Kenyan marathon runners are amongst the best in the world.
They are also known to have less “vertical oscillation” than other runners.
This means that with all things remaining equal (fitness, mass, terrain), these top runners are lazier. They do less work vertically against gravity and use this energy to travel forward.
They are throwing their body into the air less with each stride. When we extrapolate this decrease in “vertical oscillation” over the course of the marathon, the difference in energy expenditure is huge.*
Of course, we also call this good technique, or “efficiency.”
Interestingly, to get where we want to go faster, often it’s a case of learning to throw less energy away on distraction and resistance as much as it is about developing a greater work capacity.
*If you are interested in this, have someone film you when you’re running. If you see a lot of “vertical oscillation” at the head and shoulders, you are likely burning a lot more energy than you need to, and can see results through technique training.
