In this article, I explain what you actually have to do with your legs so that you can easily understand how to increase running cadence. I cover this both in terms of the muscles involved, and also in terms of what it feels like when you get it right, so that you can change from a lower running cadence to a higher running cadence, on demand.
- Tried changing your running cadence before?
- What is running cadence?
- How to increase running cadence
- What does it feel like when I get it right?
- Why might I increase running cadence?
- How to measure running cadence
- How to change running cadence safely
- The 180spm misunderstanding
Tried changing your running cadence before?
Perhaps you have tried changing your running cadence before? If so, have you struggled with knowing how to increase running cadence, even after following other guides online? Or have you managed to increase cadence using artificial aids like metronomes, but then as soon as you go for a run without it, your cadence falls again? If so, this article will help you change your cadence with conscious thought, instead of just hoping it happens naturally.
Perhaps you’ve read other guides that say: “Use a high bpm metronome”, or “Run faster” or “Take quicker steps” or “Do high cadence strides”. The problem with those other guides is that they aren’t actually explaining how you are supposed to match that metronome bpm, or how to take quick steps or how to do strides with high cadence. Plus it’s possible to run faster without changing cadence, so advice to just “run faster” might give the wrong end result!
The goal of this article is to give you complete control over your cadence so you can choose any cadence you want, from your easy effort runs, all the way through to your interval rep sessions.
What is running cadence?
Running cadence is the number of steps you take per minute while running. It’s linked closely to your speed via stride length. If you want to speed up, you have to increase either a) cadence, or b) stride length. Or c) both!
If you have a stride length of exactly 1 metre, and take 160 steps per minute (160spm) for one minute, you’d cover 160 metres (160metres/minute).
If you keep stride length the same (1metre) and increase cadence to 170spm, you’ll travel further / faster in one minute, and cover 170 metres (170metres/minute).
Or if you keep cadence the same 160spm and instead increase stride length from 1 metre to 1.06 metres (6cm longer stride), via more powerful steps, you’d also cover ~170 metres (~170metres/minute).
If you increase cadence and decrease stride length at the same time, you’ll realise that your speed might not change. Higher cadence does have to equal faster running – you have control over the speed.
Note that, in general, the faster you are, the higher cadence you will require. Olympic sprinters have a cadence of 250+spm!
Therefore, a good running cadence is the one that matches you current ability, speed and running form – not just a single, magical number.
How to increase running cadence
Let’s get straight to the point. You are looking for a way to take more steps per minute. To do this, you need to piston your legs up and down faster. The main area most people need to focus on is getting the leg down faster (and thus the feet down faster). To get the legs down faster and to increase running cadence, you need to engage your glute muscles earlier and with more power. Your glute muscle is your bum muscle and the muscles down the sides of the top of the thigh. The hamstring is also needed to keep the knee a little bent, so the foot comes down instead of being thrown out in front. The hamstring is the big muscle down the back of the thigh that connects to the knee to the bum.
Many people run a bit like they walk, but faster. They swing their calf through in a kicking motion with very little glute or hamstring engagement, which leaves a straight leg extended out in front of them. They then wait for gravity to bring the body down on to that extended leg. This poor running form is not good for the knees and shins, plus it results in a very low cadence.
Watch the video and have a go straight away at home
In the important video below (4 minutes), I first demonstrate getting it right and getting it wrong on a treadmill. After that, you’ll then see me in the living room, at which point, you can copy me while I show you how to actively engage the glute, and hamstring, with simple, on-the-spot movements that you can perform at home right now! I’ll also show how you can feel the muscles activating and be sure you are using them properly. As you’ll see, you can do it with whatever clothes you are wearing right now, so get up and join in!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
In part (1) of the video, I show how the left left swings up, the thigh reaches a certain angle and then stays there briefly. Once the calf has swung forwards enough a small amount (still trailing behind), the glute engages early and pulls the thigh backwards. The calf is still swinging forwards, so the hamstring locks to prevent the knee from going straight and suddenly the calf (and thus foot) is being pushed towards the ground at speed by the thigh moving backwards. This is good.
In part (2) of the video, I show how someone with poor form might kick the calf through underneath, with no hamstring lock, which makes the thigh flip backwards without any glute engagement. Then the whole body just waits to land on the outstretched leg. This makes it hard to speed up cadence. Perhaps you, or someone you know, runs like this?
In part (3) of the video, I show how to feel the difference between firstly letting the thigh drop with gravity (you can see me holding my jeans and letting go), and then actively pulling the thigh backwards so the leg comes towards the ground really fast.
I prod my fingers into the glute (buttock) and hamstring (back of thigh) during each type to feel the muscle activate or not, plus then I show what happens if you don’t engage the hamstring at all (the calf flies out in front).
In the last bit of the video, I show running on the spot with slow cadence (tough, lots of body movement) and then with fast cadence (seems much easier and body stays still while legs move up and down).
What does it feel like when I get it right?
When you increase your running cadence successfully, it feels like you are pushing your feet down to the floor, quickly and with purpose. “Pushing” isn’t strictly right, because what’s really happening is the glute is contracting shorter fast and thus pulling the thigh backwards. Since the thigh / knee is up and forwards, that contraction swings the knee downwards in an arc which has the knock on effect of swinging the calf and foot down quickly.
As described in the end of the video above, it feels like you are landing softly and with less effort.
Then you just need to work on staying relaxed with good running posture.
Why might I increase running cadence?
Ideally, you should not focus on increasing running cadence. What you really need to do is understand how to improve running form, part of which includes earlier glute activation with powerful engagement as described above. When you get this aspect of running form dialled, your cadence will naturally increase as a side-effect.
Critically, it’s actually possible to force an increased cadence in a way that makes your running worse; here’s how (and thus what to avoid). If you take very short strides, with poor running form (little glute engagement), and without changing speed, your cadence will increase. Your running form has not improved and you are still left without power from the glutes and hamstrings. Instead, get the running form right first because that is how to improve running cadence.
How to measure running cadence
This is easy. To measure running cadence, run for 30 seconds and count how many times your left foot touches the ground. Multiply this number by four to get total number of steps per minute, which is your cadence.
Try measuring it at different efforts / speeds, so easy run pace, tempo run pace and 30 seconds fast pace.
How to change running cadence safely
Large changes in cadence will probably include a large change to your running form. If you’ve been running a certain way for your running journey so far, with a low cadence, then you’ll need to introduce any changes gradually. This is so that the muscles have time to get used to the different way they are used with minimal risk.
Note that with increased cadence, the faster steps per minute will mean your pace increases unless you take shorter steps. Don’t get carried away – keep your pace / speed under control so you don’t get tired out. If you find it hard to believe that a higher cadence doesn’t have to lead to a higher pace, try this example – you can run ON THE SPOT at either a slow cadence or a high cadence. Your pace is ZERO for both cadence, but the cadence is very different. Give it a go now.
The 180spm misunderstanding
There are a lot of people advocating that all runners should aim to run at 180spm. This is nonsense, although there are some good intentions behind it.
The mythical 180spm value came from observations of elite track endurance runners who were seen to race with at least 180spm cadence. This was taken by some to mean that to be an endurance runner (i.e. most runners that aren’t sprinters, from beginners up), you had to achieve a similarly high cadence, even as a beginner runner. However, what you really need need to be endurance runner is good running form.
Runners with a very low cadence are likely to have poor running form and need to work on their form, at which point their cadence will increase naturally.
Very slow runners don’t need as high a cadence as very fast runners. A very slow runner trying to do 180spm will likely shuffle, never learning knee drive or powerful glute engagement. Their stride length will be super short, with the only positive being soft steps. Even a good runner will have an easy run cadence that is slower than their race pace cadence
A slow runner with 150spm and poor form might find they improve their form and their cadence increases naturally to 160spm. As their fitness and speed increases over time, that 160 value might creep up some more. There’s no reason for them to feel like they’ve failed if they aren’t yet doing 180+. I run around 170-175 on very easy runs in cushioned shoes, which goes up to around 180-185 in super-minimal shoes. If I’m racing a 5K in 16 minutes, my cadence will be 190+. If I’m doing fast intervals or sprints, my cadence will be 200+.
Get out there and try your increased running cadence
Now that you know how to increase running cadence, go out and give it a try. Have you tried the example exercise in the video at home yet? If not, try it now and let us know in the comments how it felt!
