energy-2
Explanation
This comic plays on the concept of "energy" as used in casual relationship and lifestyle discourse versus its more literal sense. A man is jogging and asks a woman why she and her partner run together every morning. She explains they are "optimizing energy" -- the lead runner breaks the wind resistance, they swap positions to be more efficient.
This sounds like a reasonable, if overly analytical, approach to jogging. Then the man asks which activity would use "more energy," setting up the punchline. The woman dramatically declares: "FOR LOVE!" -- suddenly shifting from the physics/exercise meaning of "energy" to the vague new-age self-help meaning of "energy" (as in emotional/spiritual energy you invest in relationships).
In the final panel, the woman clarifies she has "four hundred words on why running metaphorically represents the work of building a healthy relationship," suggesting she's been waiting to launch into a TED-talk-style monologue about how jogging is actually a metaphor for love. Meanwhile, her partner is mentioned as holding a "mood board" for the relationship.
The humor comes from the bait-and-switch between scientific and woo-woo uses of the word "energy," and from satirizing couples who turn every mundane activity into an elaborate metaphor for their relationship. The comic also pokes fun at the modern tendency to over-optimize and over-analyze every aspect of life, including romance.