Cadence, Stride Length and your Running Speed.

Is it more advantageous to have long legs or a short stride?

Last Sunday, while I was out for my long run, I caught up with two runners who were jogging together. They were avidly chatting, enjoying themselves, absorbed in each other's company and the run. One runner was shorter than the other and her legs were moving ten to the dozen. She was taking short strides but had a quicker turnover of feet while the other runner was bounding along next to her with larger strides and a slower turnover of feet.

Despite their differences, both were managing to keep pace together, without issue. You would have thought that this wouldn't have been possible. One would have felt rushed and the other too slow to be comfortable, but it is, because your running speed is simply the combination of these two:

Running Cadence (SPM) x Stride Length = Running speed

Therefore, two runners can be pacing each other at the same speed, but with very different cadences and stride lengths. Runner A with short stride and high cadence and Runner B with longer stride and slower cadence.

Everyone has a natural cadence and stride they gravitate towards and while it’s often used as a performance metric, the latest studies suggest that perhaps we’ve been too focused on hitting a target running cadence. Despite what running gurus tell us, 180 SPM is not necessarily achievable or the optimal running cadence for all of us.

Your running cadence is affected by many different things – including your body composition, your running style, and the type of workout you’re doing. Different types of runs will have different cadences. When in marathon training, for example, your long runs will have a different cadence to your speed work.

The figure of 180 steps per minute was first suggested as optimal by a legendary running coach, Jack Daniels who observed elite runners reaching 180 -200 SPM during the 1984 Olympics. Here’s how he explained running cadence in his book, Running Formula:

“One of the first things I teach new runners is some basics about running cadence, or stride rate. Almost all elite distance runners (both men and women) tend to stride at about the same rate: 180 or more steps per minute…The main change that occurs as runners go faster is stride length; the faster they go, the longer the stride becomes, with little change in rate of leg turnover.”

RunnersWorld.co.uk cited a study by author and ultra-marathoner Geoffrey Burns. He conducted a piece of research to see what actually affected individuals’ turnover rates and whether monitoring our own cadence might make us better runners. He studied the top 25 male and female finishers of a 100 km race in Spain, and sent a questionnaire to participants asking their height, weight, age, speed, and running experience. Cadence data was taken from the participants' smart watches.

The outcome of the study showed that the participants' cadence ranged from 155-203 SPM, averaging at 182 SPM. Information from the questionnaire showed that only speed and height had an effect on the individual runners’ cadences. It found that when runners picked up the pace, their step frequency also increased. He noted that taller runners had lower step frequencies than the shorter runners. This intuitively makes sense as taller runners have longer legs, so they can take fewer steps per minute to cover the same distance.

Burns found that there was no slowing of cadence as the runners tired. If anything, the cadence increased during the last leg of the run. As we get tired towards the end of our run, our form often starts to deteriorate. Most of the time we don’t notice the changes. In an attempt to maintain pace our body adapts naturally by automatically shortening our stride and increasing our cadence. This being so, maybe we should focus on metrics such as RPE, heart rate zone training, or Vo2 Max and speed training rather than using cadence to rate our running performance.

Another important point about having a faster cadence is pointed out by Active.com who describes how paying attention to your cadence can keep you injury free:

“A number of studies have suggested that a faster running cadence helps to adjust a runner's form, and in turn, may lead to fewer injuries. In a recent study, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the biomechanics of step rate were analysed. Researchers monitored three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics in 45 healthy, recreational runners and paid special attention to the hip, knee and ankle joints. They found that slight increases in stride cadence led to significant reductions in loading on the knee and hip joints, which, they hypothesise, might help prevent some of the most prevalent running injuries.”

Put simply, having a quicker turnover of feet is beneficial for running form. It has been shown that a quicker cadence generally leads a runner to strike mid-foot. This decreases the impact forces and stress on your knees, hips and lower back. You will inevitably reduce your ground contact time and cover more distance in a shorter period of time making your running form more efficient. The more economically we can run, the faster we are.

My efforts at maintaining cadence for a 30 min run.

So there are advantages to increasing your cadence, even if you’re just a casual runner and not concerned about your times. Paying attention to your running cadence will still pay dividends as it can help you avoid injuries.

If you are interested in increasing your cadence, there are a few ways to do this. It's important to note, please don’t try to jump from 150 to 180 SPM straight away. You’ll end up with an injury!

Find out what your current SPM is and use that as a benchmark for increasing it in 5% increments. Once you can comfortably maintain a 5km pace at your new cadence then add another 5% and repeat the process. Also, it’s best not to try to increase your cadence during your speed sessions, keep it for your long, easy run.

Some smart watches have a metronome function that you can set for a specific beat. Personally, I'd find that a bit boring but I have run with others who like it.

Another option is to run to a beat. Music is actually a very powerful way to increase your steps-per-minute. There have been many different studies on music and running cadence and all have led to the same conclusion: That your brain is inclined to sync your footsteps to anything with a repetitive beat… train tracks, the person stomping loudly next to you, and of course music. Using a service like GetSongBPM.com, you can build a playlist of music you like that follows your target SPM. To find your BPM, divide your target SPM in half and use that number in your BPM search. For example, if you are targeting 170 SPM, search for 85 beats per minute (BPM). This way, one foot will strike on each beat.

My opinion from reading into this topic is that while there are undoubted benefits of increasing your cadence, it doesn't define your success as a runner and I feel it's important to recognise the best running cadence is one that lets you enjoy running without injury no matter how tall, short or speedy you are... However, focusing on increasing your cadence (should you wish too), could help you achieve that PB you’ve been chasing!

Happy running!