Strategies to Improve Running Economy

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to strategies for improving running economy, based on lecture notes detailing physiological and biomechanical factors, various training methods, environmental adaptations, and nutritional interventions.

Running Economy (RE)

The energy demand for a given velocity of submaximal running, expressed as the submaximal oxygen uptake (VO2) at a given running velocity.

Endurance Training

A training modality that traditionally improves running economy by eliciting a wide range of physiological responses, influencing metabolic, cardiorespiratory, biomechanical, or neuromuscular systems.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIT)

A frequently prescribed training form (uphill and level-ground) that involves short bursts of intense exercise separated by recovery periods, and may elicit enhancements in running economy.

Resistance Training (RE)

A training modality designed to increase muscular strength, power, or endurance, which has been shown to enhance running economy, hypothesized to be due to improved neuromuscular characteristics.

Plyometric Training

A specific form of strength training that aims to enhance muscles' ability to generate power by exaggerating the stretch-shortening cycle, using explosive exercises like jumping, hopping, and bounding, which can improve running economy.

Neuromuscular Characteristics

Enhanced qualities (e.g., motor unit recruitment, synchronization, leg stiffness) hypothesized to explain improvements in running economy from resistance and plyometric training.

Altitude Acclimatization

Central and peripheral adaptations resulting from exposure to altitude that improve oxygen delivery and utilization, which can potentially improve running economy.

Stretching (RE)

A training modality primarily for injury prevention; an optimal degree of flexibility and stiffness is suggested to be required to maximize running economy, with conflicting results regarding its direct impact on RE.

Dietary Nitrates

Nutritional compounds, found in green leafy vegetables, that reduce oxygen demand during exercise by increasing circulating nitric oxide, thereby enhancing metabolic efficiency and potentially running economy.

Maximal Oxygen Uptake (VO2max)

A key physiological attribute contributing to successful distance running, reflecting the maximum rate of oxygen consumption during strenuous exercise.

Trained Runners

Individuals who often exhibit superior running economy compared to lesser-trained or untrained runners, indicating positive adaptations to habitual training.

Mitochondrial Morphology and Functionality

Increases in these cellular components within skeletal muscle occur due to endurance training, leading to less oxygen use during submaximal running.

Skeletal Muscle Buffer Capacity

An adaptation observed after various training modalities, leading to improved oxygen delivery and utilization that can enhance an athlete's running economy.

Hematological Changes

Increased red cell mass post-training, improving oxygen delivery and utilization, thus enhancing running economy.

Cumulative Distance Run

A factor suggested to be more important for improving running economy over years of training than short-term bouts of high training volume.

vVO2max

The velocity at which maximal oxygen uptake is achieved, used to prescribe high-intensity interval training.

vOBLA

The velocity at the onset of blood lactate accumulation, at which continuous running has been shown to improve running economy.

Uphill Interval Training

A movement-specific form of high-intensity interval training prescribed for distance runners, believed to directly affect metabolic, biomechanical, and neuromuscular systems to improve running economy.

Heavy Resistance Training

A type of resistance training utilizing loads less than 6 repetition maximum (1–6 RM), primarily aimed at increasing muscular strength.

Strength-Endurance Resistance Training

A type of resistance training utilizing loads greater than or equal to 6 repetition maximum (C6 RM), focused on improving muscular endurance.

Leg Stiffness

An improved quality in lower limbs resulting from resistance training, allowing a faster transition from the braking to the propulsive phase through elastic recoil and contributing to better running economy.

Neural Adaptations (Resistance Training)

Changes in the nervous system induced by resistance training that allow an athlete to increase the activation of working muscles, thereby producing greater force without necessarily increasing muscle size.

Allometric Scaling Body Mass

A method (e.g., ml kg-0.67 min-1) used to normalize physiological parameters like running economy when comparing individuals with varying body mass.

Hemoglobin Mass and Concentration

Blood parameters whose changes following hypoxic exposure are related to improvements in running economy, due to their influence on oxygen carrying capacity.

Cardiorespiratory Costs (Altitude)

Decreases in minute ventilation (VE) and heart rate (HR) observed after hypoxic exposure, contributing to improved running economy by reducing the energy demand of oxygen transport.

Muscle Contractile Efficiency (Nitrate)

Improvements in how muscles contract (e.g., via sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium handling or actin-myosin interaction) due to dietary nitrate supplementation, leading to reduced oxygen demand.

Mitochondrial Efficiency (Nitrate)

Enhanced oxidative phosphorylation within mitochondria due to dietary nitrate supplementation, resulting in lower oxygen consumption for the same rate of ATP resynthesis.

Caffeine Ingestion (RE)

Ingestion of caffeine (e.g., 7 mg kg-1 body weight) prior to submaximal running, which may provide a modest ergogenic effect via improved respiratory efficiency and psychological lift.

How can one improve running speed?

To improve running speed, focus on enhancing running economy through various training modalities such as endurance training, high-intensity interval training (HIT), resistance training, plyometric training, and altitude acclimatization. Additionally, consider dietary nitrates and caffeine ingestion for modest ergogenic effects.