Two runners share the same VO₂max, yet one runs faster. You've trained consistently for months, yet your usual pace still feels hard. Running economy is key to understanding these differences. It affects how much oxygen and energy runners need at the same speed and how efficiently you can maintain your target pace. This guide explains what running economy is, how it's measured, and how to improve it, so you can choose the right training for your goals and fit it into the plan you already have.
At a Glance
- Running economy is the oxygen or energy it takes to run at a given speed. The lower the cost, the better your economy.
- VO₂max and running economy measure different parts of your fitness, and both shape your running performance.
- Lab gas analysis measures running economy directly. Sports watch data adds useful supporting context.
- Regular running, strength training, plyometrics, and faster running drills can all improve running economy.
- Build gradually, recover well, and track heart rate, pace, and perceived effort to follow your progress.
Table of Contents
What Is Running Economy?
Running economy (RE) is the energy it takes to hold a given submaximal speed. Submaximal means below all-out effort, at a pace where your body can settle into a relatively steady state. Researchers usually assess RE by measuring oxygen consumption or energy cost at a constant speed. Under the same conditions, the less energy a runner needs to hold that speed, the better their RE.
Running Economy vs. VO₂max vs. Lactate Threshold
To better understand the role of RE in endurance performance, it helps to compare it with other measures of a runner’s physiological capacity. Here, lactate threshold refers primarily to the second lactate threshold (LT2). Comparing RE with VO₂max and lactate threshold offers different perspectives on how these metrics relate to running performance:
- VO₂max represents the upper limit of the body’s ability to take in and use oxygen.
- LT2 helps indicate how much intensity a runner can sustain for an extended period.
- RE reflects the oxygen or energy cost of maintaining a given speed.
For example, two runners with similar VO₂max values may perform differently because of differences in RE. At the same pace, the runner with better RE uses less oxygen and can maintain the target pace at a lower physiological cost. The other runner needs more energy and may fatigue sooner over longer distances or in the later stages of a race. LT2 also affects performance: a higher speed at LT2 generally means a runner can sustain a faster pace for longer.
What Factors Affect Running Economy?
RE depends on factors you're born with and factors you can train. Genetics, body structure, and muscle fiber makeup are hard to change, while muscle strength and neuromuscular coordination respond well to targeted training.
Running form is another factor runners often focus on, but there is no single most economical running form for everyone. Metrics such as cadence, foot strike, vertical oscillation, and ground contact time need to be considered in the context of running speed and individual movement patterns. A higher cadence, lower vertical oscillation, or shorter ground contact time does not automatically mean better RE. Unless there is a clear issue with your form, you don’t need to change it just to hit a target metric or imitate a particular running style. If adjustments are needed, make them gradually and assess the results based on comfort and overall training performance, rather than appearance or a single metric alone.
How to Measure Running Economy?
The most common direct method is laboratory gas analysis. You run on a treadmill at a set submaximal speed while a mask and gas analyzer measure your oxygen consumption. Researchers watch for oxygen consumption per minute to level off, because once you reach a steady state, the reading reflects what that speed actually costs you. Testing at one speed or several shows how your economy changes across different paces.
Results are commonly reported as oxygen consumption per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min), oxygen cost per kilometer (mL/kg/km), or energy cost (kcal/kg/km or J/kg/m). For a fair comparison, keep the speed, units, equipment, and testing protocol consistent.
Sports devices can also provide supporting estimates. For example, the SuuntoPlus Running Economy sport app analyzes the relationship between heart rate and normalized graded pace (NGP) to assess running performance. This data gives helpful context, while direct oxygen consumption testing remains the reference measurement.
How to Improve Running Economy?
Improving RE starts with consistent aerobic training and can be supported by strength training, plyometrics, and faster running drills. Each provides a different training stimulus.
Build Consistency and Progress Gradually
Consistent running helps build an aerobic base and gradually increase mileage, creating a foundation for better RE. However, more mileage isn’t always better. It’s equally important to train consistently while managing your training load. Adjust your training gradually based on your current ability and how your body adapts.
If you already train consistently, you can gradually increase your mileage or adjust your workouts as recovery allows. If you’re training for a race, add some goal-pace running to become familiar with the rhythm required on race day. Adjust the frequency and intensity based on your training response.
Develop Muscular Strength and Power
Strength training and plyometrics can both help improve RE, but they work in different ways. Strength training helps your muscles produce more force to support your stride and maintain running form. Plyometrics develop explosive power, or the ability to produce and use force quickly, such as transitioning from landing into the next push-off. In simple terms, strength training focuses on how much force you can produce, while plyometrics focus on how quickly you can produce and use it.
- Strength training: Build your routine around exercises such as squats, Bulgarian split squats, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, and calf raises. If you’re new to strength training, learn proper techniques before gradually increasing resistance.
- Plyometrics: Common running-specific exercises include continuous two-legged hops, single-leg hops, and bounding. Focus on transitioning smoothly from landing to takeoff rather than simply jumping higher or doing more repetitions. Start with a small number of simple two-legged jumps, then increase the volume or difficulty as your technique improves.
Practice Faster Running With a Clear Purpose
Strides, short hill sprints, and short-distance repeats add speed, power, and neuromuscular coordination work to your easy runs. Practicing faster running can help you develop smoother movement and avoid unnecessary tension. This may allow you to generate the force needed to maintain a pace with less energy or oxygen, potentially improving RE.
- Strides: Gradually accelerate, stay relaxed and smooth, then slow down under control. Focus on coordination at faster speeds rather than sprinting all-out.
- Short hill sprints: Use an uphill slope to increase the force required with each stride. These brief efforts differ from longer hill intervals; the slope, duration, and effort level all affect the training load.
- Short-distance repeats: Run a set distance at a planned pace, then recover before repeating it, such as with 200 m repeats. You can set up work and recovery intervals in the Suunto app to follow a planned session. Focus on maintaining a consistent pace and good form across repetitions rather than speeding up each time or running to exhaustion.
How to Add Running Economy Training to Your Plan
When adding RE training to your plan, start by defining its purpose: building a consistent routine, preparing for a race, or adding additional exercises to your existing running schedule. Once your goal is clear, decide when to schedule the workout and whether it should be integrated into, replace, or supplement an existing run. Allow enough time to assess the results.
Start With Your Main Training Goal
- If you're building a running habit, focus on completing your weekly runs consistently before adding supplementary work.
- If you're preparing for a race, protect your key race-specific workouts, then decide where supplementary work fits or what it can replace.
- If your routine is already stable, focus on one area at a time, such as strength or power.
Adjust as You Go
After adding new exercises, check how well they fit your schedule and whether they affect the quality of your next runs. If they make key workouts hard to complete as planned, or fatigue and soreness keep carrying into your running, reduce the volume, lower the difficulty, or move them to a different day. As your body adapts, build the load back up gradually.
You don't need every exercise. Prioritize training you can sustain, that supports your current goal, and that leaves your key running sessions intact. Let your training performance in the weeks that follow guide any further changes.
Make Room in Your Existing Plan
Once you’ve chosen your focus, work it into your actual schedule rather than simply adding another workout at the end of your plan. Most supplementary exercises should build on a foundation of regular easy runs and consistent training. Add targeted speed, strength, or plyometric work when you’re completing your usual training reliably and recovering well.
- Strides: Incorporate them into an existing easy run rather than scheduling a separate workout.
- Short hill sprints or short-distance repeats: Replace part of a planned run or make them the main focus of a running session, depending on that day’s training goal.
- Strength or plyometric training: Allow enough time for recovery so that the added fatigue doesn’t repeatedly affect your other runs.
You can also use the Training Zone in the Suunto app to review your weekly training load, intensity distribution, and activity records. This can help you assess how supplementary exercises fit into your overall plan.
Track Your Progress Over Time
Improving RE takes consistent training. A systematic review found that strength training programs lasted 6–24 weeks. This range can help you plan a training block, but it doesn’t guarantee when you’ll see results. Outcomes also depend on your training background, the methods used, and the speed at which RE is tested.
You can also track heart rate, pace, and perceived effort to help monitor changes in running performance. For example, running faster at a similar heart rate, or finding a familiar pace easier to maintain, under similar route, weather, and intensity conditions may indicate improved performance. However, when interpreting changes in running heart rate, account for factors such as fatigue, temperature, terrain, and your day-to-day condition. These metrics alone cannot confirm that your RE has improved. Recording and comparing data under similar conditions over time gives you a better picture of longer-term trends.
Takeaways
RE helps explain how much energy it takes to maintain a given pace and how aerobic capacity translates into running performance.
Regular running, strength training, plyometrics, and faster running drills such as strides and short hill sprints provide different training stimuli that may improve RE. No single method works for every runner, and improvements take time. Choose exercises that fit your current goals, incorporate them into your existing plan, and track heart rate, pace, and perceived effort under similar conditions to assess changes in performance over time.
FAQs
What Is a Good Running Economy Value?
There's no single benchmark for every runner. When measured as oxygen consumption (mL/kg/min) or oxygen cost per kilometer (mL/kg/km), lower values generally mean better economy. Other metrics need to be read according to how they're defined. In every case, the less oxygen or energy you need to hold a given speed under the same testing conditions, the better your RE. Rather than comparing yourself with other runners, track changes in your own results under consistent conditions.
Can Running Economy Improve Without Increasing VO₂max?
Yes. VO₂max is the upper limit of your aerobic capacity, while RE is the energy cost of running at a given speed. The two can improve independently, so you can learn to hold the same pace on less oxygen even if your VO₂max stays the same.
How Does Better Running Economy Affect Race Times?
Better RE means you need less oxygen or energy to hold the same pace, so your target pace costs you less physiologically. That gives you a stronger foundation for race day, while your actual result also depends on endurance, pacing, fueling, and race conditions.
Can Running Shoes Improve Running Economy?
Some running shoes can improve RE by reducing the energy needed to hold a given pace, though the effect varies by runner, speed, and shoe model. Think of shoes as an immediate equipment boost, and consistent training as the source of lasting adaptation.
