Performance is strongly correlated with three physiological factors: maximal aerobic capacity, or VO2 max; lactate threshold; and running economy or efficiency.
The third variable, much like the fuel economy of a car, allows us to use less energy to run the same pace—a critical factor at longer distances. But runners tend to overlook its importance and neglect the kind of training that can sustain it.
New research, however, suggests that masters runners would do well to pay more attention, because efficiency is one area that doesn't have to change significantly for older runners.
In 2011, researchers at the University of New Hampshire hypothesized that economy would decline with age. In the study, three groups of highly trained runners of varying ages were asked to run at selected speeds while being analyzed for overall running economy, lactate threshold levels and muscle strength. While they showed differences in other determinants of performance, no differences in running economy were found among the age groups. In other words, competitive older runners had preserved their efficiency. The surprise results were presented in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
"The finding reinforces that working to stay elite means that you have to work on your economy of movement," says Timothy Quinn, the author of the research.
Get Strong
Competitive runners have almost universally used high volume to develop and maintain running economy—and that method works, especially for those at the highest levels.
"I have always believed that running massive amounts of miles was the key to increasing running economy," says Deena Kastor, Olympic bronze medalist and half marathon masters world-record holder.
But not everybody has the time or the durability of an Olympian to put in high volume—nor should they.
A 2013 study by Italian researchers, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, investigated the effects of two strength-training protocols on running economy. The 16 masters marathon runners were randomly assigned to a maximal strength-training program, a regimen of moderate resistance training or a control group. The runners continued to follow an endurance-running schedule consisting of four or five days of training per week.
After six weeks, the maximal strength-training group showed a 6 percent improvement in running economy at marathon pace, translating into 6 percent less energy used while running the same pace. The moderate resistance group that used the same exercises but with lighter resistance showed no such gain.
The study revealed that increased muscular strength and neurological coordination lessen the amount of muscle force needed for each stride, reducing the overall workload required to sustain marathon pace. It also showed that simultaneous strength and endurance training don't negatively affect VO2 max or cause weight gain.
Heavy Lifting
Despite the continued evidence that strength training enhances running performance, some runners are still reluctant to hit the gym. It maybe motivating to remember, however, that the increased rate of injury for the 40-plus crowd is largely due to loss of strength.
"To improve performance, runners are realizing that they need to be athletes, and weight training is one such avenue for improvements in running economy," says Greg McMillan, a coach and the author of You (Only Faster]. "But it has to be done right, especially for those who haven't done a lot of weight training."
***
Health - Injuries
To develop running efficiency, McMillan recommends the following training methods:
Mileage
Runners can't improve their strides without actually running. Practice makes perfect. The repetition of training reinforces the neurological connection to muscles.
Pacing
Economy needs to be specific to race pace, so practicing that speed over a training cycle leads to using less energy to maintain it.
Hills
Six weeks of hill intervals improves 5K performance, studies say. "I let running on the hills in and around Mammoth be the resistance training that develops economy," Kastor says.
Strength
Do three sets of three to four reps of lunges and squats using a weight that is 85 to 90 percent of the max you can lift. If you are new to strength training, use body-weight resistance before adding weights.
A sports medicine professional, Ian McMahan focuses on science and endurance performance topics. He lives in Northern California and has raced every type of bicycle, using that as his reason to own as many bikes as possible.
