The Best Balance Board Exercises for Runners

If you're like a lot of runners, you dread strength training. It can be boring, repetitive and involve way too many complicated machines. Yes, you'd far prefer to be plugging miles in the open air rather than gripping grimy dumbbells.

Enter the balance board, a simple and cheap tool that can take your training to the next—and far more interesting—level by introducing a stability component. Not only will training with a stability board make strength workouts easier, you'll also feel stronger and more stable while running.

We pulled eight runner-friendly exercises—and two stretches—from the book Stability Workouts on the Balance Board, by Dr. Karl Knopf, for you to try at home. All you need is a board and your own body weight (see, we told you it was easy).

Note: If you're new to balance boards, use a chair or wall with these moves for added support.