How to Improve Running Economy and Running Speed

How to Improve Running Economy and Running Speed

Running economy is one of the most important and most overlooked factors in distance running performance. It is a better predictor of marathon and middle-distance results than VO2 max alone. And it can be improved significantly through breathing exercises, without adding a single extra mile to your training.

This article explains what running economy is, why it matters, and how breath hold training and the Oxygen Advantage method can help you run faster and further.

What Is Running Economy?

Running economy is essential if you want to run faster, further and more freely.

It represents:

  • The energy demand of running at any given submaximal speed
  • The metabolic cost of running
  • Your steady-state oxygen consumption at a given speed

It is especially relevant over distance. The less oxygen your body uses at a given pace, the better your running economy.

Running economy varies significantly between individuals, just like other performance stats such as VO2 max, anaerobic threshold and speed at VO2 max. One study found a 30% difference between trained runners with similar VO2 max scores.

If your running economy is already good, it can always be better. If you are a novice runner, improving exercise economy can give you a powerful new focus for your training.

How to Increase Running Economy

For a 4:30:00 marathon runner, even a 1% improvement in running economy means a 1.17% faster run time. This cuts 3 minutes and 7 seconds off the finish time — significant for any endurance runner.

Running experts suggest everything from diet to active muscle volume, stride rate, elastic energy and strength training, to carbon-fibre-soled shoes. Even the flexibility or stiffness of your ankle joints might play a role.

We have already looked at hematocrit, lactic acid and EPO levels in our science series. Common tips include increasing your mileage and reducing body mass.

Muscle composition is important too. The proportion of slow-twitch and fast-twitch skeletal muscle fibres. Slow-twitch muscles are fatigue-resistant and aerobic, supporting endurance activities. Fast-twitch muscles are used for quick, powerful activities like weightlifting and sprinting.

But most athletes miss an obvious technique. Breathing exercises to simulate high altitude can boost running and swimming economy. It is about getting oxygen to the muscles more efficiently.

How to Increase Running Speed and Stamina

During exercise, muscles need more oxygen for energy. You can think of this as your oxygen cost. At the same time, a moving body produces more carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide causes the haemoglobin in red blood cells to release oxygen to the muscles.

As carbon dioxide builds up, you breathe harder and faster. Your breathing muscles become tired. Blood is diverted from the legs to support respiration. You have to slow down and stop. This is one reason running economy is a better predictor of distance running performance than VO2 max.

If you breathe more efficiently and correct a breathing pattern disorder, your respiratory muscles do not need to work so hard. Circulation improves and your body gets a steady supply of oxygen.

You can boost running economy by improving your aerobic capacity and oxygen-carrying capacity. In an interview for Runners' World, Dr. John Dickson, Head of the Respiratory Clinic at the University of Kent, says:

"One way to shock the body into producing more red blood cells is by training at altitude... but research shows this can take two to three weeks to take effect. That is fine for elite athletes who ship out to high-altitude training camps for months on end, but not so practical for the rest of us."

How to Increase Oxygen Levels While Running

You can do this the hard way or the easy way.

The hard way:

Run more miles every week. Elite runners cover a massive mileage. But to boost running economy by running more, most of your run must be easy. You already have to be quite fit for this to work.

This is also a challenge because of injury and overtraining. If you have a naturally competitive nature, it can be hard to know when to stop. And if you need to scale back for a week or two, your aerobic capacity will drop.

The easy way:

Scientists have reported better running economy in athletes who practice reduced breathing. This included breath holds to replicate intermittent hypoxic/hypercapnic training (IHHT).

Benefits of strong breath holds to simulate training at high altitude:

  • Breathe lighter during running
  • Breathe slower
  • Stronger breathing muscles
  • Better gas exchange
  • Greater mitochondrial density in your muscles
  • Better blood flow back to the heart
  • Maintain condition during rest periods or injury
  • Prevent overtraining

Dr. Dickson is right. High altitude training has real benefits for running economy. But you can produce the same effect with Oxygen Advantage IHHT exercises. Used long term, they increase both sprint running economy and distance running performance, giving you a reliable and practical training program.

You can measure your starting point by checking your BOLT score. A higher BOLT score reflects better CO2 tolerance, which directly correlates with lighter, more efficient breathing during running. Learn more about how to breathe while running for a step-by-step guide to integrating nasal breathing into your training.

Research: Breath Training and Running Economy

The science supporting breath hold training for running economy is well-established. Here are two key studies.

Study 1: Controlled-Frequency Breathing Improves Running Economy by 6%

Eighteen swimmers (ten men, eight women) were assigned to two groups. The first group was required to take only two breaths per length and the second group seven breaths.

Researchers found that running economy improved by 6% in the group that performed reduced breathing during swimming.

Lavin KM, Guenette JA, Smoliga JM, Zavorsky GS. Controlled-frequency breath swimming improves swimming performance and running economy. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. 2013 Oct 24.

Study 2: Breath Holding on Exhalation Improves Middle-Distance Race Times by 1.33%

Breath holding was practiced over six weeks by 15 middle-distance runners (600 to 3000m). Runners participated in official athletics competition before and after.

  • Group 1 (normal breathing): +0.03% improvement to time
  • Group 2 (15 to 20 minutes of breath holding on exhalation, once per week): +1.27% improvement to time
  • Group 3 (15 to 20 minutes of breath holding on exhalation, twice per week): +1.33% improvement to time

All runners who trained with breath holding twice a week improved their performance over distances from 1200 to 3000 metres. The average velocity improvement was 1.33%.

Fortier E, Nadeau. Peterborough, Canada. Cited in: Hypoventilation Training by Xavier Woorons, Paris 13 University.

Improve Your Running Economy with Oxygen Advantage

The Oxygen Advantage method, developed by Patrick McKeown, provides a structured, science-based system for improving running economy through breathing retraining. It replaces inefficient over-breathing and mouth breathing with light, slow, nasal breathing, and uses breath hold exercises to simulate the benefits of high altitude training at sea level.

The result is better oxygen efficiency, less breathlessness, stronger breathing muscles, and measurably improved running times, without adding extra miles or injury risk.

Why not try thr OA method for yourself, check out our online breathing course, become a certified breathwork instructor, or find an Oxygen Advantage instructor near you.