What is the best cadence for running?

During running, different forces act on our body, from the inside (kinematic factors, movements) and from the outside (kinetic factors, forces). These have an influence on our body and can be a risk factor for an injury.

Should I increase my cadence?

Kinetic risk factors for running injuries include higher vertical ground reaction forces and peak braking forces (1) (2). Kinematic risk factors include, for example, greater hip adduction, pelvic drop, and internal hip rotation.

Several studies have shown that increasing cadence can positively contribute to reducing kinetic and kinematic risk factors.

A study by Napier et al (1) on the kinetic risk factors found that a 7% increase in cadence resulted in a 15% decrease in peak braking power. Furthermore, an increase in the stride frequency is related to a decreased ground reaction force (2) (3) and in the vertical load (4).

An increase in cadence also results in a decreased pelvic drop on the contralateral side (the lowering of the pelvis on the non-standing leg side), a decreased hip adduction and a decreased knee flexion during the stance phase (5). This in turn is linked to a reduced internal load such as a reduced load on the patellofemoral joint (kneecap-thigh) (6) (7) and the tibiofemoral joint (shin-thigh) (8), less load on the heel and metatarsal (9) and Achilles tendon (10).

Furthermore, it has been shown that a 10% reduction in favored stride length, and the associated increased stride frequency, caused less damage to the tibia (shin bone) and thus reduced the risk of stress fractures. (11)

Finally, a lab study found that if the runners were instructed to "land softer," it caused reduced ground contact strength and a 62% reduction in injury risk in novice runners. (12)

How do I increase my step frequency?

Over the years, several researchers have tried to find a method to increase the running frequency of runners and thus reduce the risk of injury. This can be done by means of a metronome (app or sometimes built into a sports watch) or with music. A recent study (13) shows that using music with a beat 7.5-10% above the current cadence can help increase cadence, even if the runner has stopped running to music, by up to 4 weeks afterwards. On average, the stride frequency increased by 8.5% and remained 7.9% higher in the following weeks without music than before the study. Heart rate and speed remained the same throughout the study.

Conclusion

There is no magic number when it comes to running cadence. Increasing the step frequency during running has a positive influence on the injury risk, especially for runners with a cadence below 160 steps per minute. An easy way to achieve this is through music with a higher beat per minute than the runner's steps per minute.

Scources

1. Gait retraining for the reduction of injury occurence in novice distance runners: 1-year follow -up of a randomized controlled trial. Chan, Zoe Y.S., et al. 2017, The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

2. Real-Time Biofeedback of Performance to Reduce Braking Forces Associated With Running-Related Injury: An Exploratory Study. Napier, Christopher, et al. 28 February 2019, Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, pp. 136-144.

3. The effect of step rate manipulation on foot strike pattern of long distance runners. Allen, Darrell J., et al. 2016, International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, pp. 54-63.

4. Influence of stride frequency and length on running mechanics: a systematic review. Schubert, Amy G., Kempf, Jenny en Heiderscheit, Bryan C. 2013, Americal Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine.

5. In-field gait retraining and mobile monitoring to address running biomechanics associated with tibial stress fracture. Willy, R.W., et al. 2015, Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports.

6. A 10% increase in step rate improves running kinematics and clinical outcomes in runners with patellofemoral pain at 4 weeks and 3 months. Bramah, Christopher, Preece, Stephen J. en Gill, Niamh. 2019, The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

7. Influence of step rate and quadriceps load distribution on patellofemoral cartilage contact pressures during running. Lenhart, Rachel L., et al. 2015, Journal of Biomechanics, pp. 2871-2878.

8. Increasing running step rate reduces patellofemoral joint forces. Lenhart, Rachel L., et al. 2014, Med Sci Sports Exerc, pp. 557-564.

9. Changes in tibiofemoral contact forces during running in responce to in-field gait retraining. Willy, Richard W., et al. 2015, Journal of Sport Sciences, pp. 1602-1611.

10. The effect of running cadence manipulation on plantar loading in healthy runners. Wellenkotter, J., et al. 2014, Int. J Sports Med , pp. 779-784.

11. Effects of foot strike and step frequency on achilles tendon stress during running. Lyght, Michael, et al. Volume 32, Journal of Applied Biomechanics, pp. 365-372.

12. Effect of stride length and running mileage on a probabilistic stress fracture model. Brent Edwards, W., et al. 2009, Aerospace Engineering Education.

13. Using beat frequency in music to adjust running cadence in recreational runners: A randomized multiple baseline design. Te Brake, Mark, et al. 2022, European Journal of Sport Sciences.