Defining Running Power | Explanation & Use Cases

“All models are wrong. Some models are useful.” - George E. P. Box

“The most dangerous phrase in the language is ‘We’ve always done it this way.’” - Admiral Grace Hopper

Today, we take the next step in the understanding and use of running power.

We are releasing our “Running Power Definition and Utility” article.

The above quotes drove the creation of a running power definition document that uses scientific literature and understanding to answer many of the questions about the meaning of power in running, to clarify how it relates to power in cycling, and to describe the potential for its use.

This article was written with contributions from researchers from both industry and academia, and combines scientific literature on the different types of running power with our experience of working with running power in the lab and field.

The purpose of this article is to define the various types of power involved in running, to describe the different models used to determine power and their levels of complexity, and then to discuss the potential utility of each of these power measures.

We designed this article to be accessible to everyone: runners, coaches, researchers, and academics. It will uniquely speak to each of their interests in learning about what power is and does for runners.

For the runners, this article was written using straightforward language so you can quickly consume and learn from it. You will discover why we built Stryd the way we did and what benefits you are getting out of running with power.

For the coaches, we included the details you require for your practice. You will learn the differences between metabolic vs. mechanical power values and how these inform the use cases of these metrics.

For researchers and academics, we provide a framework for how Stryd’s metric fits into traditional physical and physiological calculations of running power.

We would like to give a special thank you to Professor Wouter Hoogkamer and Shalaya Kipp, M.S. for their work & review on this document. They both worked with the author, Dr. Kristine Snyder, Stryd’s Human Movement Algorithm Designer, as scientific advisors on this article.

Download the ‘Running Power Definition and Utility’ article here >>

After you finish reading the article, you can join the discussion on the Stryd Community on Facebook >>