Can Physical Therapy Help You Become a Faster Runner
Most runners think of physical therapy as something you do when you are hurt. You roll your ankle, strain your calf, or develop knee pain that will not go away, and then you make an appointment. The goal is to get out of pain and get back to training.
That is a legitimate use of physical therapy. But it is a narrow one.
At Victory Performance and Physical Therapy in Mar Vista, we work with a significant number of runners who are not injured. They come in because they want to run faster, handle more training without breaking down, and understand what is holding their performance back. The answer, almost always, involves physical structure, movement mechanics, and strength, which are exactly what physical therapy addresses.
Physical therapy can help you become a better runner even when nothing hurts.
What Limits Running Performance Beyond Fitness?
Training fitness, the aerobic and muscular capacity built through consistent running, is obviously central to performance. But many runners hit a ceiling despite consistent training because fitness is being limited by structural inefficiencies they are not aware of.
The most common performance limiters we identify in non-injured runners include:
Hip and glute weakness. The glutes are the primary power generator in running. When they are not firing effectively, the calves and lower back compensate, which increases injury risk and reduces the force available for propulsion with each stride.
Poor running economy. Running economy describes how much oxygen you use to maintain a given pace. Two runners with identical VO2 max scores can have very different performances if one has significantly better running economy. Economy is partly genetic, but it is also trainable.
Mobility restrictions. Limited ankle dorsiflexion (the ability to flex the foot toward the shin), tight hip flexors, or reduced thoracic rotation all alter running mechanics in ways that waste energy and increase tissue stress. When a joint cannot move through its full range, nearby joints compensate, and compensation costs efficiency.
Asymmetries. Small left-to-right differences in strength, mobility, or movement pattern become magnified over thousands of strides. An asymmetry that is barely noticeable in a 5K becomes a significant energy drain and injury risk factor in a half or full marathon.
What Does the Research Say About Strength Training and Running Speed?
The evidence connecting strength training to running performance is substantial.
A comprehensive review published in Sports Medicine found that strength training improved running economy, the single most important physiological predictor of performance in distance runners, across multiple studies. Improvements were seen in time trial performance and in the oxygen cost of running at submaximal paces. (Saunders et al., 2004, Sports Med. View on PubMed)
A second systematic review published in Sports Medicine examined strength training interventions in endurance athletes across multiple studies and found that concurrent strength and endurance training consistently improved performance markers including running economy, lactate threshold velocity, and time to exhaustion. (Beattie et al., 2014, Sports Med. View on PubMed)
And a more recent systematic review published in the same journal looked specifically at the effects of strength training on the physiological determinants of middle and long-distance running, finding significant improvements in running economy and maximal sprint speed in trained runners who added structured resistance work to their programs. (Blagrove et al., 2018, Sports Med. View on PubMed)
The mechanism behind these improvements includes increased tendon stiffness, improved neuromuscular coordination, and better force production per stride, all of which reduce the energy cost of running at any given pace.
How Physical Therapy Improves Running Performance
Here is what a performance-focused PT approach actually involves.
Movement Assessment
A physical therapist evaluates how you move in ways a coach or trainer typically cannot. We look at hip strength and activation, ankle mobility, thoracic rotation, single-leg stability, and how asymmetries in those factors show up in your running mechanics. This gives us a specific, measurable baseline to work from.
Targeted Strength Programming
Not all strength training is created equal for runners. General gym workouts often emphasize bilateral movements, like squats and leg press, while running is entirely single-leg. A PT-informed strength program for runners emphasizes:
Single-leg loading (Bulgarian split squats, single-leg deadlifts, step-downs)
Hip abductor and external rotator strength
Calf and Achilles loading, including eccentric and heavy-slow resistance work
Core stability under dynamic conditions, not just planks
The progression is structured to build the specific capacities your running mechanics require. The exercises are not random. They connect directly to identified weaknesses and the demands of your event.
Running Mechanics Refinement
Gait analysis at Victory allows us to identify mechanical inefficiencies and introduce targeted corrections. Small changes, applied progressively, can improve running economy measurably. Common adjustments include:
Increasing step rate to reduce overstriding and lower knee joint loading
Improving trunk position and arm carriage
Correcting foot strike relative to the center of mass
Addressing hip drop and pelvic instability mid-stride
These changes require supervised practice and gradual integration. The goal is not to overhaul your form overnight but to make specific, evidence-supported adjustments that reduce energy waste and tissue stress.
Mobility and Tissue Quality Work
Restricted mobility at the ankle or hip forces the body to compensate elsewhere. Improving range of motion in the joints that running demands most creates a mechanical environment where better force production is possible. This includes manual therapy, joint mobilization, and targeted flexibility work tailored to your specific restrictions.
Ready to understand what is actually limiting your running performance? Our team in Mar Vista can give you a clear picture through movement assessment and gait analysis.
Call today: 424-543-4336
Performance Gains Are Not Reserved for Elite Runners
A common misconception is that biomechanical refinement and structured strength work are for elite athletes who have already optimized everything else. In reality, recreational runners often have the most to gain.
Elite athletes are already moving close to mechanically efficient patterns because years of high-volume training have sorted out many inefficiencies. Recreational runners frequently carry significant strength deficits and movement pattern errors that, if addressed, produce noticeable and sometimes dramatic improvements in both pace and durability.
Running 35 miles a week with a significant hip abductor weakness, for example, means every mile is being run with a compromised glute, a compensating lower back, and more stress on the knee than necessary. Fixing that weakness does not just reduce injury risk. It also frees up muscular output that was previously spent on stabilization and channels it into propulsion.
The Role of Injury Prevention in Performance
There is a performance argument for staying healthy that does not get enough attention: consistent training time is the single greatest predictor of improvement in distance runners.
Every week of injury is a week of fitness lost. More significantly, it is a week of the specific adaptations, tendon stiffening, capillary density, neuromuscular efficiency, that only running produces. These adaptations accumulate slowly and erode more quickly than cardiovascular fitness.
A runner who logs 40 weeks of uninterrupted training will almost always outperform a runner who logs 52 weeks with two injury interruptions, even if the interrupted runner had a higher total mileage.
Keeping you running, consistently and without breakdown, is the most direct performance intervention physical therapy provides.
What Nina Found When She Started Training Smarter
Nina came to Victory Performance while training for her first half marathon. She had never worked with a physical therapist specifically for performance.
"I've been working with CJ to improve my mobility and strength while training for my first half marathon, and he's been amazing. Super knowledgeable, encouraging, and genuinely invested in my progress. I've gained so much confidence thanks to his support and expertise."
Her goal was not to recover from injury. It was to arrive at the start line having trained as well as possible and feeling confident in her body's readiness. That is exactly what PT-informed training can do.
Jessica O. took a similar path and saw measurable results. She came in running 35 miles a week with knee pain that was forcing her to cut back.
"Within just a few sessions my knee stopped hurting entirely and I was able to get my mileage back up to now 50 this week. I have been running for 5 weeks now without any pain."
Going from 35 to 50 miles per week, pain-free, is a performance outcome.
Running Performance in the Context of Westside Training
The Westside offers a training environment that supports intelligent performance development when approached with structure.
The Ballona Creek bike path provides an ideal surface for tempo work and long runs where you can focus on mechanics and pace without navigating traffic.
Baldwin Hills and Kenneth Hahn offer natural hill training that builds glute and hip strength in a way flat running never will. For runners focused on performance, structured hill work on these routes, not just recreational climbing, builds specific running-related strength.
San Vicente Boulevard is a staple for LA runners for good reason. The distance markings and consistent surface make it excellent for tracking pace progression over weeks and months of training.
A physical therapist can help you structure how you use these different surfaces and intensities to build performance without accumulating injury risk.
Physical Therapy and Performance Are Not Separate Things
The distinction between rehabilitation and performance optimization is smaller than most runners think. Both require understanding how your body moves, what is strong and what is not, and how to build capacity systematically without overdoing it.
At Victory Performance and Physical Therapy, we think about performance from the first session. Whether a runner comes in injured or not, the goal is the same: help them run better, handle more training, and stay healthy doing it.
People Also Ask About Physical Therapy and Running Performance
Can I see a physical therapist even if I am not injured?
Yes. Physical therapy is not exclusively for injured patients. In California, you can access physical therapy directly without a referral, and performance evaluation and injury prevention are legitimate and valuable reasons to seek care.
What performance improvements can PT realistically produce?
This depends on what is found during evaluation. Runners with significant strength deficits or mechanical inefficiencies often see meaningful improvements in pace, endurance, and ability to handle increased training load. Results vary based on starting point, how consistently you apply the program, and other training factors.
How does physical therapy differ from personal training for performance?
Physical therapists are trained to assess movement, identify injury risk, and treat musculoskeletal conditions that affect performance. Personal trainers focus on fitness programming. At Victory, our approach integrates both: the clinical assessment of a DPT with the performance orientation of a coach.
How long before I see performance benefits from PT-informed training?
Strength adaptations begin within eight to twelve weeks of consistent work. Running economy improvements from gait adjustments and strength training often take eight to twelve weeks to become measurable. The timeline depends on training consistency and the starting level of deficit.
Start Running Better in Mar Vista
If you are a runner who has been training consistently and wondering why progress has stalled, or if you want to build toward a goal race with every advantage available, physical therapy can offer something your training plan alone cannot: a clear picture of how your body is moving and a specific plan for making it move better.
Victory Performance and Physical Therapy works with runners across Mar Vista, Culver City and the Westside at every level, from first-time half-marathoners to experienced athletes chasing PRs. If you want to understand your body more deeply and train with more intention, we are here.
Book your evaluation today.
📞 Call: 424-543-4336