Vertical ratio

Vertical oscillation divided by stride length, expressed as a percentage — a normalized measure of running efficiency.

Why it matters

Vertical ratio adjusts vertical oscillation for how far you actually travel per stride, making it a fairer efficiency comparison across paces and runners than raw bounce alone.

What it means

A Garmin Running Dynamics metric that normalizes bounce against stride length. Lower is more efficient; sub-6% is considered very economical, while values above 10% usually indicate excess vertical bounce relative to forward progress. Because it's normalized, vertical ratio tends to stay more stable across paces than raw vertical oscillation.