In the second part of the Runner's Body review, there was so much information that I had to keep it short. If I had to summarize it all it would have been longer than the book and definitely not as eloquent so I kept my review succinct. The section brought up many interesting points, however, and one in particular I wanted to explore a little bit more.
VO2 Max vs. Running Economy
What matters more? The amount of oxygen your body can use when you are running your fastest OR how efficiently your body uses the oxygen you have at submaximal speed.
The Claim: Running economy is more important that a high VO2 Max in races over 5K.
Maximal Oxygen Consumption aka VO2 Max
The maximum volume of oxygen that your muscles can use when you are running at the fastest speed you can sustain for a period of time.
~Measures of cardiorespiratory capacity and has once been assumed to be a limiting factor in exercise performance.~We do have the ability to increase our VO2 max...but only so much, and this number is different for everyone.
~Is only relevant at your fastest speed. Any race longer than a 5K does not rely on VO2 max, but instead, running economy.
Therefore: Elite runners don't run fast because they have the ability to consume a lot of oxygen, rather, fast runners consume a lot of oxygen because they run so fast. Therefore, it is not our maximal oxygen consumption that we should aim to improve, but rather we should train to activate more muscle tissue so we can run faster.
Does that make sense? This is good news because we can only improve our VO2 max so much. Instead, we can focus on improving the things we can change, since we cannot all be as fast as the Kenyans :)
Improving Running Economy
Running Economy: How efficiently your body uses oxygen when you are running at submaximal speeds.
Running Economy: How efficiently your body uses oxygen when you are running at submaximal speeds.
~We can improve running economy through training.
~The best way to improve is to run. Run slowly and run a lot because you can spend more time running slowly than you can running fast.
~Speed work is also important. While running slowly improves efficiency of movement, speed work helps us to run faster.
~The more economical you become at faster speeds, your economy will improve at slower speeds.
~Strength and plyometrics has also been shown to improve running economy.
~Biomechanical Factors: Body size/shape, shoes, stride length, kinematics. These factors also have some impact on running economy.
~Flexibility: Being to0 flexible can have a negative impact on performance because the body needs to work harder to stabilize; however, a normal range of motion is necessary to run efficiently. Anything extra than a normal range of motion is a waste.
So what do you think? I hear a lot about VO2 max these days. My gym especially, pushes its members to buy heart rate monitors and sign up for various fitness tests that measure things such as VO2 max.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you think running talent is something you are born with or have the ability to change? Can we train to be elite runners?
4 comments:
I think it's a little of both. I definitely think we can make huge improvements with the right training. However, I also think some are born with more ability than others; give Deena Kastor and me the same workout routine and I can tell you who will come out faster, by a LOT!
I bought the book after reading your reviews, so thanks. Haven't much read it yet, but truth to power..or something like that.
This was really interesting, thanks so much for sharing!!
I think it's a little of both; we can train to be good and fast runners, my speed has gone from an average of 11:00/miles to 9:30/miles over the last 1.5 years of running BUT I think a lot of it is genes too. We can only improve so much!
I believe that running talent involves a lot of genetics. I don't think that I would ever have the ability to become an elite runner no matter how hard I train. Some people are more prone to injuries and don't have the build to become great. You can train and become a better version of yourself, but most people can't get to that elite status no matter what they do.
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