 Alright guys, let's talk about running economy. What is it? How do you improve it? Why is it important? Let's get into it. So I'm sure most of you have heard the term running economy But maybe not know exactly what it means. So let's define running economy Essentially running economy refers to how much oxygen you use to run at a specific pace Okay, so essentially it's exactly the same as we would you know talk about the economy of a car How many miles does it get to the gallon? It's what they say in the United States here in Europe We might talk about it as how many kilometers To the leader so essentially how much fuel? Does the car use to travel a certain distance and it's exactly the same with humans How much fuel do we use to go a certain distance? We could express this as oxygen consumption total oxygen consumption for one kilometer of running or We could talk about it as a how much oxygen is consumed per minute At a certain pace so why oxygen you may ask why is that important? How much oxygen we use? Well, we use oxygen as a measure of work intensity. So we have a certain maximum amount of Oxygen that we're able to use to produce mechanical work in the muscle. So this is usually referred to as a VO to max It's the maximum amount of oxygen that we're able to use Per minute per kilo body weight measured in milliliters So VO to max or V dot O to max usually then refers to How many milliliters of oxygen can you can you use per kilo body weight per minute? So it's maybe for a very high-level asset might be like 80 milliliters or something Whereas for a normal person like for me, maybe it's around 55 or something like that right and we're working to improve improve that capacity But that's the capacity running economy on the other hand is essentially then how much do you spend? running at a given pace so as Example you might have two runners one of which has a VO to max of say 80. The other one has a VO to max of say 70 but despite their difference in maximal capacity for oxygen consumption They're able to actually run Pretty much the same times at different race distances. How is this possible? Why isn't the person with the higher VO to max faster than the person with the lower VO to max? Well in this case if this is a case if they both have a similar say marathon time Then the reason is because the person with the lower VO to max is more Economical than the person at higher VO to max. Okay, so essentially the person with the lower VO to max is able to Use that oxygen that they have available to them More efficiently than the person with the higher VO to max. Okay, which is not always the case It tends to be a trend that the higher the VO to max the lower the economy actually, but this is not necessarily Connected so you can have a fairly high VO to max and also be very economical or you can have a low VO to max and be Very uneconomical either one but of course ideally you want as high as possible of a VO to max your capacity for oxygen consumption and As high as possible running economy Which is essentially how much oxygen do you use to run a kilometer? For example or a certain pace the way it's measured is just in a lab You would run, you know at different paces say you have like you run a certain pace and then after five minutes You increase the pace and I've increased increase increase And you go all the way up to your max capacity or via to max and you'll get the you get curve And as you increase the pace you consume more oxygen But at any given pace different runners might consume more or less oxygen which reflects their running economy now How do you improve it? Well, I like to sort of think of things as Extremes in order to understand them properly. So if you imagine that I'm out running, right and while I'm running I'm doing this and I'm lifting my legs really high and I'm just like running with really weird form just Jumping around while I'm running Do you think that's gonna make me? Breathe harder, is that gonna make me use more oxygen? Is that gonna be harder for me at any given speed than if I was running normally? Of course it would I would waste energy with doing this with my arms. So My economy would in this case go down because I'm wasting so much energy during these other things I'm going the same speed as someone next to me, but he is running much more Economical because he's not wasting that energy. Well, it's kind of the same thing if you're running with good form If you're running mechanically efficient not wasting any energy all the movements that you're doing are Moving you forward rather than up and down vertical oscillation. Is that what it's known as or? making you know movement that are that is unnecessary sometimes I see people that are lifting their legs very much or that You know, they're overstriding or they're just doing weird sort of movements And it sort of looks like you know, they're probably wasting energy although There's not always a visual connection Sometimes people look like they're not really economical, but they actually are and vice versa So how to improve it? Well, you have to improve your running mechanics, essentially So the best way typically to improve your running economy is actually to do speed training and when I say speed training I mean Faster than your video to max pace. I mean, it's essentially almost a sprint It's not an all-out sprint, but almost a sprint maybe like your 1500 meter pace mile race pace This kind of pace maybe even as fast as 800 meter pace This kind of pace is when you're really running fast You are teaching your body to run efficiently because when you're at a really high speed and it's More it's it's easier to run with good form or it's more important to run with good form So you're sort of forcing yourself into a situation with good form And you're also having to you know really explode and produce a lot of force in each step So it's essentially like economy training you're training your running economy by doing this now In between these reps, which just maybe last 20 seconds 30 seconds Maybe as much as a minute in between those intervals you would do You know a long break like a two three minute break to really recover because you don't want to run with poor form The whole purpose is to run with good form. So you've got to be fully recovered The it's not a cardiovascular stimulus as such So that's one way to improve your running economy doing these fast reps another way to do it It's just to run a lot Actually, you should do all of these strategies at the same time really running a lot high mileage getting in that volume Just lots of easy running It helps you learn to run essentially the more you do something the better you get at it So the more you're out there running the better you will get at moving Efficiently and not wasting energy and you're running honey will go up and it's usually quite Paced specific and terrain specific So someone really efficient or economical rather on the roads might not be as good when they're on the trails because they're not used To that movement pattern, so you'll have to train specific You know you can get really economical on the hills if you do a lot of hills But if you're not doing any flat running only hill running and you're suddenly doing a flat marathon Chances are you're not going to be that economical on the flats You've got to train specific and over time over the years you will continue to improve your own economy In fact running economy is one of those factors that we are most able to affect over very long periods of time People continue to improve in running economy for years and even decades. I've heard So it's certainly something to focus on rather than via to max which is a little bit more difficult to improve certainly possible But it takes it's not as easy and there seem to be like a genetic Ceiling so to speak of running a video to max But you're running economy can can can continue to improve So even if you do have a fairly low video to max if you get more economical You're able to essentially use that oxygen better It's almost like the video to max gives you an allowance of oxygen You have this much oxygen and you can use it for whatever you want, right? And if you waste any of that oxygen by doing this when you're out running You're gonna not be able to run as fast But if you save that energy and put it into moving forward instead by having an efficient stride You will run faster for that same amount of oxygen compared to someone who is wasteful The last way to improve your running economy. That's well known and well researched is heavy resistance training and or plyometrics So plyometrics is when you're like jumping like jump rope or box jumping that sort of thing And heavy weight lifting is is when you're lifting weights like a deadlift or squat Maybe and we're talking like three to five reps that that low rep high intensity sort of range And the reason is because it stiffens up your tendons and your muscles and a stiff tendon is More economical than a less stiff tendon So if you want to check out my video on that I'll put a link to it here where I talk about those those flexibility things So there you have it running economy your oxygen consumption per kilometer or per mile Or perhaps your oxygen consumption at a given pace or speed as you train more and cover more miles You get better at running and moving more efficiently, which makes you more economical If you throw in some high speed high rep training there like 200 meter reps for a minute reps at 1500 to 800 meter Race pace that's a good stimulus for improving your running economy as well And of course that resistance training in the gym perhaps some plyometrics Those are also great to add in there So that's it guys quick little primer on running economy there leave any comments or questions down in the comments section And let me know how your training is going Are you incorporating any of these strategies that I mentioned the repetition training the high mileage Maybe going to the gym. How's it working out for you? No pun intended. Hope you're having a great day Please subscribe to this channel if you haven't done so already check out some of my other videos on similar topics And have an awesome day. See you around