Heel Pain When Running? 3 Key Exercises to Fix It

Heel pain is one of the most common complaints among runners — and one of the most misunderstood. Most athletes are told to rest, ice, and stretch their calves. But if heel pain were that simple, runners wouldn't still be limping through warm-ups six weeks later.

The problem isn't just in your heel. It's in how your body absorbs force, generates power, and controls rotation from foot strike to toe-off. And if you want to keep running without pain, you need to address all three.

This article breaks down the real causes of heel pain in runners and gives you three exercises that address the actual root of the problem — not just the symptom. These aren't band-aid fixes. They're the same movements I program for runners at PT Liftology who want to stay on the road, not sidelined.

Why Runners Get Heel Pain (And Why Rest Doesn't Fix It)

Heel pain in runners typically presents as either plantar fasciitis (pain along the bottom of the heel and arch) or Achilles tendinopathy (pain at the back of the heel). Both are load-related injuries — meaning the tissue is being asked to do more than it's currently capable of handling.

Here's what most runners miss: your heel doesn't exist in isolation. Everything is connected — your core, your pelvis, your hip, and finally your foot. When any link in that chain isn't pulling its weight, your heel ends up absorbing stress it shouldn't.

The three most common breakdowns I see in runners with heel pain:

• Weak soleus — The soleus is a deep calf muscle that's critical for absorbing impact during foot strike and propelling you forward during toe-off. When it's weak or undertrained, the plantar fascia and Achilles tendon have to pick up the slack. Over time, that leads to overload and pain.
• Poor hip stability and power — Your glutes drive forward propulsion. If they're weak, you compensate by pushing harder off your calves and Achilles. That's a recipe for heel pain.
• Excessive pelvic rotation — Your pelvis should rotate slightly with each stride, but excessive or uncontrolled rotation creates a whip effect down the leg. That torque gets absorbed at the foot and heel, leading to plantar fascia stress and altered foot mechanics.

Rest might calm the acute inflammation, but it won't fix any of these underlying issues. That's why heel pain comes back the moment you ramp mileage back up.

The 3 Exercises Every Runner with Heel Pain Should Do

These three exercises target the exact deficits that drive heel pain in runners: soleus strength, hip power, and pelvic control. Do them 3–4 times per week as part of your strength routine — not as a warm-up, not as an afterthought. Treat them like the training they are.

1. Seated Heel Raises (Soleus Strengthening)

The soleus is the workhorse of running. It's active during every single step, absorbing force eccentrically when your foot hits the ground and producing force concentrically as you push off. When it's weak, the Achilles and plantar fascia get overloaded.

Why seated, not standing? The soleus works hardest when your knee is bent. Regular standing calf raises mainly target the larger outer calf muscle — not the soleus. If you have heel pain, you need to specifically target the soleus, which means doing your raises seated.

How to do it:

• Sit on a bench or box with your feet flat on the floor, knees bent to 90°
• Place a weight (dumbbell, kettlebell, or barbell) across your thighs, just above your knees
• Drive through the balls of your feet to lift your heels as high as possible
• Lower slowly under control (3-second eccentric)
• Perform 3 sets of 15–20 reps

Progression: Start with bodyweight only if you're in acute pain. Progress load weekly. Elite runners should be able to handle 50–60% of their bodyweight on the bar for 15+ reps.

2. Bulgarian Split Squat (Glute-Focused for Power)

Your glutes are responsible for hip extension — the movement that drives you forward with every stride. Weak glutes mean your calves and Achilles work overtime to generate propulsion. Over weeks and months, that leads to heel overload.

The Bulgarian split squat is one of the best exercises to build single-leg hip power without the loading demands of a back squat. It mimics the split stance of running and forces each leg to produce force independently.

How to do it (glute-focused):

• Stand in front of a bench or box, facing away. Place your back foot on the bench (top of foot or ball of foot — whichever feels more stable)
• Step your front foot forward far enough that when you lower down, your shin stays vertical
• Hold dumbbells at your sides or a kettlebell at your chest
• Lower under control until your back knee nearly touches the ground. Keep your torso upright — don't lean forward
• Drive through your front heel to stand. Focus on squeezing your glute at the top
• Perform 3 sets of 8–12 reps per leg

Key cue: The forward lean determines whether this is quad-dominant or glute-dominant. Keep your torso upright and drive through your heel. If you feel it more in your quads, your stance is too narrow or you're leaning forward too much.

Progression: Start with bodyweight or light load. Progress by adding weight, not reps. Runners should aim for 30–40% bodyweight per hand (60–80% total) for 8–10 reps with control.

3. Oblique Work to Limit Pelvic Rotation

Your obliques control rotation at the pelvis and ribcage. During running, some pelvic rotation is normal — but excessive or uncontrolled rotation creates a torsional load that travels down the leg and gets absorbed at the foot and heel.

Runners with heel pain often have weak obliques and compensatory overuse of their hip flexors. Training anti-rotation strength helps stabilize the pelvis and reduces the rotational stress on the lower leg.

Best exercises for runners:

Pallof Press (Anti-Rotation)

• Set a cable or resistance band at chest height
• Stand perpendicular to the anchor point, feet shoulder-width apart
• Hold the handle with both hands at your chest
• Press the handle straight out in front of you, resisting the pull to rotate toward the anchor
• Hold for 2 seconds, then return to chest. Do not let your torso rotate
• Perform 3 sets of 10–12 reps per side

Side Plank with Hip Dip

• Start in a side plank on your forearm, feet stacked or staggered
• Lower your hip toward the ground under control
• Drive through your obliques to lift your hip back to neutral (or slightly above)
• Perform 3 sets of 10–15 reps per side

Dead Bug with Band Resistance

• Lie on your back with a resistance band looped around your feet
• Hold the band taut with your hands at chest height
• Extend one leg while keeping the opposite knee bent. Do not let your lower back arch
• Alternate legs for 12–15 reps per side, 3 sets

How to Program These Exercises

These aren't warm-up drills. They're strength work. Treat them like you would any other lift in your training plan.

Frequency: 3–4 times per week. If you're running 5–6 days per week, do these on your easy run days or as part of a standalone strength session.

Order: Do them after your run, not before. Running on fatigued stabilizers is asking for injury. If you're doing a full strength session, program them like this:

1. Bulgarian split squat (3×8–12 per leg)
2. Seated heel raises (3×15–20)
3. Oblique work — Pallof press or side plank (3×10–12 per side)

Progression: Add load or reps weekly. If you can't add load, add a tempo (slower eccentric) or pause at the bottom. Adaptation comes from progressive overload, not just doing the same thing forever.

The Role of Load Management

Strength work alone won't fix heel pain if you're still running too much, too fast, too soon. Load management matters.

The research is clear: the biggest predictor of running injury is a rapid increase in weekly mileage or intensity. If you ramped from 20 miles per week to 40 in a month, your tissues didn't have time to adapt. That's why you're hurt.

The 10% rule (don't increase weekly mileage by more than 10%) is conservative but effective for injury-prone runners. If you're coming back from heel pain, start at 50–60% of your pre-injury mileage and build slowly.

Intensity matters more than volume. Two hard interval sessions in the same week can be just as risky as adding 10 miles. Monitor your weekly training stress, not just your mileage.

Summary: The Bottom Line

Heel pain in runners is rarely just a heel problem. It's a symptom of weak soleus capacity, poor hip power, and uncontrolled pelvic rotation. Rest might calm the pain temporarily, but it won't fix the root cause.

The three exercises in this article — seated heel raises, Bulgarian split squats, and oblique work — target the exact deficits that drive heel pain. Program them 3–4 times per week, progress the load, and manage your training volume intelligently.

If you do that, you won't just get rid of your heel pain. You'll come back a stronger, more resilient runner.