Too much cardio... (Read 3039 times)

Man, that's kind of a freaky interview, considering the questions posed. Anyway. There has to be something to poke fun at. And here it is.

What I am seeing is franticness about having to get a body.

Version #1 (the sex version): Because it beats doing it by myself. Version #2 (the literary version): We can all blame Dr Frankenstein.

Do your heart and lungs, or your metabolism know if you are running slowly or walking? Your muscles and your skeleton, and nerves do, but your blood is pumping the same.

My understanding is that there is no difference in the stress on the cardiopulmonary system between running and walking at the same RQ. But I'm just some guy on the internet.

But we're not talking about their VO2Max, we're talking about their running economy. Their VO2max was much closer. You're absolutely right that there's a poor correlation between VO2max and race times though, and that's precisely because of the existence of running economy. Benoit had a VO2max that was comparable to most elite men (common theory is that women are slower runners because of their lower VO2max), but she never ran nearly as fast as VO2max would have led you to believe. Guess what? Her running economy sucked compared to her peers.

I guess I'm not clear, then, on the meaning of "running economy." It sort of seems like a catch all term to describe all the things the ex-phys guys can't quite explain. In other words...fitness.

I guess I'm not clear, then, on the meaning of "running economy." It sort of seems like a catch all term to describe all the things the ex-phys guys can't quite explain. In other words...fitness.

There's a scientific dorky definition of running economy. I'm not gonna bother looking it up. But I generically think of it as efficiency. Frank Shorter beat a lot of people with higher VO2max than him (he's known for having a low VO2max for an elite) because of his superior running economy. In other words, despite the competition having much bigger engines (VO2max), Shorter won out because he got better miles per gallon. What's in mean in real terms? Efficient bio mechanics, no wasted motion. Fast turnover. MTA: Alright, I did look it up. From the Science of Sport:

Running economy is a measure of how much (or little, as the case may be) oxygen the runner uses for a given, sub-maximal speed. In theory, two runners can have the same maximal capacity for oxygen use (called VO2max), and then the one who is more economical at the sub-maximal speeds is likely to be the better runner...

Anyway what the hell is cardio again?

It's what meatheads in the gym call running.

I guess I'm not clear, then, on the meaning of "running economy." It sort of seems like a catch all term to describe all the things the ex-phys guys can't quite explain. In ther words...fitness.

Rate of oxygen consumption at a submaximal running speed.

That is the definition of running economy. To take the ex-phys out of it, running economy is "a metric of how efficient of a runner you are." You do strides to improve running economy. But you are right -- it is somewhat of a catch-all. Economy is different from VO2Max and LT in that it is dependent on both internal and external factors. For example, different shoes could effect your running economy. So could being preoccupied with the chick from the bar last night. But it primarily comes from stride efficiency. Here's an easy way to explain running economy: Lets say for example you had a well-trained runner, and a second imaginary person who had the same body composition, VO2Max, and lactate threshold of the runner. However, he had never run in his life. As such, his stride is not perfect. He doesn't have years of mileage to enforce those nerves to fire in the most efficient manner. He doesn't have ideal proprioceptive sense. Now Person A (the elite runner) has the same ex-phys lab results (VO2Max, LT, whatever) as Person B (non-runner). Let's race them. Is it fairly easy to guess that Person A will come out on top by a large margin? Why?

In other words this thread is destabilizing your relation to food and to running.

For me, running tends to destabilize my food. Of course, it's my own problem for eating the habenero enchiladas (enchiladas are mostly plants, no?) yesterday a couple hours before climbing on the treadmill and not the other way around.

Oh that's easy. Because he's faster.

Right, and in this case he isn't faster because he has a higher capacity for oxygen uptake, or because he can clear waste products from his muscles faster. He's faster because he's more efficient. He spends less energy per mile than the non-runner.