toes” complaint is less about hamstring length and more about your ability to shift your pelvis and ribcage backward.

I’m just now realizing I don’t already have a specific blog about this! I'm adding it to my list!

5. More Mobility Isn’t Always the Answer

Many runners chase mobility, assuming that looser muscles equal better movement. But some of the most flexible runners I’ve worked with struggle the most. 

That’s because the muscles used during running require the right balance of mobility and stiffness. Local restrictions (in the feet, calves, pelvic floor, or neck) often signal a body that actually needs more stability and strength, not more range of motion.

Dig more into this idea of safety and its connection to mobility here.

6. Tendons Love Whole-Body Coordination

Your tendons, especially the Achilles, are built to store and release elastic energy while running. This gives you “free” energy in your stride, but only when your body is working as a coordinated system.

Think of a trampoline: the springs can bounce you only if the frame is stable. In your body, that means you need stiffness where it counts, like co-contraction around the knee, so the tendon can do its job.

Learn more about the 5 skills that go into that full body coordination for efficient energy storage here.

And by the way, it’s exactly these 5 skills that we build in the Women’s Running Academy Intensive!

7. Your Breath Shapes Your Stride

Breathing is more than oxygen, it’s mechanics. Again, your diaphragm, ribcage, and pelvic floor work together to generate power, transfer force, and regulate oxygen efficiency.

Shallow, chest-heavy breathing overuses the neck and shoulders, often leading to tension and fatigue. Diaphragmatic breathing, by contrast, connects your entire core system for both efficiency and power.

Check out this blog for some basics on breathing.

In the Women’s Running Academy Intensive, we train breath intentionally: for oxygen efficiency, for ribcage-pelvis coordination, and for improved stride efficiency.

8. Pain Rarely Lives Where the Problem Starts

Chronic pain often shows up far from its root cause.

• Knee pain often points to hip rotation or foot mechanics.
• Plantar fasciitis is often tied to the center of mass and hip movement.
• Hip flexor pain can result from pelvic position, not just the flexors themselves.
• Pelvic floor issues connect back to ribcage position, hip rotation, and foot mechanics.

Here’s a more detailed example of the full body connection with chronically tight calves.

The lesson? Don’t zoom in too quickly. Zoom out to see how the whole system interacts.

9. You Are Not Fragile—You Are Adaptable

Humans are not fragile. Your body is built to adapt. Stress plus intentional recovery makes you stronger.

Ground reaction forces and gravity aren’t enemies; you can use them to your advantage. Take running on sand for example. It feels harder than road running because sand dissipates those forces instead of letting you use them.

The goal of training is to fine-tune your body so you can harness impact, not fear it. With progressive strength training and plyometrics, your body learns to store and release those forces efficiently.

The less you train for impact, the more fragile you’ll feel. But with patience, progressive overload, and trust in the process, you’ll discover how powerful and resilient your body really is.

10. It's About Integration, Not Isolation

Your body thrives when all its parts communicate and coordinate. Strength, breath, stability, and movement patterns all need to come back online together—not in isolation.

In my experience, after years of digging deep in the world of human physiology and running biomechanics and coaching hundreds of runners, the main thing that is stopping most runners from reaching their potential is treating the human body as just the sum of its parts. 

We are one body, it works together. We need to understand how all the parts, all the muscles used during running, are connected.

When you don’t look at your body as a whole, you end up chasing one injury only to create another, you make progress, but then plateau or feel like you are always managing something.

When you look at your body as a whole and begin to truly understand how all the pieces start to come together, you can move more freely and efficiently overall, you can get out of your head and back into your joy with running, you can fully tap into your potential.

This is exactly the work we do in the Women’s Running Academy Intensive. It’s a 12-week mentorship designed to help runners break the cycle of injury and burnout and finally make real, sustainable progress.

Round 7 begins on Sept. 29th. 

Join the waitlist now for priority access, $100 off and exclusive bonus opportunity. The waitlist closes September 12th.