Step it Up - The Importance of Good Running Cadence

What is Good Running Technique?

Good running technique will be something different for everyone. It's not functionally or biomechanically possible for everyone to run with the same elegance or speed. But essentially the goal is always the same - to achieve better efficiency and reduced injury risk, ultimately creating greater training consistency, more enjoyment and better performance.

Running technique doesn't need to be complex. In fact, the foundations of good technique are really quite simple. Cadence, hip posture and strike position are three key considerations - all closely intertwined. If you are looking to improve your running technique, you should focus on one of these three key elements and the benefits will be realised globally. Remember though - change does not, and should not, happen overnight. Running is a very repetitive exercise, so it takes lots of diligent skill repetition to create even a subtle change.

Much of the time the theoretical 'ideal running style' may not be physically achievable, and may actually increase your injury risk. So, you should always use the guidance and expertise of an experienced health professional to help you through making changes to your running technique. The importance of understanding your functional limitations and how they affect movement capabilities is often overlooked. A thorough biomechanical assessment with a specialist podiatrist or physiotherapist will determine your joint range of motion and functional strength, and analysis of your current gait will provide an insight into what elements of your technique could benefit from improvement.

How Cadence Impacts Running

Cadence refers to the number of steps taken per minute. The literature commonly refers to 180 steps per minute as the ideal running cadence. However, that figure doesn't take into account individual circumstances of the runner - height and leg length, any functional or biomechanical limitations, the terrain, or other aspects of running technique. So, whilst it is touted as the ideal running cadence, sometimes achieving that cadence goal is not feasible.

The most common problem - cadence is too slow. This is evident in gait as overstriding and excessive hip drop/instability. These common form faults are unfortunately prevalent amongst runners and can manifest in various ways. Form faults lead to higher injury risk, though specific risk is dependant upon a number of factors, including the runner's biomechanics and typical compensations.

Hip, knee and ankle (dorsi)flexion occur naturally during the midstance phase of gait to assist with dissipating force. However, if these movements are excessive, as occurs with overstriding, there is increased ground contact time and decreased running efficiency. As such, more muscle recruitment is required not only for stability, but also to generate power.

Broadly speaking, there is an increased risk of most overuse injuries - muscle, tendon and bone. There is a higher risk of bone stress injury for runners with restricted joint range of movement (particularly through the ankle and subtalar joint) due to increased impact forces and their inability to dissipate these forces. Conversely, runners with more mobility or poor muscle activation patterns are at greater risk of muscle and tendon injuries due to compensatory increased muscle overuse and fatigue. These statements are definite generalisations, and there is cross contamination that occurs across different risk groups and injury types.

They key message; slow cadence and subsequent form faults will significantly increase your risk of injury.

It is rare, but cadence can also be too quick. Running with excessively fast cadence is inefficient thanks to an inability to generate sufficient power and length from your stride, so excessive energy is expended to maintain speed.

Optimising Running Cadence

Cadence can be monitored in a number of ways. A vast majority of modern sports watches and heart rate straps can measure your cadence through an accelerometer, giving a relatively accurate representation of strides per minute. The old school method would involve counting your steps for a given period of time and then multiplying that out to determine strides per minute - remember if counting only when your right (or left) foot hits the ground, this number also needs to be doubled. (eg. 21 right foot steps 15sec = 42 steps 15sec = cadence 168)

A number of sports watches also offer a metronome feature. This can be set to your goal cadence, and will provide an audible beep or noise each time you are supposed to take a step - great for keeping you on task. You can also use this feature on your phone. If you usually listen to music while running, you can choose your playlist according to the song RPM. Matching the song RPM to cadence can help to subliminally encourage running at your goal cadence.

Making incremental adjustments to your cadence is the best way to approach change. Though it sounds minimal, and change of 5 steps per minute is quite significant and will take time to feel comfortable. Target a change of 5 steps per minute over a period of 4-6 weeks before stepping up again to your next incremental goal.

Improving and optimising your cadence can provide many benefits including:

- reduced prevalence of the aforementioned form faults

- reduced risk of overuse injuries

- reduced ground contact time

- improved running efficiency

- better glute and core activation

- better hip posture

Maintaining good cadence will improve your running efficiency for a number of reasons. With improved hip stability and less excessive flexion through your sagittal plane joints, there is better positioning of the hips and it becomes easier to activate stabilising core and glute muscles because they are engaged and in a more optimal position.

This more efficient movement and muscle activation, in combination with less ground contact time, means a smoother and less 'bouncy' stride, which is more efficient. Everything is working naturally and in synergy to create a balanced running technique with a decreased risk of overuse injuries as a result.

The Next Step

Running Fix offers comprehensive gait analysis sessions and packages to help you improve your running technique and your cadence. We can assess your current technique, footwear and biomechanics to determine any limitations, and then work with you to make improvements and optimise your technique - usually over a period of 6 weeks to 6 months. This will typically involve a couple of in-person or video sessions to assess technique on an ongoing basis, and the prescription and implementation of targeted strength exercises and key running drills to assist with muscle activation, and encouraging improvement.