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Run Cadence And Its Effect On Efficiency

When someone asks what your run cadence is, do you know? Just how important is run cadence? What is a good run cadence? Most runners get asked this question at some point during training.

Let us first define run cadence.
It is the number of steps (i.e. strides) at the rate you repeat that action per minute (SPM). There is no right answer to what that number should be for each athlete. Factors like leg length, body weight and leg strength come into play. As an example, someone with longer legs might take longer strides hence a lower turnover.

Cadence Calculator
So let’s calculate your cadence using this formula. Count how many times your right foot hits the ground for 30 seconds. Then take that number times two for a one-minute total. Then double that number to get a total for both feet.

Most of us will have a cadence between 150 – 180. Lower than 150 and you are probably over-reaching with your stride and heal striking making you inefficient and susceptible to injury. Whatever your current cadence is, increasing that run cadence is a proven way of becoming a faster more efficient runner. To achieve an increase in your cadence, just shorten your stride length. When you shorten your stride, your feet hit the ground in a different position. Their going to land below your hips reducing the likelihood of heal striking and having less impact on your body. Now your using less energy with a shorter stride and the turnover increase will thrust you forward rather than up and down.

Increasing your cadence is not something that happens overnight. You have probably been running at your current cadence for years, and that saying it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks” comes into play. So start out just adding 5% to your current base number for a couple runs and continue to increase that number every couple runs. This could take several weeks or months, but ideally, the higher you can get your cadence the faster and more efficient you will be. I personally coach my athletes to achieve 180 -185 (SPM). Which is also the same cadence I recommend when cycling. I have seen them improve their speed and efficiency when they get to these numbers and they also seem less fatigued as the volume increases.

During a training block for your race, you will have different workouts that will call for different cadences. It is ideal to create a bandwidth for those sessions. You might have a different cadence for tempo work vs long steady runs.  Cadence must be related to speed. The faster you want to go, the faster your cadence needs to be. I like to see an increase in cadence for each level at about 5-10%. The faster the workout the quicker the cadence and pushing off the ground with more force. 

Some tips that can help you increase your cadence
·       Do workouts that are geared to a faster cadence, like track speed work.
·       Focus on smaller strides. Do one minute at a higher cadence and 3 minutes at your base cadence. As time goes on change minutes to miles.
·       If you wear earbuds, pick music that has a fast rhythm. You can also download a metronome beat to your playlist and run to the beat.
·       If your running in a group, get behind someone that has a faster cadence than you and try to run in their footsteps.
·       Running on the treadmill is also a way to focus on your cadence without distractions. The cadence/speed correlation theory comes into play by setting the speed higher.  
      
If you want to become a better more efficient runner, check your cadence! Try to add variety to your cadence and feel the difference. Record your pace and heart rate with different cadences to compare and find your best cadence. I believe overtime you’ll increase your efficiency, speed and strength!

If you have questions about your cadence or help improving it feel free to email me at kotriathloncoaching@gmail.com 

Be safe and keep training!  

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