I want to talk about a topic that’s central to reaching your potential as an endurance athlete yet often gets overlooked in favour of more common metrics like weekly km or heart rate zones: Running Economy and Efficiency.

What if you could run faster without increasing your heart rate? Or hold your marathon pace for longer with what feels like the same amount of effort? That’s not magic; it’s the result of improved running economy.

Since you all appreciate the science behind performance, and I know you value open-access information, I’ve gathered some insights from recent sports science research to share with you.

What Are Running Economy & Efficiency?

Think of running economy like the fuel efficiency of a car. A more economical car uses less fuel to travel the same distance at the same speed. Similarly, a runner with good economy uses less oxygen (and therefore less precious energy) to maintain a given pace. It’s about optimizing how your body uses the fuel available to it.

While your VO2max max represents the size of your “engine,” your running economy determines how efficiently that engine works. Among elite athletes with similar VO2max max values, running economy is often the key factor that separates the good from the great, especially as the race gets longer.

Why It’s a Game-Changer for You

Improving your running economy means:

• More Speed at the Same Effort: You can run faster without feeling like you’re working harder because each stride costs you less energy. This is the key to setting new PRs at every distance.
• Enhanced Endurance: By conserving precious energy throughout a race, you have more in the tank for the final miles. This means you can fight off late-race fatigue and finish with a powerful kick instead of just hanging on.
• Reduced Injury Risk: Efficient movement patterns are smooth and controlled. This often means less jarring impact, less braking force with each foot-strike, and less cumulative stress on your joints, muscles, and connective tissues.

Three Science-Backed Ways to Boost Your Running Economy

Improving efficiency doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your running form. Small, consistent inputs in these three areas can lead to significant long-term gains.

1. Get Stronger to Run Lighter

Recent meta-analyses continue to confirm that strength training is one of the most effective ways to improve running economy.

• Why it works: A stronger neuromuscular system recruits muscle fibers more effectively and increases the stiffness of your tendons. Stiffer tendons act like tighter springs, storing and returning more energy from the ground with every step. This “free” energy means your muscles don’t have to work as hard to propel you forward.

• What to do:
  • Heavy Lifting (2x a week): Incorporate 2-3 sets of 5-8 reps of compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and calf raises. The focus is on building force and resilience, not bulk.
  • Plyometrics (1-2x a week): Add explosive movements like box jumps, bounding, and squat jumps. These directly train your body’s ability to produce force quickly, which is crucial for reducing ground contact time and improving your stride’s “pop.”
  • Remember: Always start with bodyweight to master the form before adding significant load.

2. Refine Your Rhythm and Form

You don’t need to force a “perfect” stride but focusing on a few key biomechanical elements can make a real difference.

• Why it works: Reducing unnecessary movement (like excessive bouncing, or “vertical oscillation”) and improving your stride mechanics directs more of your energy into forward motion.
• What to do:
  • Increase Your Cadence: Most runners can benefit from a slightly quicker, lighter step. Aim for a 5% increase from your natural cadence to start. This simple change encourages your foot to land closer to your centre of mass, reducing the braking “thud” that can happen with overstriding. Use a metronome app on a short run to get a feel for it.
  • Run Tall and Lean: Think about running with a proud chest as if a string is gently pulling you up from the crown of your head. Lean slightly from your ankles, not your waist. This posture helps engage your glutes and core, providing a stable platform for powerful and efficient movement.
  • Minimize Bounce: Focus on “skimming” over the ground rather than pushing high up into the air with each step. The goal is horizontal travel, so try to convert as much energy as possible into moving forward.

3. Practice with Drills

Running drills exaggerate components of the running stride, helping to hardwire more efficient movement patterns.

• Why it works: Drills improve coordination, strengthen highly specific running muscles, and enhance your proprioception, or your “feel” for proper form, making it more automatic on the run.
• What to do:
  • Incorporate 2-3 of the following drills into your warm-up routine, performing each for about 20-30 meters.
    • A-Skips: A classic drill focusing on a quick, high-knee drive and landing with your foot beneath your center of gravity. Focus on a crisp, “springy” feeling.
    • Butt Kicks: Encourages a quicker hamstring contraction and a faster leg cycle. Keep your posture tall and avoid leaning forward.
    • Straight-Leg Runs: Reinforces the “pawing” motion of the foot, actively pulling your body forward over the ground. This drill is great for your hamstrings and glutes.

This Week’s Challenge

Pick one thing from this email to focus on this week.

• Maybe it’s adding one 15-minute strength session focusing on bodyweight squats and lunges.
• Or perhaps you can dedicate the first 5 minutes of your next two easy runs to thinking about a quicker, lighter cadence.

The goal is not to change everything at once, but to make small, sustainable improvements that will compound over time. Let me know how it goes!