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Strong Women
What is cadence, and why should runners care about it? A pro-athlete explains
By Lauren Geall
18 days ago
4 min read
You might have heard runners talk about cadence and its potential for reducing your risk of injury. But what is cadence, and how can you measure it and improve yours?
Type the words ‘how to get better at running’ into Google, and you’ll be met with a whole load of jargon. From intervals and tempo runs to strides and hill sprints, there are many different ways to improve your running once you’ve nailed the basics.
One word you might have seen come up a lot is ‘cadence’ – a measure of the number of steps you take per minute while running. Also known as stride rate (or frequency) or foot turnover, it’s a measurement that allows you to get a better idea of how far you’re extending your legs as you run and how fast your legs are moving.
But what benefits can cadence measurement offer for runners? And what does a ‘good’ cadence look like? To find out, we reached out to Holly Page, a professional mountain and trail runner and an Adidas Terrex athlete. Below, she explains everything you need to know about cadence and shares some valuable tips for improving your own.
What is a ‘good’ cadence?
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Everyone’s cadence will vary depending on their body type, height, terrain and running style, but experts usually suggest that the ‘optimum’ running cadence lies around 180 steps per minute (SPM) – a figure established by legendary running coach Jack Daniels after he studied the steps per minute of elite runners in the 1984 Olympic Games.
However, more recent research has shown that the cadence of elite runners does tend to vary, so while 180 SPM remains a good goal, most experts agree that recreational runners can be happy with anything from 150–180 SPM as there are a number of factors that can influence how often our feet hit the ground as we run.
It’s also important to note that higher cadences don’t always produce an improvement in performance. “Just because someone has a higher cadence than you doesn’t necessarily mean they will be faster than you, as there are so many other factors at play,” Page explains.
“Since having a higher cadence does increase your efficiency, this means that you tend to become less fatigued over a longer distance.”
Why is cadence a valuable measurement for runners?
Getting less fatigued over longer distances isn’t the only benefit upping your cadence can offer.
One of the main benefits of keeping an eye on your cadence – and trying to increase it where possible – is that you’re going to reduce your risk of injury. This is because a higher cadence leads to your feet spending less time in contact with the ground, which reduces the amount of force being placed on your muscles and joints.
Page points out that a higher cadence can also prevent over-striding (where your foot lands too far in front of your hip on each stride), which can lead to common running injuries like shin splints, IT band syndrome and meniscus injuries.
How to measure cadence without a fitness watch or tracker
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Many modern fitness watches and trackers track cadence, but if you don’t have one, is there any way to get an idea of where your cadence is at?
It might sound basic, but you can just count your steps. Simply put a minute timer on your phone, start running and count each step you take in that time. You can do it a few times to get a rough idea of your average cadence.
Alternatively, you can count it at a few different times during a normal-paced 5k run. Your cadence shouldn’t be affected too much by your pace (you can still have a high foot turnover even when you’re running easy) so an easy training run is the perfect time to work on it. Then, when you’re next running fast, you can see if it makes a difference.
How to improve your cadence
To improve your running cadence, Page recommends running on a flat route. “This will give you an opportunity to work on your cadence, since it shouldn’t vary,” she explains. “You can then check where you’re at and try to keep this cadence going before working on increasing your cadence gradually over time.”
It’s important not to try to increase your cadence too quickly, Page says, because it won’t feel natural and could mess with other areas of your running.
“You shouldn’t go from 130spm to trying to hit 170spm in a matter of weeks,” she says. “It’s best to try and increase by 5% at a time until you feel comfortable with that cadence and it comes naturally to you.”
If you don’t have a fitness tracker, start by measuring your cadence using the method above. You can then use audio cues to try and get quicker, Page suggests.
“Using a metronome or listening to music can be helpful,” she adds. “Music apps like Spotify have playlists of songs with a certain number of beats per minute so it could be useful to put some headphones in and try to keep to the beat of the music.”
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