The importance of good running economy

To have the capacity to run fast you need to have what is known as a very good running economy. This can be thought as being as just how much energy is necessary to run at a selected velocity when running. Any energy which is sacrificed on pointless actions or movements is really a poor running economy. Some of these could be such things as a clumsy or unnecessary arm swing or a poor running technique. If those problems with the way a runner runs might be improved upon, then more energy will be available for running faster and more economically. This is such an important subject for anyone serious about the topic of running science that an episode of the live, PodChatLive was devoted to the main topic of running economy. PodChatLive is a weekly training chat for podiatrists that goes live on Facebook and is also later uploaded to YouTube along with the audio version is made accessible as a podcast. PodChatLive is hosted by Ian Griffths from Cngland and Craig Payne from Melbourne, Australia.

In the livestream on running economy they had on as a guest go over running economy, Dr Izzy Moore out of the Cardiff Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. In the show they talked about the way the body self-optimises on its own for running. The problems of whether we need to alter the way we run for performance gains and when these modifications are worth it. There was also the problem of the negative effects on overall performance may well be if we are modifying running technique in the context of injury. Additionally, they brought up running footwear and the influence that they may have on running economy. Even the dilemma of the barefoot running fad was discussed. Izzy Moore is a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Medicine, focusing in lower limb biomechanics at Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales, UK. Her research interests are in how and why we move the way we do. Her main research currently concentrates on running gait retraining for performance and injury reduction. Izzy is also guiding various corporations on injury prevention and management methods.