Resistance Band Running Drills: 5 Ways to Improve Stride Power

Resistance band running drills increase muscular demand through every phase of movement. The added elastic tension builds explosive strength for improved acceleration and stride stability. Below are five targeted workouts to help runners get faster and more powerful.

Workout 1: Explosive power and acceleration

This workout focuses on one primary objective: generating raw power from a standstill and during acceleration. It highlights two highly effective running drills – resisted high knees and resisted sprints. You’ll need a secure anchor point, such as a pole or squat rack, along with a longer, heavier resistance band.

Resisted high knees

• Setup: Find a solid anchor point and loop a long band around it. Step inside the band and place it around your waist so it’s pulling you from behind. Walk forward until there’s a good amount of tension.
• Execution: Brace the core and begin driving the knees up, one at a time, as if running in place. The goal isn’t just to lift the knees; it’s to create an aggressive, powerful drive forward against the band’s constant pull. Use the arms to punch upward — strong arm drive is essential for generating forward momentum.
• How it feels: When you get it right, your hips should feel like a coiled spring, just waiting to explode forward with each step. You'll feel this in your hip flexors, quads, and glutes. It should feel like a struggle against the band, not a light warm-up.
• Common mistakes: A big mistake is letting the band pull your posture backward. You have to fight to stay upright or even maintain a slight forward lean. Another is being lazy with the arm swing – your arms and legs work together.
• Reps and sets: Aim for short, intense bursts. Perform 20–30 seconds of work followed by 60 seconds of rest. Complete 4–5 sets.

Resisted sprints

• Setup: Keep the same setup as the high knees, with the band anchored behind you and around your waist.
• Execution: From a standstill, sprint forward as hard as you can for about 10–20 yards. Really focus on maintaining a forward lean and fighting the band on every single stride. Drive your knees forward powerfully, not just up.
• How it feels: This should feel incredibly demanding. Every step is a battle. You're building that explosive first step that gets you off the line faster. The burn in your quads and glutes will be immediate.
• Common mistakes: Leaning back or taking choppy, short steps. Maintain a long, powerful stride. Another common issue is allowing the band to dictate form. The movement should stay controlled at all times – the band adds resistance, but it should not alter proper mechanics.
• Reps and sets: This is a max-effort drill. Go for 4–6 sprints of 10–20 yards each. Take a full 90-second to 2-minute rest between each sprint to ensure you can give it 100% every time. And this isn't just our opinion; a meta-analysis on hip strengthening with elastic bands found this kind of training significantly boosts lower limb explosive power. For more ideas, you can check out some top loop band workouts.

Workout 2: Hip strength and stride stability

A stable, powerful hip is a complete game-changer for an efficient running stride. This workout uses a mini-loop band to zero in on the glute muscles that control side-to-side movement and prevent your knees from caving in. We're going to dial in on pure control and muscular endurance.

Monster walks

• Setup: Slip a loop band around your ankles. Get into a solid athletic stance – knees slightly bent, feet shoulder-width apart, chest up.
• Execution: Take small, deliberate steps forward, alternating your feet. The absolute key here is to maintain constant tension on the band throughout the entire set. It should never, ever go slack. Walk forward for 10–15 steps, then backward for 10–15 steps. That's one set.
• How it feels: You should feel a very distinct burn building in your glute medius, which is that muscle on the outside of your hip. That feeling is a great sign you're building stability exactly where it counts. It’s not a big, powerful feeling; it’s a deep, targeted burn.
• Common mistakes: Letting the knees collapse inward is the number one problem. Think about pushing your knees out against the band the whole time. Also, avoid waddling or using momentum. Each step should be controlled.
• Reps and sets: Aim for 3 sets of 10–15 steps forward and 10–15 steps back. Don’t rush it.

Lateral band walks

• Setup: Slide that same loop band up to just above your knees. Stay low in that athletic squat.
• Execution: Start taking steps sideways. Step out with your lead leg, then follow with your trail leg, but only enough to return to your starting stance. Never bring your feet all the way together–that makes the band go slack. Take 10–15 steps one way, then 10–15 steps back the other way.
• How it feels: Similar to the monster walk, but you might feel it even more intensely on the outside of your hips and glutes. The burn should be significant by the end of the set.
• Common mistakes: People often waddle or use momentum to swing their leg. To fix this, think about keeping your feet parallel and your torso absolutely still. It’s a lower-body movement only. The other issue is standing up too tall. Stay low to keep the glutes engaged. This movement isn’t about speed; it’s all about control, which is the whole point of building glute strength for runners using loop bands.

Workout 3: Dynamic control and agility

Running fast in a straight line is one thing, but real-world running often requires changing direction. This workout builds the agility and dynamic control you need to do that well. We'll use two key drills with a long resistance band: banded skaters and banded A-skips.

Banded skaters

• Setup: Anchor a band to something sturdy around hip height. Loop the other end around your waist and step away from the anchor until you feel tension pulling you sideways.
• Execution: Bound side-to-side. Start by pushing off your inside leg, away from the anchor point, and landing on your outside leg. Then, control the return, letting the band pull you back as you land on your inside leg. The cue I’m always shouting at my athletes is: “stick the landing.” Pause for just a split second, own your balance, and then explode back.
• How it feels: You'll feel your outer hip and glute on the landing leg working like crazy to stop you from being pulled over. It's a great drill for building single-leg stability under load.
• Common mistakes: The most common mistake I see is the landing knee collapsing inward. Really concentrate on keeping that knee tracking right over your foot. Another is not controlling the return–people just let the band yank them back. Resist it.
• Reps and sets: Perform 8–10 jumps per side. Do 3 sets, resting about 60 seconds between sets.

Banded A-skips

• Setup: Anchor the band behind you and loop it around your waist, just like the resisted sprints.
• Execution: The A-skip is a classic running drill. You're essentially skipping forward, but with an exaggerated high knee and a straight leg on the down-step. The band pulling you backward makes your upward knee drive much harder. This drill is all about finding a good rhythm and coordination.
• How it feels: You should feel like you’re “popping” off the ground with every single skip. It feels much more athletic and less linear than a lot of other drills. Your hip flexors will be working overtime.
• Common mistakes: Losing posture and leaning back against the band. You have to fight to stay tall. Also, getting the coordination wrong–it’s opposite arm, opposite leg, just like running.
• Progression: You can progress this by starting with slow, deliberate movements and then speeding things up into a more reactive, powerful skip once your stability improves. Aim for 3 sets of 20 yards.

Workout 4: Plyometric power with band resistance

This workout combines plyometrics with resistance bands to give you that extra bounce. We’ll focus on two classic power movements – banded squat jumps and banded broad jumps. The bands add what’s called accommodating resistance, meaning the exercise gets harder as you get stronger and move through the range of motion.

Banded squat jumps

• Setup: You'll need a long loop band. My preferred setup is to stand on the bottom of the band with your feet shoulder-width apart, and loop the top of the band over your shoulders like you're wearing suspenders.
• Execution: Drop into a quarter squat, then explode upward into a vertical jump. The band will stretch and resist you the entire way up. Land softly, immediately absorb the impact, and go right into the next jump.
• How it feels: The band makes the top of the jump much harder, which is right where you build real power. You’ll feel this intensely in your glutes and quads. It forces you to accelerate through the entire movement. 
• Common mistakes: Not jumping with maximal intent. This is a power exercise, so every jump should be as high as you can go. The other is landing stiff-legged. Always land softly and absorb the force.
• Reps and sets: This workout is intense, so keep it short and sharp. Stick to 3–4 sets of 5–8 reps. Quality over quantity.

Banded broad jumps

• Setup: Anchor a long band behind you and loop it around your waist. Walk forward until you feel tension.
• Execution: Get into a deep hip hinge, swing your arms powerfully, and drive forward into a horizontal jump. The band will try to pull you back, which forces a much stronger hip extension to fight it.
• How it feels: You should feel a massive engagement from your entire posterior chain – glutes and hamstrings – as you explode forward. The landing is also a challenge, as the band is trying to pull you off-balance.
• Common mistakes: Not getting full hip extension–cutting the jump short. Also, landing off-balance. Focus on sticking the landing before resetting for the next rep.
• Progression: The goal is to gradually increase the challenge as you get stronger. Start with lighter bands to perfect your form, then move up in resistance. You can find more info on choosing the right resistance band levels.

Workout 5: Core stability for running form

Think of your core as the power transfer station between your arms and legs. If it's weak, you're leaking energy with every stride. This final workout pulls everything together with two core-focused drills that specifically mimic the anti-rotation demands of running.

Split stance pallof press

• Setup: Anchor a band to a sturdy post at roughly chest height. Grab the band with both hands and step away from the anchor until you feel solid tension pulling you sideways. Get into a split stance – like a shallow lunge – with the foot farthest from the anchor point forward.
• Execution: From this position, press the band straight out from your chest. You’ll immediately feel the band trying to twist your torso back toward the anchor. Your job is to fight it. Hold the extended position for 2-3 seconds, then bring your hands back to your chest with complete control.
• How it feels: You're looking for a deep, isometric burn in your obliques (the muscles on the side of your abs) as they fire up to stop that rotation. This is the exact same work your core does to counteract the twisting force of your arm swing when you run.
• Common mistakes: The biggest error is letting your hips or shoulders rotate toward the anchor. Your body should stay perfectly still, facing forward. Also, don't rush the movement.
• Reps and sets: Focus on 8–12 slow reps per side for 3 sets.

Banded dead bug

• Setup: Lie on your back and loop a light mini-band around the arches of your feet. Lift your legs so your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle, stacked directly over your hips. Press your lower back into the floor. This is your starting point.
• Execution: Slowly lower your right leg toward the floor, extending it until it's just a few inches from the ground. Your left leg should not move. The band adds resistance to the stationary leg's hip flexor and core, forcing it to stabilize. Return to the start with control and then repeat on the other side.
• How it feels: This is all about slow, deliberate movement. You're building deep core endurance. The tension from the band on the moving leg makes your stabilizing abdominals work much harder.
• Common mistakes: The biggest mistake I see here is moving too fast and letting the lower back arch off the floor. If you feel a gap appearing, you’ve lost core engagement. Go only as far as you can while keeping your lower back pressed firmly into the ground.
• Reps and sets: Aim for 10–15 alternating reps per side for 3 sets.

From Resistance to Results

Speed is a product of force, coordination, and control. Resistance band running drills develop all three by strengthening key muscle groups while reinforcing proper mechanics. When programmed strategically, they enhance acceleration, improve stride efficiency, and reduce energy leaks. Keep the volume focused, prioritize form, and progressively increase resistance as you get stronger.