Same VO2max, Why Is He Faster Than You? A Complete Breakdown of Exercise Economy: Where Running, Cycling, and Swimming Differ in Efficiency

訓練科學

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2026年7月28日

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Two people go to a lab for testing together, gasping on a treadmill or trainer until they can’t speak, and after removing their masks, the VO2max numbers they get are almost identical. Three months later, at the same marathon, one finishes in just over three hours, while the other finishes outside three and a half. Similar training volume, similar age, similar weight, and they even follow the same training plan together. What’s the difference?

Most people’s first thought is “he’s more talented” or “he can suffer more.” Neither statement is wrong, but both are too vague. Endurance performance has a relatively clear way of being broken down, and within that breakdown, the factor most often overlooked, hardest to measure with a watch, and yet frequently the dividing line in actual race results, is called economy or efficiency.

This article will explain it clearly: what economy actually is, how its definition differs across running, cycling, and swimming, what determines it, which training actually improves it, how you can measure it yourself on a riverside bike path or a track, and most importantly—which common practices are actually wasting your time.

1. The Three Pillars of Endurance Performance: Why VO2max Isn’t Everything

1-1 Breaking Performance Down into Three Multipliers

Sustainable pace (or sustainable power) in endurance sports can be roughly understood as the product of three factors:

Race performance ≈ VO2max × Fractional utilisation × Economy

Let’s look at each one:

VO2max: The maximum amount of oxygen your body can use per minute. This is the “engine displacement,” determining where your ceiling is.
Fractional utilisation: How close to your ceiling you can stay for a long time. With the same ceiling, some people can only use a relatively low percentage during a race, while others can hold a very high percentage for a long time. This is influenced by lactate/ventilatory thresholds, muscle oxidative capacity, and fatigue resistance.
Economy / Efficiency: With the same amount of oxygen (or the same amount of metabolic energy), how much speed or mechanical power can you get in return. This is the “fuel economy.”

The first two are things endurance training circles talk about endlessly; the third is often dismissed as something mystical. But it’s actually the one that most easily explains “same VO2max, different results.”

1-2 Understanding with a Scenario That Needs No Fabricated Data

Suppose A and B have exactly the same VO2max and the same fractional utilisation—meaning both can “burn the same amount of oxygen per minute” during a race. The only thing that can still create a difference is how much speed those oxygen molecules buy.

If A’s oxygen consumption at any given pace is slightly lower than B’s, it means:

At the same pace, A is working at a lower relative intensity, feels easier, accumulates lactate more slowly, and enters the unsustainable zone later.
At the same perceived effort, A can run faster.
Over a long distance, this gap doesn’t accumulate linearly—it snowballs: because A is more economical, glycogen depletes more slowly, core temperature rises more slowly, and neuromuscular fatigue appears later, so A can maintain pace in the second half while B starts slowing down—and the slowing itself makes B’s form worse and economy poorer.

I’m deliberately not giving you a conversion like “5% difference equals X minutes faster,” because that number is highly dependent on distance, terrain, and the individual. Just grasp the direction: the effect of economy differences can be masked by engine size over short distances, but in marathons, climbs over three hours, and triathlons—long-duration events—it’s magnified to the maximum.

1-3 Why VO2max Is Actually the Hardest to Improve

The harsh truth is that VO2max has a strong genetic component and tends to plateau after a few years of training. No matter how hard a mature endurance athlete who has trained for five years pushes, VO2max usually won’t make dramatic leaps anymore.

But economy still has room for improvement throughout an athletic career. That’s why many elite athletes in their mid-thirties, whose VO2max has even started to decline, are still improving their results—they rely on more refined movement, tendons that store energy better, and later breakdown of form under fatigue.

For amateurs, this is very practical information: if you’ve been training for years and your VO2max has stalled, economy is usually the direction with the highest return on investment.

2. Clarifying Definitions: “Efficiency” in Running, Cycling, and Swimming Is Not the Same Thing

All three sports talk about “efficiency,” conceptually meaning “metabolic cost invested vs. athletic performance gained,” but the measurement methods and comparability differ greatly. Confusing this leads to misusing other people’s numbers.

2-1 Running Economy

Definition: The oxygen consumption required to maintain a steady state at a fixed submaximal speed (usually expressed as oxygen consumption or energy cost per kilogram of body weight per kilometer).

Key points:

Running cannot directly measure external mechanical power (you don’t have a power meter to measure true muscle output; your watch’s “running power” is a model estimate, not a direct measurement). So running economy is a comparison on the “input side”: who uses less at the same speed.
Lower numbers are better (less oxygen at the same speed).
Comparisons are only meaningful at the same speed, same terrain, and in a steady state. Comparing oxygen consumption at different paces is meaningless.
More rigorous approaches now use “energy cost” rather than just oxygen consumption, because when the respiratory exchange ratio differs, a liter of oxygen doesn’t produce exactly the same amount of energy.

2-2 Cycling Gross Efficiency / Total Mechanical Efficiency

Definition: Mechanical power output ÷ metabolic energy expenditure, expressed as a percentage.

Cycling’s special feature is that you can actually measure external power (with a power meter), so you can calculate a true efficiency percentage. This is something running can’t do.

A generally accepted rule of thumb is that the gross efficiency of human pedaling roughly falls around 20%, with considerable individual variation, and it also changes with intensity, cadence, and fatigue state. I won’t give you a more precise number, because it depends on the measurement method (gross efficiency, net efficiency, delta efficiency, and work efficiency all have different definitions and values), and comparing someone else’s numbers to your own is often comparing apples to oranges.

Key concept: Gross efficiency calculates the “metabolic energy → pedal power” segment. It completely excludes air resistance, rolling resistance, and drivetrain losses. This distinction is very important and will be expanded in the next section.

2-3 Swimming Propulsive Efficiency and Drag

Swimming is the most extreme of the three:

Water is much denser than air, so drag is the main character. Drag increases very rapidly as speed increases.
Swimming “efficiency” is split into two parts: propulsive efficiency (how much of the force you apply actually moves you forward rather than churning the water) and drag management (form drag and wave drag caused by body position, body alignment, rotation, and head position).
For the vast majority of amateur triathletes, reducing drag yields far greater returns than increasing propulsion. This is why swimming has the highest “technical return on investment” among the three sports: someone with average cardio but good feel for the water can leave someone with strong cardio but poor body position far behind.

2-4 Comparison Table of the Three

Sport	Common Term	Measurement Method	Direction of Values	Main Limitations
Running	Running economy	Oxygen consumption / energy cost at a fixed speed	Lower is better	Cannot measure true mechanical output; speed, terrain, and shoes must all be fixed for comparison
Cycling	Gross efficiency / total mechanical efficiency	Pedal power ÷ metabolic energy, percentage	Higher is better	Multiple definitions exist; values cannot be compared across methods; excludes air and rolling resistance
Swimming	Propulsive efficiency + drag	Usually estimated from speed, stroke rate, stroke length, and energy expenditure	Composite indicator	Drag is difficult to measure directly; technical variation is enormous
Common to all three	“How much forward progress for the same metabolic cost”	—	—	All decline with fatigue, and the rate of decline varies by individual

3. Factors Determining Economy: What Can Be Changed and What Can’t

3-1 Muscle Fiber Type

Slow-twitch fibers (Type I) have relatively lower energy costs during contraction and better fatigue resistance; fast-twitch fibers produce more power but at a higher cost. Muscle fiber ratio has a strong genetic component. Training can change the metabolic properties of fibers (making fast-twitch fibers more oxidative), but expecting to completely change fiber type is unrealistic.

This is the “half you can’t change,” but don’t get discouraged—its impact is partially offset by the factors below.

3-2 Tendon Stiffness and Elastic Energy Return (Most Critical for Running)

With every step in running, the Achilles tendon and arch act like a spring—stretched to store energy on landing, then returning it during push-off. This energy is “free,” requiring no additional metabolic cost.

The spring’s effectiveness depends on:

Tendon stiffness: Too soft is like stepping in mud—energy is absorbed and not returned; too stiff loses cushioning and sends all impact to the joints. There’s a “just right” zone for you.
Muscle pre-activation at landing: If muscles aren’t pre-tensed at the moment of ground contact, the spring doesn’t work. This is a nervous system matter and highly trainable.
Landing position and posture: If the foot lands too far in front of the center of mass, you’re braking with every step, and elastic return is wasted.

In cycling, because it’s a closed chain with no ground impact, the role of elastic energy return is much smaller. This is why running has more room for technical improvement than cycling.

3-3 Neuromuscular Coordination and Movement Technique

For the same movement, a beginner recruits a bunch of unnecessary muscles—including antagonists (muscles that oppose the primary movement). These extra contractions produce zero forward motion but cost 100% on the metabolic bill.

Characteristics of a skilled athlete:

Uses force when needed and relaxes completely when not (rhythmicity)
Reduced unnecessary co-contraction of antagonists
Unnecessary tension in the upper body, arms, and face disappears

This is why “accumulating mileage” itself improves economy—you repeat the movement hundreds of thousands of times, and the nervous system automatically edits out the unnecessary signals. This is automation, not something you think your way into.

3-4 Body Type and Limb Proportions

A lower leg mass distribution closer to the knee (i.e., higher calf belly and longer Achilles tendon) means lower moment of inertia during the swing phase, theoretically more economical.
Limb proportions, pelvis width, and height-to-weight ratio all play a role.
You can’t change any of these, so don’t compare your body structure to elites—that’s not a training problem.

3-5 Body Weight and Equipment Weight

In situations requiring you to fight gravity—climbing and running—mass is a direct energy tax. Every extra kilogram costs you on every step and every pedal stroke.

But this section has a big trap, which will be addressed in Chapter 5—because “losing weight improves economy” is the easiest sentence in all of endurance sports to become obsessive about.

3-6 Mitochondria and Metabolic Efficiency

Mitochondrial density and quality affect how much ATP can be produced per unit of oxygen.
Substrate selection (burning fat vs. carbohydrate) also matters: burning carbohydrate produces slightly more energy per liter of oxygen, which is actually better “oxygen efficiency” at high intensity; but carbohydrate stores are limited. So “fat-burning efficiency” and “oxygen-use efficiency” aren’t exactly the same thing—a common point of confusion.
This area is mainly built up slowly through long-term aerobic base training.

3-7 Fatigue-Induced Decline in Economy (Durability)

This is the factor most worth paying attention to for amateurs in recent years: the economy you measure at rest may be a completely different thing from your economy in the third hour of a race.

After prolonged exercise, you experience:

Altered movement patterns (shortened stride, changes in vertical oscillation, decreased pelvic stability)
Inefficient muscle recruitment (not activating what should be activated, activating too much of what shouldn’t be)
Rising core temperature and dehydration, causing heart rate drift and a higher cost for every unit of output

Two people with “identical economy in a fresh state” can differ enormously in how much their economy declines under fatigue. This resistance to decline has a name: durability, and it can almost only be trained through long-duration training—especially “doing a quality session while already fatigued.”

3-8 Factor Summary Table

Factor	Modifiability	Time Scale Needed	Main Training Methods
Muscle fiber type (ratio)	Very low	—	Cannot be directly changed; only its metabolic properties can be altered
Tendon stiffness and elastic return	Medium to high	Months to years	Strength training, plyometrics, hill running, jump rope
Neuromuscular coordination / technique	High	Weeks to years	High volume of low-intensity accumulation, sport-specific technique practice, short sprints
Body type and limb proportions	None	—	Accept it
Body weight / body composition	Medium (must be extremely cautious)	Months	Long-term nutrition strategy, not dieting
Mitochondria and metabolic adaptations	High	Months to years	Aerobic base volume, mixed threshold and interval work
Economy under fatigue (durability)	High	Months	Long sessions, quality training after fatigue, fueling practice
Equipment (shoes, bike, fit, drivetrain)	High (and fastest)	Days to weeks	Choose the right equipment, get a fit, maintain the drivetrain

Looking at this table gives you a very practical strategic order: do the fastest-acting and cheapest things first (drivetrain maintenance, bike fit, shoe selection), while simultaneously starting the most time-consuming but highest-ceiling work (accumulated volume, strength training), and leave body weight for last, handled very carefully.

4. Cycling-Specific: Distinguishing the Four Types of “Efficiency”

In cycling circles, arguing about “efficiency” is the easiest way to start a fight, because everyone is talking about different things. Let’s separate the layers first:

Layer	Definition	Influencing Factors	Can You See It with a Power Meter
Metabolic efficiency (gross efficiency)	Metabolic energy → pedal power	Muscle fibers, cadence, fit, fatigue	No (power meter only measures output, not how much you burned)
Drivetrain efficiency	Pedal power → rear wheel power	Chain cleanliness and lubrication, chainline, gear combination, bearings	No (unless comparing with a rear wheel power meter)
Aerodynamic efficiency	Rear wheel power → speed	Position, frame, wheels, clothing, helmet	No, but speed will honestly reflect it
Rolling and terrain	Rear wheel power → speed	Tire pressure, tire model, road surface, gradient, total weight	Same as above

4-1 The “Pedal in Circles” Myth

The most common advice is “pedal as if drawing circles, and pull up on the upstroke too.” Intuitively this makes sense—using the full 360 degrees sounds like it must be more efficient.

But it’s not that simple:

Deliberately and actively pulling up heavily recruits the hip flexors and hamstrings, which fatigue relatively easily, and their metabolic cost isn’t low. You might see “smoother pedaling” on the power meter, but metabolically it could be more expensive.
Well-trained cyclists don’t necessarily have a “rounder” force distribution than beginners. Their advantage mostly lies in: more effective direction of force on the downstroke, and not actively pressing on the upstroke side (reducing negative torque), rather than actively pulling hard.
“Not pressing down on the returning foot” and “forcefully pulling the returning foot up” are two different things. The former is almost certainly helpful; the latter is highly questionable.

Practical approach: Focus on “relaxing the upstroke side and not hindering the other leg,” rather than deliberately creating pull. As for single-leg pedaling, very low-cadence high-torque work, and similar drills—treating them as neuromuscular and strength stimuli is reasonable; treating them as a “magic bullet to reshape your pedal stroke” has weak evidence.

4-2 Cadence and Metabolic Cost

Cadence is a classic trade-off:

High cadence: Lower muscular force per pedal stroke, lower intramuscular pressure, better blood flow, but more pedal strokes, increasing internal work (the cost of swinging your legs around) and cardiovascular load.
Low cadence: Fewer pedal strokes, lower internal work, but higher force per stroke, increased fast-twitch fiber recruitment, and faster muscle fatigue and glycogen depletion.

From a pure metabolic efficiency standpoint, many people’s most economical cadence is actually lower than what they use in races; but in races, people naturally choose a higher cadence because their muscles die later that way. This is why “the most fuel-efficient cadence” is not the same as “the fastest cadence.”

Practical advice:

Don’t blindly chase a specific number. Your self-selected cadence is usually already close to your sweet spot.
In training, deliberately touch both ends (e.g., some sessions with low cadence and high torque, others with high cadence for smoothness), to expand your usable range and give you more options on long climbs like Wuling.
On long climbs, cadence naturally drops—that’s normal—but if it drops to the point where you’re rocking your whole body to grind through, your gearing is wrong. A compact crankset or a larger cassette isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s an efficiency tool.

4-3 Saddle Height and Bike Fit

Fit affects efficiency in both directions:

Saddle too low: excessive knee flexion, overloading the quads, compressed extension range.
Saddle too high: pelvic rocking side to side, overstretching the hamstrings, sore glutes, and possible perineal pressure.
Fore-aft position and handlebar drop simultaneously affect power output and aerodynamic position, which often conflict with each other.

Note: The optimal fit isn’t a single point; it’s a range, and it changes with flexibility, core strength, and riding purpose. A common mistake is copying a pro’s extremely low handlebar position—they have years of accumulated flexibility and core strength, and their job is racing, not riding and then going to work.

If you have recurring knee pain, lower back pain, numb hands, or perineal numbness, that’s not “just get used to it.” It’s recommended to get a professional bike fit first, and seek medical evaluation if symptoms persist or worsen. This article cannot replace individual diagnosis from medical or professional fit services.

4-4 Metabolic Efficiency vs. Aerodynamic Efficiency: The Most Important Distinction

This is the most important paragraph in this chapter.

Gross efficiency (metabolic efficiency) doesn’t care how fast you’re going at all. It only asks, “How much of the energy you burn becomes power at the pedal?” Aerodynamic efficiency asks a completely different question: “How much speed can the same pedal power buy?”

On flat roads, once speed gets even slightly high, air resistance becomes overwhelmingly dominant. This means:

Someone with slightly lower gross efficiency but a very compact position can completely beat someone with high metabolic efficiency who sits up like a sail in a flat time trial.
Before spending big money on wheel upgrades, work on position and wear tight clothing—these two things cost almost nothing yet often yield the biggest gains.
But on long climbs (like Wuling or Fengguizui, where speeds are low), the weight of aerodynamic drag decreases, and the weight of mass and metabolic efficiency increases. This is why someone fast on the flats isn’t necessarily fast uphill, and vice versa.

So the right question isn’t “How do I become more efficient?” but “What kind of race is my target? Which layer of efficiency should I optimize?”

4-5 Rolling Resistance and Drivetrain Efficiency: The Most Underrated Free Lunch

Tires and tire pressure: Higher pressure isn’t always better. On real, rough roads, excessively high pressure increases vibration, which increases losses and fatigues you faster. Many riverside bike paths and mountain roads in Taiwan aren’t perfectly smooth; moderately lower pressure is usually faster and more comfortable.
Drivetrain maintenance: The friction loss difference between a dry, dirty chain and a clean, well-lubricated one is real, and it’s the highest cost-to-benefit improvement on your entire bike. Cleaning your chain costs nothing.
Chainline: Habitually using big ring with biggest cog or small ring with smallest cog not only wears parts but also increases friction.
Bearings and derailleur adjustment: Won’t turn you into a different person, but small gains add up.

If you’ll only do one thing to get faster, go clean and lube your chain, then check your tire pressure. Both can be done today.

5. Running-Specific: The Meaning and Overinterpretation of Technical Metrics

5-1 Cadence and Stride Length

Speed = cadence × stride length. This is an identity, so “increasing cadence makes you faster” is flawed logic—if stride length simultaneously shortens, speed doesn’t change.

A more meaningful way to put it:

Many amateur runners’ problem is excessively long stride with the foot landing too far in front of the center of mass, causing braking with every step and greater impact on the knees.
At the same pace, slightly increasing cadence usually naturally shortens stride, pulls the landing point back under the center of mass, and reduces vertical oscillation and braking force. That’s “slightly,” not forcing cadence up to some specific number.
Don’t treat any specific cadence as gospel. Everyone’s optimal cadence relates to height, leg length, and pace, and naturally changes with pace. The number on your watch is a reference, not a test score.

How to do it: Find a flat riverside section, set a metronome or music to a rhythm slightly higher than your current cadence, run for a few minutes, then return to your normal rhythm, alternating. The goal is “noticeable but not awkward,” not forcing yourself to hit every beat until your whole body is tense.

5-2 Ground Contact Time and Vertical Oscillation

Modern watches give you ground contact time, ground contact balance, vertical oscillation, and vertical ratio. These numbers have reference value but are severely overinterpreted.

How to read them:

Ground contact time is usually shorter in faster runners, but this is a result, not a method. You can’t get stronger by “thinking about shortening ground contact time”; it’s a byproduct of improved tendon stiffness and neuromuscular capacity.
Vertical oscillation that’s too large does waste energy (you’re lifting your body up, and that energy isn’t moving you forward), but too small is also bad—no bounce at all means you’re not using elastic energy and are purely pushing with muscle.
The most useful way to use them is comparing to yourself: same person, same route, same pace, same shoes, observe the trend. Cross-person comparisons are almost meaningless because watch algorithms, sensor placement, and body types all differ.
An even more useful use is observing changes under fatigue: in the last 20 minutes of a long run, has your vertical oscillation and ground contact time noticeably deteriorated? This reflects your durability better than absolute values in a fresh state.

5-3 The Forefoot vs. Midfoot vs. Heel Strike Debate

Which footstrike is best—forefoot, midfoot, or heel—has been debated for years, and the honest answer is: there is no single best answer.

The known general principles are roughly these:

Elite distance runners do not have a uniform footstrike; all types have fast runners.
Footstrike mainly changes load distribution: a more heel-strike pattern tends to increase knee joint load; a more forefoot pattern tends to increase Achilles tendon and calf load. It’s “shifting where the load goes,” not “eliminating the load.”
Forcibly changing footstrike carries a real injury risk during the transition period. If you’re going to change, it must be very gradual, starting with small amounts, and simultaneously strengthening the relevant area (e.g., build up the calves and Achilles before switching to forefoot).
If you don’t have recurring injuries and running doesn’t hurt, there’s usually no need to actively change it.

More important than which part of the foot lands first is where the foot lands relative to your center of mass. Landing slightly under your body is far more practical than obsessing over which part of the foot touches first.

5-4 Upper Body Posture and Arms

Shoulders hunched, fists clenched, face tense—all of it costs money without producing output. Deliberately “relaxing the jaw and shoulders” in the later stages of a run is a small technique with real benefits.
A slight forward lean of the torso (bending from the ankles, not the waist) helps utilize gravity, but excessive forward lean increases lower back and hamstring load.
When core stability is insufficient, the pelvis drops and rotates excessively during the stance phase, leaking energy laterally. This is why core and glute strength training helps running economy.

5-5 The Influence of Shoes (Be Conservative About Carbon-Plated Shoes)

In recent years, racing shoes with high-rebound midsoles and stiff plates are widely considered to positively help running economy for most runners, but be sure to note several things:

The magnitude varies by individual, and the variation can be large. Some people feel a clear difference; others feel almost nothing or even worse. This relates to your weight, pace, running form, and ankle/Achilles characteristics. I won’t give you any precise percentage because those numbers don’t generalize across different populations.
The slower your pace, the less obvious the benefit usually is. The design operating point of these shoes is mostly at faster paces.
They change your load distribution. Some people experience increased calf and Achilles discomfort after wearing them. Don’t go straight to a marathon in them on the first try; adapt during training first.
Shoes are not a shortcut that replaces training. They might squeeze out a bit more on a given day, but they won’t turn you into a different runner three months later.
The weight of daily training shoes also matters—the metabolic cost of shoe weight on your feet is greater than weight on your body because it has to be swung. But don’t sacrifice the support and cushioning you need for lightness and end up injured.

6. Swimming: Reduce Drag First, Then Talk About Propulsion

Although this article focuses on running and cycling, swimming principles deserve a separate mention because it best highlights the power of “economy”:

Body position: When the hips and legs sink, frontal surface area increases and drag rises sharply. Improving body balance (not lifting the head too high when breathing, keeping the core on a horizontal line) is often more effective than strengthening the arms.
Stroke length (distance per stroke) is one of the most practical self-monitoring metrics: covering the same distance in the same time with fewer strokes usually indicates improved efficiency. But don’t over-glide just to reduce stroke count, which will drop your speed. Look at the combination of “stroke count × time.”
Kicking: For long distances, the oxygen cost of excessive kicking is high. Most triathletes treat the legs as a tool for maintaining body position rather than a primary propulsion source.
Technical practice takes priority over fitness training: Swimming is the sport where “no matter how much fitness someone with poor technique trains, they won’t get fast” is most obvious.

7. How to Actually Improve Economy

7-1 High Volume of Low-Intensity Accumulation (Most Fundamental, and Slowest)

This ranks first, and the reason was stated earlier: technical automation requires repetition.

Low-intensity, long-duration training does three things at once: accumulates movement repetitions, develops mitochondria and capillaries, and trains durability.
The key is “low intensity really needs to be low enough.” If every easy run is done at moderate intensity, you get neither accumulation nor recovery.
Increasing volume must be progressive, with large individual variation. Sudden large increases are a major cause of injury. A conservative principle: after each increase, observe for at least one to two weeks; only add more if your body isn’t protesting.

7-2 Strength Training and Plyometrics

The purpose of strength training for endurance athletes is not to build big muscles, but to:

Increase maximal strength and rate of force development, lowering the relative recruitment required per contraction (producing the same force with a lower percentage of your maximum is more economical).
Improve tendon stiffness for better elastic energy return.
Strengthen torso and hip stability, reducing lateral energy leakage.

Practical principles (large individual variation, progress gradually, consult professionals first if you have an injury history):

Strength training should focus on moderate-to-high loads, low repetitions, and movement quality first, not high-rep circuits to failure.
Plyometrics (box jumps, jump rope, bounding) help tendon stiffness, but they’re high-impact; start with low volume and low drop heights, and don’t schedule them the day after a hard session.
Twice a week is usually sufficient; can drop to once a week during the season.
Your legs will feel heavy for the first few weeks—that’s a normal adaptation period. Don’t schedule important races during this time.

7-3 Neuromuscular Stimulus from Hill Sprints / Short Sprints

Short hill sprints (e.g., 8–12 seconds of maximal uphill effort, with full recovery between reps): This stimulus produces almost no metabolic stress but effectively stimulates neuromuscular recruitment and tendon stiffness. It’s “cheap intensity.”
Strides: After an easy run, do a few 15–20 second accelerations, focusing on smoothness and relaxation, not speed. Long-term, this helps movement quality.
Both can be inserted into low-intensity days without much impact on the next day’s training, but make sure warm-up is thorough and don’t do them when muscles are already very tight.

The cycling equivalent is short, high-torque climbs and seated/standing short sprints, with the same principles.

7-4 Sport-Specific Technical Drills

Running: Drills like high knees, butt kicks, and bounding, focusing on movement quality rather than quantity. Doing them until exhausted is pointless, because the purpose of technical drills is to give the nervous system a correct template.
Cycling: Single-leg pedaling, high-cadence drills, smoothness of seated-to-standing transitions.
Swimming: Stroke drills, catch drills, side-balance drills.
Common principle: Technical drills should be done when fresh, not at the end of a session when you’re exhausted. Practicing technique when tired means you’re practicing bad movement.

7-5 Body Weight and Body Composition: A Section That Requires Extreme Caution

In gravity-resisting situations (climbing, running), reducing unnecessary body weight does improve “performance per kilogram.” This is a physical fact, with no dispute.

But this is the most dangerous piece of advice in this entire article, for the following reasons:

If energy intake is insufficient during weight loss, it directly harms training quality, recovery capacity, and immune function, and economy actually declines. You’ll be lighter, but also slower.
Long-term energy deficiency (relative energy deficiency) affects hormones, bone density, menstrual cycles, and mental health. This isn’t scaremongering; it’s a long-standing problem in the endurance sports community.
Endurance sports culture itself amplifies weight anxiety, and the constant body comparisons on social media pour fuel on the fire.

Warning signs that you must stop immediately and seek professional help:

Persistent obsessive thoughts about food or weight; intense self-blame after eating certain things
Cycles of dieting alternating with bingeing, or compensatory behaviors after eating (vomiting, excessive exercise, laxative abuse)
Avoiding social meals; anxiety about “others seeing me eat”
Continuously declining training performance, chronic fatigue, slower recovery, worse sleep
Frequent injuries, especially recurrent bone stress injuries
Women: infrequent or absent menstruation; men: significantly decreased libido
Abnormally low heart rate, frequent feeling of cold, thinning hair, noticeably depressed mood

If you meet any of the above, please prioritize seeking help from a physician, sports dietitian, or mental health professional, rather than continuing to adjust training or diet.

Safer principles:

Don’t lose weight during peak training periods. Weight loss (if truly needed) should happen during lower-volume transition periods.
Go slowly. Slow enough that you barely notice a decline in training quality.
Look at composition, not just the number on the scale. Because muscle gained from strength training is beneficial to you.
Ensure adequate energy and protein intake before and after training. Don’t use “fasted training” as a weight-loss tool.
Absolutely don’t use pro athletes’ weight as your standard. What you see is a brief state at season peak, not a year-round healthy picture, and those numbers are often monitored by an entire team behind them.

Important disclaimer: This article is general sports science information and cannot replace individual assessment and advice from physicians, sports dietitians, or other medical and nutrition professionals. If you have existing medical conditions, weight-related concerns, a history of eating disorders, or any physical or mental discomfort, please consult a professional first.

7-6 Optimization Order for Equipment and Fit

Ranked by “cost vs. benefit vs. speed of results”:

Priority	Item	Cost	Speed of Results	Notes
1	Drivetrain cleaning and lubrication	Nearly free	Immediate	Most underrated
2	Tire pressure and tire selection	Low to medium	Immediate	Don’t blindly pump to high pressure
3	Riding / running posture adjustment	Free to fit cost	Weeks	Huge aerodynamic gains on flats
4	Well-fitting, appropriate shoes	Medium	A few sessions	Use different shoes for different purposes; don’t use one pair for everything
5	Tight clothing and helmet	Low to medium	Immediate	Often affects flat speed more than wheels
6	Strength / plyometric training	Low (high time cost)	Months	High ceiling
7	Accumulated volume and long-term technical automation	Time	Months to years	Most fundamental
8	Wheelset / frame upgrades	High	Immediate but marginal	Don’t spend this before finishing the earlier items
9	Body weight / body composition	—	Months	Highest risk; touch it last

8. How to Self-Monitor Economy (Without a Lab)

You don’t have a metabolic analyzer, but you can use surrogate indicators to track trends. The core principle is always: control variables, compare to yourself.

8-1 Three Feasible Self-Test Methods

Method	Best For	How To	What to Look At	Main Interferences
Fixed pace heart rate method	Running	Same flat route, same pace, run 20–30 minutes	Whether average heart rate after stabilization decreases	Temperature, humidity, sleep, caffeine, stress
Fixed power heart rate method	Cycling	Trainer or fixed route, same power for 20–30 minutes	Whether average heart rate decreases	Same as above + fan strength, trainer calibration
Heart rate / pace (or power) decoupling	Both	Long steady intensity, compare first half vs. second half	Magnitude of heart rate drift relative to output in the second half	Fueling, dehydration, environment

8-2 The Correct Use of Heart Rate / Power Decoupling

In a long, steady-intensity session, split it into first and second halves, and calculate the “output ÷ heart rate” ratio for each. If the second half’s ratio is noticeably lower than the first half (heart rate drifts up while output stays the same), it means your durability at that intensity is insufficient.

Note:

This is a durability indicator, not exactly the same as economy, but the two are highly correlated.
Intensity must be truly steady. Hills, descents, and traffic lights all contaminate the data, so a trainer or a very flat riverside path is best.
Inadequate fueling and dehydration create false positives. If you just didn’t eat or drink, that’s not your economy getting worse.
Large decoupling at the start of a training block is normal; the key is the trend after repeating the same session for several months.

8-3 Limitations of These Surrogate Indicators (Very Important)

Heart rate is a very noisy signal. All of the following can raise heart rate and make you mistakenly think your economy has worsened:

Temperature and humidity: Taiwan’s summer is the most notorious culprit. Heart rate at the same pace in July vs. January can be a completely different story.
Dehydration: Decreased plasma volume → decreased stroke volume → compensatory heart rate increase.
Accumulated fatigue: During high training load periods, heart rate may drift up, or it may also fail to rise (both happen).
Caffeine, alcohol, early-stage colds, sleep deprivation, psychological stress.
Measurement equipment: Optical heart rate on the wrist decreases in accuracy at high intensity or low temperature; chest straps are generally more reliable.

The conclusion is: a single test is meaningless. Repeat every few weeks under conditions as similar as possible, and look at the trend line over three or more tests.

9. Common Mistakes: Things That Are Wasting Your Time

9-1 Chasing the Watch’s “Running Efficiency Score”

Various watches’ “running performance” or “efficiency score” are estimates from proprietary algorithms, not lab-measured oxygen consumption. They can serve as trend references, but:

They are completely incomparable across brands.
Firmware updates can change the algorithm, creating discontinuities in your historical data.
They are often insufficiently sensitive to pace, terrain, and wind.

Using them for trends is fine; using them for self-evaluation or comparing with friends is meaningless.

9-2 Blindly Imitating Elite Form

Watching slow-motion videos and imitating a pro’s running form or pedal stroke is a common trap. Reasons:

What you see is the result of years of adaptation, not the process he went through to get there.
His body structure (Achilles length, limb segment ratios, hip mobility) is different from yours.
His form is optimized at his pace. Imitating it at a much slower speed may not even be valid.

A more reasonable approach: improve limiting factors (insufficient mobility, weak core, insufficient hip extension), then let the form grow on its own.

9-3 Overly Restricting Calories for Weight

Already covered above, but emphasized again: getting lighter but weaker is the most common “illusion of progress.” Short-term climbing numbers might look good, but months later you’ll pay for it with injury or a long-term slump.

9-4 Ignoring Economy Under Fatigue

Many people’s training consists of “beautiful sessions in a fresh state,” but in a race, you won’t be fresh. If your training never includes “maintaining movement quality while already tired,” falling apart in the latter stages of a race is inevitable.

Practical approach: deliberately maintain target pace or target power in the final segment of a long session (within your limits, progressive), or follow a long ride with a short run (a triathlete’s brick session).

9-5 Treating Equipment as the Primary Solution

Wheels, carbon-plated shoes, and aero helmets all work, but they are multipliers, not the base. The base is your aerobic capacity, technique, and durability. People who get the order backwards usually spend the most money and improve the least.

9-6 Only Testing in the Most Comfortable Conditions

Only testing on cool winter mornings, with a tailwind, when feeling great—then getting hit by reality in a summer race. Your test conditions should at least partially resemble race conditions.

10. Practical Plans for Taiwan

10-1 Steady-Pace Testing on Riverside Bike Paths

Taipei’s riverside system and bike paths in various counties are usually flat with few interruptions, making them good fixed test venues.

Execution points:

Choose a section without traffic lights or major turns, and note the start and end points.
Fix the direction and time of day (wind has a huge effect; ideally do an out-and-back and average the two).
Ride/run at a fixed power (cycling) or fixed pace (running) for 20–30 minutes, recording stabilized heart rate, temperature, humidity, and perceived effort.
Repeat every 4–6 weeks to accumulate data.
Safety reminder: Riverside paths have many pedestrians, dog walkers, children, and rollerbladers. Steady-pace testing is not racing. If there’s a crowd, stop or change time slots. Never speed up in crowded sections just for data completeness.

10-2 Fixed Climb Sections on Fengguizui and Beiyi

Long climbs are great venues for testing “metabolic efficiency + power-to-weight ratio,” because speeds are low and aerodynamic drag has less influence.

Choose a climb with clear start and end points, and use the same strategy each time (e.g., try to maintain steady power throughout).
Compare “heart rate at the same time” or “completion time at the same power.”
Record body weight and equipment status simultaneously, otherwise you can’t tell whether it’s improved efficiency or simply being lighter or having changed tires.
Safety reminder: Mountain roads have gravel, fallen leaves, oncoming traffic, and tourist traffic. Uphill testing is relatively safe, but never use descents to compare data—being fast downhill doesn’t mean you’re stronger; it only means you’re taking more risk. Racing is prohibited on open roads; obey traffic rules and watch for vehicles and road conditions.

10-3 The Trap of Summer Heat and Humidity

This is Taiwan’s biggest confounding factor. Doing steady-pace tests in summer, heart rate drift is caused by the environment, not by your economy getting worse.

Practical approaches:

Switch summer testing to early morning or night, and record temperature and humidity.
Compare summer data with last summer, and winter data with last winter. Don’t compare across seasons directly.
Training in heat has value in itself (heat adaptation), but testing should be done under stable conditions as much as possible.
In hot, humid conditions, pay special attention to hydration and electrolytes. If you experience dizziness, nausea, skin that stops sweating, or altered consciousness—warning signs of heat illness—stop exercising immediately and seek medical help.

10-4 Steady-Pace Testing on a Track

The advantage of a track is precise distance and completely consistent terrain—the best place to control variables.

For example: run a fixed number of laps at a fixed pace (e.g., 5–8 km), recording stabilized heart rate.
Note the influence of wind on the outer lanes and straights; try to stay in the same lane.
It’s also good for technical drills and strides, because the surface is flat and risk is low.
When using school tracks, follow opening hours and facility rules, and be mindful of other users.

10-5 A Six-Week Microcycle Example You Can Follow Directly

(The following is an example framework. Individual variation is large; adjust progressively according to your own condition and training experience. If you have injuries or chronic conditions, consult professionals first.)

Week	Focus	Main Content
Week 1	Establish baseline	Complete one steady-pace test (riverside or track) and record full environmental data
Week 2	Add neuromuscular stimulus	After low-intensity days, add 4–6 short hill sprints or strides; start strength training once a week
Week 3	Technique and volume	Add 10 minutes of technical drills at the start of each session (when fresh); slightly increase accumulated volume
Week 4	Durability	One long session, maintaining target pace/power for the last 20 minutes; increase strength training to twice a week
Week 5	Taper	Reduce volume, keep a small amount of intensity; let adaptations surface
Week 6	Retest	Repeat the steady-pace test under conditions as close as possible to Week 1, comparing heart rate and perceived effort

One cycle won’t show much. Run at least three to four cycles before drawing conclusions.

11. Key Takeaways and Action Checklist

Core Concepts (These Five Sentences Are Enough)

Performance ≈ VO2max × Fractional utilisation × Economy. VO2max plateaus after a few years of training; economy can be improved for a lifetime.
Running economy looks at “oxygen consumption at the same speed,” cycling gross efficiency looks at “how much metabolic energy becomes pedal power,” and swimming looks at drag first. The concepts are the same, but the numbers are completely non-interchangeable.
In cycling, distinguish four layers of efficiency: metabolic, drivetrain, aerodynamic, and rolling. A power meter only sees output; it can’t see the losses in any of these layers.
Technical data on your watch can only be compared to yourself, and look at trends, not single points.
Economy under fatigue (durability) is what races actually test.

Things You Can Do This Week (Nearly Zero Cost)

[ ] Clean and lube your chain; check whether tire pressure is too high
[ ] Check whether saddle height is obviously abnormal (rocking side to side, excessive knee flexion)
[ ] Find a fixed riverside or track section, do your first steady-pace test, and record temperature and humidity
[ ] After your next easy run, add 4 × 15-second relaxed strides
[ ] Check whether you’re riding in a loose windbreaker or with a backpack (the invisible killer of flat-road aerodynamics)

Things You Can Start This Season

[ ] Schedule 1–2 strength sessions per week, moderate-to-high load, movement quality first, starting with very light weights
[ ] Schedule one short hill sprint or high-torque climb session per week (full recovery, low volume, high quality)
[ ] Add 5–10 minutes of sport-specific technical drills at the start of each session (when fresh)
[ ] Deliberately maintain target intensity in the final segment of long sessions to train durability
[ ] Create a simple test log: date, route, pace/power, heart rate, temperature, humidity, perceived effort, body weight, equipment

Things to Be Very Careful About

[ ] Don’t lose weight during peak training periods; if considering body composition changes, first confirm you have none of the eating disorder warning signs
[ ] Don’t forcibly change your running footstrike unless there’s a clear reason, and transition extremely slowly
[ ] Don’t draw conclusions from a single test, especially in Taiwan’s summer
[ ] Don’t race on open roads; mountain descents are not a testing ground
[ ] If you experience persistent pain, recurring injuries, chronic fatigue, menstrual abnormalities, or noticeably depressed mood, seek medical and nutrition professional help—this article provides general information and cannot replace individualized professional assessment.

Economy is not a genetic fate, nor is it something you can buy with a pair of shoes. It’s the result built from hundreds of thousands of repeated movements, bit by bit of tendon adaptation, and maintaining movement quality through fatigue again and again. It improves slowly—so slowly you can barely notice it—until one day you realize that at the same heart rate, you’re running faster; at the same power, you’re not breathing as hard.

That’s the moment you know you’re on the right path.

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