Optimal Running Cadence
Running cadence refers to the number of times one leg strikes the ground each minute. Elite runners typically have a cadence of 90-95 (measured on one leg) or 180-190 total steps per minute. The goal of running is to project the body horizontally. Too much vertical movement slows down cadence, and increases the impact on the body.
The mistake most beginning runners make is over striding. As their foot strikes the ground it is in front of the body, rather than under the pelvis. One test to try is to take a big step forward on your right foot. Notice the braking feeling as the foot absorbs the ground force and slows down the body. Now try shortening the step and keeping the pelvis over the foot. The natural reaction is forward momentum, not braking or stopping.
According to polar cadence can predict marathon times. Running computers can be set to monitor cadence. Practicing shortening your stride and and increasing your leg turn over to match your goal time will help you acheive your marathon goal.
80 strides/minute = 4 hour marathon
85 strides/minute = 3:30 marathon
88 strides/minute = 3 hour marathon
These are general guidelines. Taller runners tend to have slower cadence. Measure your current cadence. Play around with increasing it and see what feels good to your body. Faster cadence means less impact on the body and fewer overuse injuries.
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9 comments:
I never paid attention to cadence until recently and have been actively monitoring my turnover lately. I was around 80 when I first start measuring it, and now I have been able to get it to 85 to 87. The other day during a speed workout, I was at 94. So my question is, should your strides be the same no matter how fast you are running, or as the faster you go, should that number increase as well? Also, my speed workout was on a treadmill if that means anything.
Think about it this way, an elite runner can turn 180 strides in a minute and cover about 400m in that minute, you may cover 300m in that same minute with the same cadence. They are faster because they can cover more ground per stride. So more strides may make your slower and not faster.
The reason shorter strides work better at reducing vertical movement is that you produce less force per stride so the braking force is less, but they may be under striding and still not produce very much horizontal movement or cover very much ground.
the easy way to prevent over striding and better absorb the forces of the vertical movement is to not let the foot stall out in front of the body before contacting the ground, so that you don’t bounce from foot to foot.
Going faster is about covering ground not about faster turnover. A toddler has a fast turnover but doesn’t cover much ground per stride.
On a treadmill you want to go faster as the belt speeds up, but once again the biggest problem is that if you don’t run well on the ground you won’t run well on a treadmill. But the treadmill can be great for improving your running actions which will also improve your ground speed.
Anyone having a gait analysis done, look for one thing, does your foot stall out in front of your body before contacting the ground. If the answer is yes, then you need to correct that issue first. Or is your foot moving backwards towards your body as it moves forward before contacting the ground.
Thanks for the great information. I spent a lot of time today researching cadence on the internet and it is starting to make sense to me. I like when I find new ways to improve because you can only run so many miles…
It is all about balance for you, The right stride length and cadence for you. You have to find where the two intersect for to produce the best results. Anything else is wasteful and will produce less the optimal results and produce a lot of pain and frustration.
Please don’t take what I say as going against what Lisa is saying. The advice is good advice. Just be sure to understand that a lot is at play here.
Just as those studies talk about 180 to 190, I think Bob Kennedy went from 160 to 190 when he ran his 12:58 and Bob was an elite runner at 160. I think some of the super elite have turned as high as 200 and that takes a lot of effort and energy. That is what the sub elite runners misses in their training plans, the energy that it takes to move your feet at a high rate of turnover. But that is what running is about putting your feet back down to the ground. They will come off the ground but you have to put effort into putting them back down to the ground. You may say they will come down to the ground by themselves, that is not true becuase your body is falling and they are falling as a unit, the goal of putting them back to the ground to to stop your body from following. Which is how you lessen the vertical bounce.
But you must find the right pattern for you. Which is why cadence is a good thing to figure out, that is also why you have to be efficient by training the Central Nervous System (CNS) via striders, fartleks and many other drills.
Even with Elite 100m sprinters, Best pattern is 44 strides, now think about it in 1 minute you are talking about 256 strides. No way to maintain it for 60 seconds. In races that they run between 10.00 and 10.10 could be one stride to many of to few. It makes that big of a difference. So the goal becomes how to make those 44 strides faster.
So all runners from joggers to sprinters to distance runners have the same goal of how to make their feet move faster.
Adarian,
Are you saying that increasing your cadence may not make you faster?
Are you saying that the reduction of vertical movement and increasing the speed at which ground is covered makes you faster?
Are you saying that Bob Kennedy was elite at 160 and became even faster to run 12:58?
I’m just trying to understand how to get faster. I know that speed drills help. I wonder what your opinion is about trying to increase cadence, whether trying to reach a certain number is important or just letting your body find a cadence that feels right as the result of speed work?
I think you have to find what works for you. It is about balance.
Some people think that increasing cadence is being quicker, but all they are doing is taking smaller strides, so they are covering less ground, which yes is making you slower. If done properly and it matches your body type and strength level yes it can make you faster. But faster in this case means more efficient so that you use less energy and hold pace longer before slowing down. But if you switch to this style of training, you have to understand how to train using cadence. It rally takes a lot of energy to keep your feet moving at a set cadence.
Correction on Bob the story goes that he went from 170 to 190. but yes he was an elite athlete before switching to 190.
I would still be willing to beat that you limits are in your arm and hand movement.
This may help
Stride length is the distance the center of gravity travels between each foot
contact.
Stride Frequency
Stride Frequency is the number of strides taken per unit of time.
Stride time is the time it takes to complete one stride (time of
support and time of nonsupport)
All of the above are interdependent but
arms lead legs in tempo and range, so this becomes the limiting factor on making progress in speed.
So I think it can help yes, but it is not easy to master.
Thanks. You’ve shed some light on the subject. It makes sense that we all have our genetics to work with. What may be optimal for one person may not feel natural to another.
Update to this,
cadence and stride length go with each other, as one go the other goes in the opposite direction.As you increase your stride length, your cadence will decrease and as you decrease your stride length you cadence will increase.
The real trick is maintaining or increasing foot recovery time as you increase or decrease your stride length.