Running Efficiency: It’s Good, but How Do You Get It? – New York Times
Economy can make the difference between being fast and being slow, between winning and losing in swimming to skiing, cycling to speed skating, running to rowing.
But economy is baffling. It seems to be physiological, but it is not clear what exactly is involved. Is it an ability of muscles to use energy, an ability to use a variety of muscles in concert, an ability of nerves to activate certain muscles for a task while allowing other muscles to relax, an ability of nerves to fire in near-perfect patterns? Or is it all of these things in combination?