Why Should Runners Care About Their Cadence?

Is this Cadence Manipulation thing I’m reading about some type of voodoo?”  Sounds like it is, right? If you have had a running injury, are currently injured or have been in the running community, chances are high that you have heard about increasing your cadence to 180 spm (steps per minute) is ideal or the Gold Standard. That everyone needs to do this because some guy, running Coach Jack Daniels, found that elite runners he measured seemed to hit 180 spm, so we all must all strive to hit it. Honestly, I would rather take a shot of Jack Daniels than apply this rule to all of my runners. However, that is not to say that cadence manipulation can be important or a valuable tool for runners for injury prevention or improved performance. It just cannot be extrapolated across all athletes. So, let’s look further at this cadence thing and help educate whether it could be important for you or not.

What is Running Cadence?

Simply, running cadence is the number of steps your feet hit the ground in a minute.  That is why it is measured as steps per minute or spm. This is NOT your pace or how fast you are going. To measure your cadence, simply count how many times one foot hits the ground in a 30-second period and multiply by 4 or count how many times one foot hits the ground in a minute and multiply by 2.  Running apps or watches can also determine a runner’s average cadence during a run, however, the counting method tends to be the more accurate form of measurement.

Why Should We Care About Running Cadence?

• With a slower cadence, runners tend to have an increase in ground contact time with each stride. Thus, one leg is in contact with the ground longer before the next foot makes contact.  The longer we are on the ground, the more ground reaction forces that our body must absorb and dissipate to get ready to propel our body forward. Running is basically hoping from one foot to the next and every time we land, it produces 3-4x our body weight. So, if we are in contact with the ground for longer periods of time, the more we have to absorb that 3-4x our body weight.

• We use our spring mechanisms in our body to help dissipate those ground reaction forces. I don’t know about any of you, but I cannot squat 3-4x my body weight on one leg.  So how does our body do it? We utilize stored kinetic energy in our muscles, tendons and ligaments to propel us forward. Think of a spring that we coil up and then let go. What happens, it shoots forward! That is stored kinetic energy! Try this, stand up and jump up and down. First try jumping up, land and pause, then jump up again. Now try jumping up and down, one right after the other like a pogo stick. Which one is easier? The one right after the other right?! That is because we are optimizing stored kinetic energy.

• With a slower cadence, we tend to see a correlation in overstriding. Overstriding is when we land out in front of our center of mass (body) when we make initial contact with the ground. The further out in front of our body we land, the greater the ground reaction forces coming back at us, so the more force our body must take care of. The closer underneath our body we land, the less ground reaction force that our body needs to absorb.  Also, when a runner overstrides, they tend to land with an extended knee. Thus, the joints from their foot/ankle up to their hips are stiff and more of that force is going through the joints, OUCH! When we land underneath us, we land with more of a bent, more compliant foot/ankle, knee and hip, thus our muscles can help absorb those forces and act as better springs to propel us forward.

What is the Ideal Cadence?

This is where things get tricky because cadence is a spectrum and varies between runners for many different reasons. Recent studies have found elite runners have varied cadences between 160 to 200 spm.  So 180, which seems to be prevalent in blogs and articles in the past, may not be that magic number to hit.  A lot of it will be where a runner feels comfortable and efficient. Now cadence ebbs and flows due to different variables such as a person’s height, running speed, terrain, and an individual’s biomechanics. Thus, cadence can be very individualized and if a runner is doing well, no injuries, feeling good on runs, feeling strong and efficient, I don’t think there is any reason to change the cadence they are hitting.

When to Manipulate (change) Cadence:

So how cadence manipulation works is that I would have my patients close their eyes, I wave my hands five times (not six) around their head, then tap them on the forehead and BAM! Cadence is manipulated!! Ok, so it’s not quite like that, but that would be amazing if it worked that easily for conditions.

With that said, I do like cadence changes in patients because there can be a lot of positive changes in running form that come out of it, and it is straight forward for the runner to perform on their own. First and foremost, I will manipulate cadence if I think that the change will be beneficial to the condition they are coming in with. In the clinic, with my runners, I do perform a video running analysis where I can thoroughly evaluate running gait. If issues are lining up such as over striding, a lot of up up/down motion, pain, etc., in addition to a lower cadence, this is where I tend to focus on cadence manipulation, in addition to an appropriate individualized exercise routine.

Now I do not tell a patient with a slower cadence to automatically increase to 180 spm. Depending on where they are measured, this can be detrimental and lead to increased injury. Good research has shown that a 5-10% increase in cadence can be performed safely with many positive effects. Heiderscheit, et al., in 2011, found some positive effects from an increase in cadence.

Positive Effects from an Increase in Cadence

Reduction in hip and knee energy absorption by 20-34%

Decreased step length (reduced overstriding)

Decreased vertical excursion

Decreased braking impulse

Peak hip adduction and internal rotation moments decreased

Sounds like a bunch of jibber jabber right?  But a lot of freaking awesome jibber jabber! Ultimately, the idea is less loading of the hip and knee joints during running and may provide benefit in the prevention and treatment of common running-related injuries!

How to Increase Cadence:

If determined by your rehab professional that it will be beneficial to increase your cadence, there are a few ways to go about it. First and foremost, you will want to know what your average cadence currently is and what would be the target cadence. For example, if your average cadence was 160 spm and you want to increase by 10%, then you will want to increase to 176 spm.

So how do we hit that new number?

• Running cadence metronome app: There are a lot of metronome apps that can be downloaded onto your phone. When you run, simply set the metronome to 176spm and there will be “beeps” to go with that new cadence. You will want to match your foot strike to the beeps.  Most of these apps you can play the metronome in the background of your favorite music, because yes, it can get quite annoying hearing beeps during a run.

• Spotify: Yes, that’s right, your favorite music source. On Spotify, you can actually look up playlists of songs that match the beat of the cadence you are trying to attain. So, for the above example, look up “176 running playlist”. Then you will run listening to music that has the up-tempo beat. Not as accurate as the metronome, but good research to show that you can adjust your cadence to the beat of the up-tempo songs.

• Think Shorter Faster Strides: Good research has shown that thinking about shorter quicker strides can naturally increase the cadence.

• Land underneath your body: A lot of the time, we are trying to increase cadence because a runner is overstriding. So, having the runner think about landing underneath their body (center of mass) to limit the overstriding is a good way to naturally increase cadence.

• Monitor cadence during a run: A lot of people are running with smart watches now. A lot of smart watches will track your cadence in addition to pace and mileage. You can go to the settings of the watch and have the average cadence be a display while you are running. Then simply monitor your watch during the run and see if you are hitting the new increase in cadence.

What Do You Need to Know About Cadance Manipulation? 

Cadence manipulation is not for everyone, and there is no magic number for everyone. Runners are different and running form varies across the board.  With that said, cadence manipulation is a valuable tool to improve running form if a runner demonstrates that need.  When getting started with cadence manipulation, this is best performed at slower steady state running. This is not for sprinting or speed work. A treadmill can be beneficial initially (yes, I know we all hate treadmills) for cadence manipulation because it is a controlled environment in regard to surface and speed settings. However, you can also choose your favorite flat ground running route or local track. Note that when increasing cadence, it is a greater metabolic load to your body, meaning you will be working harder for the quicker turnover, thus you will feel tired quicker. This will improve when cardiovascular endurance improves, and the new cadence becomes natural. Lastly, it will take time for the new cadence to feel normal. Be PATIENT, horrible word for every runner I know, but it will come in time where you will no longer have to rely on a metronome or think about it as much.

My biggest recommendation before starting this cadence manipulation journey is to reach out to a running specialist to help guide you along your way and to check in if this running form change is appropriate or not. So good luck and happy running!!

If you have any questions or want to schedule an evaluation for you run related injury feel free to reach out to me and schedule at our Vida Ravenna Clinic (206-315-7998).  Follow me on Instagram @pt4inspiredrunner and/or visit my website at www.pt4inspiredrunner.com

Jason Godfrey, PT, DPT, OCS, SCS