Running is a great way to build fitness, improve cardiovascular health, and stay active. But when hip pain starts interfering with your runs, it can be difficult to know what to do.
Maybe you've noticed an ache on the outside of your hip after a longer run, deep groin discomfort, or pain around the front of your hip that gradually worsens as you run.
It's easy to assume something is wrong with your running technique, your hips are too weak, or you need to stop running altogether.
Fortunately, hip pain doesn't always mean you have to give up running.
Understanding what's causing your symptoms and how to manage your training can help you keep working toward your running goals.
Quick Answer
Hip pain when running can develop for several reasons, including changes in training load, irritation of muscles or tendons around the hip, or sensitivity within the hip joint itself.
Where you feel the pain, when it starts, and how it responds to activity can help identify what might be contributing.
In many cases, adjusting your running volume or intensity and gradually strengthening the muscles around your hip can help you manage symptoms while rebuilding your running tolerance.
However, persistent, worsening, or significant hip pain deserves assessment, as some causes require a different approach.
Common Causes of Hip Pain When Running
1. You've Increased Your Running Load Too Quickly
One of the first things worth considering is whether your running routine has changed recently.
Have you:
Increased your weekly running distance?
Started running more frequently?
Added hill sessions or speed intervals?
Increased the length of your long runs?
Returned to running after some time off?
Your muscles, tendons, bones, and joints all need time to adapt to running's demands.
If the load you expose your body to increases faster than your current capacity, discomfort may develop.
This doesn't necessarily mean something is damaged. In some cases, it reflects a temporary mismatch between your running demands and what your body can currently tolerate.
However, certain running-related injuries, particularly bone stress injuries, also occur in response to repeated loading and require prompt recognition rather than simply pushing through.
The important thing is understanding how your symptoms behave and whether your current training is appropriate.
2. Gluteal Tendinopathy and Pain on the Outside of Your Hip
If you feel pain on the outside of your hip, especially near the bony prominence at the top of your thigh, the gluteal tendons may be involved.
These tendons connect your gluteal muscles to the upper part of your femur and help support and control your pelvis during activities such as walking and running.
When they become sensitive to loading, you might notice discomfort during:
Running, particularly longer distances.
Walking uphill or climbing stairs.
Standing on one leg.
Lying on the affected side.
Activities involving repeated single-leg loading.
This presentation is often associated with greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS), which commonly involves the gluteal tendons.
Management usually focuses on identifying aggravating activities, temporarily adjusting loading, and progressively strengthening the muscles and tendons around the hip.
Simply stretching the outside of your hip isn't always helpful and, in some cases, may aggravate symptoms.
3. Hip Flexor or Other Muscle-Related Pain
The muscles around your hip work repeatedly during running to move and stabilise your legs.
Depending on your training demands, muscles such as the hip flexors, adductors, and other surrounding structures may become painful or irritated.
For example, you may feel discomfort around the front of your hip during activities that involve repeated hip flexion.
Muscle-related pain can develop after you increase running intensity, add hill training, or change your usual routine.
However, pain at the front of the hip doesn't automatically mean your hip flexors are responsible.
Other conditions can cause similar symptoms, which is why assessment matters when discomfort persists.
4. Hip Joint-Related Pain
Some runners experience discomfort that originates from within the hip joint.
This may feel like groin or front-of-hip pain, sometimes with stiffness, catching, or discomfort during certain movements.
Conditions such as femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) or other joint-related problems can contribute to hip pain in some individuals.
However, don't jump to conclusions based on pain location alone.
Structural findings on scans don't always explain symptoms, and not every runner with groin pain has a hip joint issue.
A physiotherapy assessment can help determine which movements and activities reproduce your symptoms and whether further investigation is appropriate.
5. Bone Stress Injuries
Although you can manage many causes of running-related hip pain with modified activity and rehabilitation, some require more immediate attention.
Bone stress injuries can occur when repeated loading exceeds the bone's ability to adapt and recover.
In runners, these injuries can sometimes affect the femoral neck, near the hip joint.
Symptoms may include deep hip or groin pain that worsens with running, starts during walking, or continues at rest.
This is especially important if you've recently increased your running significantly or have other risk factors for reduced bone health.
If you suspect a bone stress injury, stop running and seek prompt medical assessment. Continuing to load the affected area may increase the risk of a more serious injury.
Should You Keep Running If Your Hip Hurts?
It depends on what's causing your symptoms.
For some types of hip pain, continuing to run with appropriate modifications may be reasonable.
For others, particularly suspected bone stress injuries or significant acute injuries, continuing to run could make the problem worse.
If your symptoms are mild, stable, and don't worsen during or after running, you may be able to manage some activity.
However, consider reducing or temporarily stopping running if:
Pain becomes progressively worse during a run.
You're significantly changing your running technique to avoid discomfort.
Symptoms remain noticeably aggravated the following day.
You're experiencing pain during walking or other everyday activities.
Pain is sharp, severe, or becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
These signs don't automatically identify a particular injury, but they do indicate that your current loading may be inappropriate.
The goal is to find the right balance between staying active and letting your symptoms improve.
How to Modify Running When You Have Hip Pain
If an assessment suggests it's appropriate to keep running, you may be able to reduce the demands on your hip in several ways.
Reduce Your Running Distance
If your symptoms consistently develop after a certain distance, shorter runs may be more manageable for now.
For example, if your hip becomes uncomfortable toward the end of a longer run, reducing your distance may let you keep running without repeatedly aggravating the area.
As your tolerance improves, you can gradually increase your running distance again.
Adjust Your Running Intensity
Faster running, intervals, and hill sessions can place different demands on the muscles and joints around your hip.
If these sessions are aggravating your symptoms, consider temporarily replacing them with easier runs on flatter terrain.
This doesn't mean you need to avoid hills or faster running forever.
It simply means reducing the demands that your hip isn't currently tolerating, then progressively reintroducing them as your capacity improves.
Reduce Your Weekly Running Volume
Sometimes the issue isn't a single run, but the total amount of running you're completing throughout the week.
If you've recently increased your number of sessions or total kilometres, reducing your weekly volume may help.
You might keep a couple of shorter runs while temporarily dropping an extra session.
The appropriate adjustment depends on your symptoms, current running capacity, and training goals.
Consider Alternative Exercise
If running consistently aggravates your hip, you may still maintain your fitness through other forms of exercise.
Depending on your presentation, options might include:
Cycling.
Swimming.
Pool-based exercise.
Walking, if comfortable.
Strength training with modified exercises.
The best alternative is one that doesn't repeatedly aggravate the irritated area and fits your suspected injury.
For some conditions, you may need to limit walking or cycling, so choose alternatives based on your individual presentation.
Can Strength Training Help Hip Pain When Running?
Strength training can help manage many running-related hip conditions.
Running involves repeated single-leg loading, requiring the muscles around your hips, pelvis, and lower limbs to produce and control force.
A structured strengthening program can help improve your physical capacity and prepare your body for these repeated demands.
However, the best exercises depend on what's contributing to your symptoms.
For some runners, rehabilitation may focus on gradually strengthening the gluteal muscles and improving tolerance to single-leg loading.
For others, the priority might be restoring strength after an injury, addressing specific movement limitations, or progressively preparing for higher running volumes.
Exercises might include:
Bridges.
Hip abduction exercises.
Split squats.
Step-ups.
Romanian deadlifts.
Single-leg strengthening exercises.
Not everyone with hip pain needs to do these exercises.
The appropriate selection, loading, and progression depend on your symptoms, current strength, and running goals.
At Next Level Physiotherapy and Strength Studio, our exercise-based rehabilitation focuses on progressively rebuilding the strength and physical capacity you need for the activities you want to return to.
For runners, this means preparing your body to tolerate the demands of running, not just doing exercises that feel comfortable in the early stages of rehabilitation.
Do You Need to Change Your Running Technique?
Not necessarily.
Runners often assume hip pain must be caused by poor running form.
You might have been told your stride is too long, your hips drop too much, or your feet land incorrectly.
However, no single running technique is universally correct for everyone.
Anatomy, strength, running experience, speed, and movement patterns vary, so runners naturally move differently.
In some cases, adjusting running mechanics may help manage symptoms or shift demands on certain structures.
But that doesn't mean every runner with hip pain needs to completely retrain how they run.
Often, a better starting point is addressing training load and rebuilding physical capacity.
If running technique contributes to your symptoms, any changes should match your individual presentation rather than a generic idea of perfect form.
How Long Does Running-Related Hip Pain Take to Improve?
Recovery depends on the cause of your symptoms, how long they've been present, and the demands you're trying to return to.
Some episodes of muscle-related discomfort may settle relatively quickly with appropriate training modifications.
Tendon-related pain may require longer, progressive rehabilitation as the affected tissues adapt to loading.
Joint-related conditions may have different recovery timelines, while bone stress injuries can require substantial periods away from running and medical management.
It's important not to judge recovery solely by whether pain has disappeared.
For someone returning to regular running, rehabilitation should also consider whether they've rebuilt enough strength, confidence, and tolerance to gradually increase their training.
Progress isn't always perfectly linear. Symptoms can fluctuate as you increase activity.
The aim is to make steady progress without repeatedly aggravating your hip.
When Should You See a Physiotherapist for Hip Pain When Running?
Consider booking a physiotherapy assessment if:
Hip pain keeps returning whenever you run.
Symptoms are limiting your running distance or intensity.
You've reduced your training but aren't improving.
You experience pain around your hip or groin during everyday activities.
You're unsure whether it's safe to continue running.
You want guidance on strength training and returning to your usual running routine.
Seek prompt medical assessment for progressively worsening deep hip or groin pain, pain with walking or at rest, or symptoms suggesting a bone stress injury. Avoid running until this has been appropriately assessed.
Severe pain following an injury, inability to bear weight, or a hot, swollen hip accompanied by fever requires urgent medical assessment.
A physiotherapist can assess your hip movement, strength, symptoms, running demands, and relevant injury history to help determine the most appropriate next steps.
The Bottom Line
Hip pain when running doesn't always mean you need to stop running altogether.
Changes in training load, muscle or tendon irritation, and hip joint-related conditions can all contribute to symptoms.
In many cases, adjusting your running volume or intensity while progressively rebuilding strength can help you return to running comfortably.
However, identifying the cause matters, particularly because some running-related hip injuries require reduced weight-bearing activity and medical assessment.
The goal isn't simply to get rid of pain temporarily.
It's to rebuild the capacity and confidence you need to return to running and keep progressing toward your goals.
Hip Pain Physiotherapy in Varsity Lakes
If hip pain is affecting your running, our physiotherapists can help you understand what's contributing to your symptoms and develop a rehabilitation plan tailored to your goals.
At Next Level Physiotherapy and Strength Studio in Varsity Lakes, we take a strength-based approach to injury rehabilitation, helping active people across the Gold Coast return to running, training, sport, and everyday activities.
Book a physiotherapy appointment to get started.