My name is Jermain Breidel; I’m a running coach at Vondelgym and captain of the Patta Running Team in Amsterdam. I’m also a long-distance runner. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing some running tips to help you run and train more efficiently. In this first instalment, we’ll be discussing the ideal running cadence.
Ideal running cadence
In this article, we’ll look at one of the basics of running: the ideal cadence.
For runners, the ideal cadence is around 180 steps per minute. If you maintain this rate, you’ll find running easier and notice that your stride feels smoother. I’ll explain how you can consciously work on this.
180!
There are many different ways to run. And when we focus on cadence, there’s just as much variation. Many people run in an almost bouncing manner, covering almost as much vertical distance as horizontal distance because they use force with every push-off. Because of this powerful push-off, these runners take long strides and have a long flight phase. A good way to run more efficiently is to consciously shorten your stride length and, in doing so, aim for 180 steps per minute.
What are the benefits of a shorter stride?
- Running with a shorter stride forces you to take lighter steps and use less force.
- With a shorter stride, your feet stay under or close to your body. This makes it more likely that you’ll land on your midfoot or forefoot rather than on your heel.
- Your foot rolls off the ground more smoothly when you take shorter strides, rather than running with a powerful push-off which also causes a lot of impact upon landing.
How do you adjust your current cadence?
Step 1: determining your current cadence
Determining your current cadence is quite simple. Go for a run in your usual way, and count how many times your right or left foot touches the ground over the course of one minute. Multiply this number by 2 and you’ll know your current cadence. For most runners, this will generally be under 170 steps. It’s often slightly lower for taller people than for shorter people.
Step 2: increasing your cadence
There are various ways to adjust your cadence:
Put some music on
The great thing is that there’s music out there with exactly the same number of beats per minute as the number of steps you want to take. This is really handy because you can simply run to the rhythm of the music and hit the right cadence. Search Google for “Music 180 bpm” and you’ll find more than enough music at this tempo.
Metronome
You can buy a metronome from a music shop, or download a metronome app onto your smartphone. The iSmoothRun app, for example, has a built-in metronome. Compared to many other apps, this one remains active and accurate, even when the phone is locked. It also tracks your cadence. For example, you could switch on the metronome at the start of your workout and then run for 10 minutes at the metronome’s tempo. Next, switch off the metronome and run for five minutes without it.
After those five minutes, switch it back on and see how big the difference is. You can repeat this throughout your entire training session. You can then view the results in detail within the app.
Should you increase your cadence gradually or make the change all at once?
To increase your cadence, you can do one of two things:
1. increase your cadence by two steps per minute each week to gradually reach 180 steps per minute
2. adopt the new cadence straight away and let your body get used to it immediately
See what feels right for you and then choose one of these two strategies. There’s no right or wrong way to do it; the important thing is that your body gets used to the new pace so that you’ll continue to run at 180 steps per minute.
Results
To check whether your cadence is improving, it’s important to run without a metronome or music. This is also a good way to get to know your natural cadence. After running with a metronome or music a few times, plan a training session where you run without any aids. Track the session using your smartphone or a pedometer and run the entire workout by feel. At home, analyse and calculate your average cadence and, based on the results, adjust your next training session if necessary.
Once you’ve adjusted your cadence to around 180, you’ll find that running becomes much easier. It requires less strength and effort.
We’d love to hear about your experience of adjusting your cadence!
Read also:
- THE 10 PER CENT RULE IN RUNNING
- PROTEIN AND ENDURANCE SPORTS – DO THEY GO TOGETHER? ABSOLUTELY!
- ROAD TO MARATHON! WITH JERMAIN BREIDEL
- ROAD TO MARATHON! SETBACKS, INTERVALS AND FARTLEK
Check out our blog for more training-related articles.
