After a tough interval run, your body might feel completely cooked from head to toe—in the best possible way. As you crash onto the couch to recover, you might wonder: Is running a full body workout? If it’s so thoroughly exhausting, could it check off all of your fitness boxes? Before you ditch your other workouts, we asked the experts and dug into what the science says about what running can—and can’t—do for you. 

Is Running a Full Body Workout?

While some experts might tell you running is a full body workout, others may say no. That’s because it depends on exactly how they define “full body workout,” says Peloton instructor Matt Wilpers. “Exercise like running has been proven to impact every cell in our bodies,” he says. “Also, the whole body is moving when we are running.” However, he points out that the vast majority of the load and impact happen in the lower body. So while your upper body and core are definitely getting some activation, it’s not to the same extent as what’s going on further down the chain.

Still, that doesn’t mean your upper half is taking a rest day, adds Chris Heydrick, a physical therapist and running program specialist with Medstar Health. “There’s so much happening at the spine, the shoulders, and even down in the lower back when running,” he says. No, you aren’t engaging the upper body muscles quite as much as you would be if you were doing, say, dumbbell rows and biceps curls, but there’s still more going on than if you were simply standing or walking around, he explains. 

All the Muscles Worked By Running

Yes, running fires up muscles throughout your body. In fact, when researchers were looking for the biggest contributors to running during a 2010 study, they checked out 76 (!) different muscles in the lower body, torso, and arms. Of course, not all of these muscles are activated to the same extent, and variables like your step rate (aka cadence) or terrain can affect exactly how hard each group works. Still, here’s where you might feel it most.  

Lower Body

That 2010 study on the muscles you use most when running found that the quadriceps muscles on the front of your thigh put in the most work for braking and support when you land. Then, it’s the calves in the lower leg that are the primary movers when it comes to propulsion and support during take off. 

Yet, these aren’t the only muscles at work in your lower body. In the backside of your body, your hamstrings and glutes also pitch in to give you a powerful push-off (and, along with the calves and quads, they work overtime to do this when you’re running uphill, Heydrick adds). The hamstrings are also responsible for bending the knee to bring your foot back underneath you, while the gluteus maximus helps extend the leg behind you, and the gluteus minimus and medius work to keep your hips stable. Your hip flexors at the front of your hips also help power your knee drive forward with each step. And the tibialis anterior, in the front of your shin, engages to flex your foot as you bring it through. 

Upper Body

Many runners are surprised to learn just how much is going on up top during a run. “When we’re running, we’re in this controlled fall, so all the muscles in our back that are responsible for extending our spine are working pretty hard to resist that forward fall and forward flexion while we run,” Heydrick says. That includes upper-back muscles latissimus dorsi, trapezius, and rhomboids. 

Don’t forget that your shoulders are also moving with each step: “There’s a decent amount of activation at the rotator cuff when the arms are moving fast,” Heydrick says. Your deltoids (shoulders), biceps, and triceps might also feel the effects of your arm swing, which your body uses to counterbalance the momentum of your legs.  

Core

The core muscles in your torso and pelvis connect your upper body to your lower body, so they’re responsible for keeping everything in one stable piece as you take each stride forward. In particular, the deep core muscles—including the corset-like transverse abdominis that runs across your abdomen, quadratus lumborum in the lower back, and the erector spinae and multifidus along the spine—help to keep your spine stable while your legs circle beneath you. Although that might not sound like a major job, these muscles can legitimately impact your running performance: One small 2009 study found that six weeks of core training significantly improved 5K run times. 

Other Powerful Benefits of Running

There are good reasons why running is booming right now (and has long been loved by health fanatics). Aside from the obvious boost to your endurance, Heydrick points out that, really, running affects your entire body: “I think you could probably go down the list of almost every system and see benefit,” he says, listing the metabolic system, hormonal system, skeletal system, nervous system, and, of course, the cardiorespiratory system as some of the biggest beneficiaries. The result is a lower risk of issues like heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure—one study even suggested that runners live about three years longer thanks to all these helpful health effects. 

Matt says he’s seen this in action on a personal level. “For example, if I’m not running, my resting heart rate starts to creep up,” he says. “Also, I have genetically high cholesterol levels, and running (along with diet) helps me bring the levels down.”

Beyond the physical perks, running also offers serious mental health benefits, including that undeniable mood boost—yes, the “runner’s high” is real. “Running feels more like a meditation to me these days than anything,” Matt says. “I come back feeling energized and refreshed. This helps me manage stress and perform better professionally and personally.”

What’s more, running is also a super flexible form of exercise, which makes it easy to fit into your life: You can run where you want, when you want, as hard or as easy as you want, for as long as you want, alone or with friends. “I love going for runs with friends,” Matt says. “It’s a great way to catch up while doing something great for your body.” 

Can Running Be Your Only Exercise?

Despite its many advantages, running doesn’t give you everything you need from a well-rounded fitness routine. “Running is a repetitive movement pattern with limits on how much load can be placed on muscles—and that load is largely imbalanced,” Matt says. Meaning, if you only ever run, areas like your arms and shoulders won’t get a ton of stimulation while your ankles and hips might be put under more stress than they can handle. 

This is why run coaches emphasize cross training. “Other forms of exercise with a different movement pattern can help balance things out,” Matt says. In particular, he suggests picking up some weights. “Strength training can make your entire body more durable (think: improved bone density and strength of muscles around joints) with more efficient movement (better neuromuscular coordination),” he says. This can help your body avoid injury, even as you increase your mileage. “The more we’re able to train side-to-side and into rotational planes, the smarter our body becomes, and the more we’re able to keep our [frame] stable while we do propel ourselves forward,” Heydrick adds. 

Also, because running only moves your body in a pretty limited range of motion, it doesn’t build the mobility you need to continue feeling good and moving optimally, Heydrick adds. “Evolutionarily, our bodies expect us to move through bigger ranges of motion just because that’s what we’ve done historically,” he says. 

Matt admits he feels this firsthand: “Personally, I find that strength training and stretching help keep pain and stiffness away from my body,” he says. 

Heydrick also points out that running doesn’t give us all the functional fitness we need to tackle day-to-day activities. “A lot of this comes down to the five fundamental life movements—pushes, pulls, hinges, squats, and carries,” he says. When you strengthen those practical movement patterns, you’re better able to tackle everyday tasks like hauling groceries, cleaning, and simply moving about your life with ease as you age. But you can only do that through strength-based exercises, not running. 

Lastly, don’t overlook the mental challenge. “It can be boring to do only one form of exercise,” Matt says. “Our minds and bodies crave variety.”

How to Make Running a Part of Your Complete Workout Routine

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend all healthy adults do at least two strength sessions per week, plus 150 minutes of cardio at a moderate intensity or 75 minutes at a vigorous intensity—and running counts as the latter, Matt says. “However, it’s important to remember that these are just minimums to stay healthy and that there is no upper limit to the benefit of more cardio exercise,” he says. 

So if your body can handle more than 75 minutes of running weekly (and it fits in with your schedule and aligns with your goals), go for it. Just don’t forget that guidance around two weekly strength sessions as well. 

Also, make time for stretching and mobility training. “Prior to your workouts, you need to be dynamically stretching in order to restore mobility and wake up the muscles,” Matt says. “After workouts and on active recovery days, you need to be static stretching.”

Just remember that there’s no one best workout schedule for everyone; even your own ideal routine might change over time. For example, Matt suggests letting things fluctuate throughout the year. “I encourage people to have seasons of higher cardio load and then seasons of lower cardio load,” he says. But when your cardio goes down, use that as an opportunity to increase how much time you spend on strength work, he adds.

Rather than go gangbusters on running, a smarter approach is simply to incorporate a doable amount of it alongside other movements that help balance out your body. Adding even five minutes of running to your routine consistently can have major perks, Heydrick says: “Finding a comfortable level that feels sustainable is the most important part.”