Power output during exercise

Its interesting. The article talks about the energy expended to do work (moving from place to place) and compares different types of human powered movement (running, biking, swimming). Then it dives into efficiency comparing one person racing a commuter train.

Side note: It would be cool to see efficiency of source of energy as well. Bananas eaten through a human digestive system vs diesel locomotives.

This could turn into a new metric for athletes - power output during certain types of physical activity. Ex, did you improve from 4.1W/kg to 4.3W/kg for a certain activity? What did you do to get there?

The answer might not just be about lost fat weight and increased muscle weight but more along the lines of improved form efficiency. Ex, for cycling, I improved by form so my knees don't move out so wide (kept in by 1cm) during the stroke do my drag coefficient from 0.88 to 0.84 and I become more efficient. https://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/CyclingAerodynamics.aspx You could really dive into this as a pro athlete. Just like IQ can be broken into sub-measures (overall IQ broken into spacial reasoning, puzzling ability, etc). Start with EQ (Energy Quotient) for a given activity then break it down into specifics.

Example 1) Michael Phelps has a swimming style that is more efficient than other swimmers. So his swimming EQ would be very high. And you could break it down into specific moves that make it high (ex his flipturn is fast, he breathes fewer times and that is fast, his butterfly kicks are better than usual) https://www.yourswimlog.com/michael-phelps-numbers/. Then train the specifics to get your EQ higher.

Example 2) Bode Miller skier with his upper body and arms all over the place but his lower body locked into the fastest way down the hill. His VMG, velocity made good, towards his goal is super high. So if we measured his energy expenditure and change in kinetic and potential energy coming down a hill, we could come up with a EQ number based on a Lagrangian. If other skiers wanted to match his lower body style, we could study their own Lagrangians and optimize for better EQ. Then those skiers could train with exercises to keep their EQs high by focusing on specific moves to perfect, better reading of the hill terrain, strengthening specific muscles, etc. That's the breakdown.