Effect of Different Intervention on Running Economy - A Systematic Review of the Literature

This article systematically reviews the available literature on biomechanically motivated interventions to improve running economy aside from conventional endurance training. It was aimed to identify the possible mechanisms behind the potential improvements and to extract principles to guide researchers and coaches in how to make use of this potential.

The search strategy yielded 26 intervention papers and four reviews which were suitable for inclusion.

It was concluded that plyometric and strength training protocols were consistently beneficial to reduce the oxygen consumption per distance traveled in steady state running showing an average effect size of 3.8%. Footwear interventions showed smaller effects of 1.9% on average but still may offer considerable improvements which can potentially be applied immediately.

It was suggested that the energy consumption savings achieved by footwear interventions are not realizable by energy return mechanisms of the footwear alone. It is most likely that footwear assists to improve RE by optimizing energy storage and return mechanisms within the biological system. Future research should aim at verifying this interplay to provide more efficient training programs as well as footwear which ameliorates the utilization of the mechanisms embedded within the human locomotor system.