Cadence 2 : Running

Cadence - Running

We have looked at cadence for cycling and how increasing cadence can lead to less injury, a more efficient pedalling style, and a quicker recovery. But can the same techniques be applied successfully to running?

For those who went to La Santa earlier this year and did Brad’s running drills session (based on the Dr Romanov ‘Pose Running Method’), you’ll remember that one of the key sessions was increasing running cadence.

Watch any professional marathon runner and you’ll see that they have a high stride rate (running cadence), normally around 80-100 strides per minute. These guys are consistently clocking sub-4:30 minute miles so they must be doing something right!

The same principles apply to running cadence as they do to cycling cadence – just replace pedal rpm with stride rate (cadence), and gear with stride length.

Imagine running up a flight of stairs taking big leaps and 2 to 3 stairs at a time (low cadence and
long stride length). You may seem to move rapidly but you’ll be knackered quickly, recovery will take a long time, and there will be lots of lactic acid in the legs from pushing hard against the big forces you needed to overcome. Try the same thing again running one step at a time but with a higher cadence (high cadence and low stride rate) – quick, less lactic acid, easier recovery. Bonus.

In fact, as running puts the most pressure on (and causes most damage to) our joints and muscles, increasing cadence so you take smaller steps more quickly should again reduce the probability of injury by reducing the force (‘pounding’) on the legs with each foot strike.
By quickening our running cadence we also start to move towards the ‘Pose Method’ of running:
foot strike is more underneath the body. rather than out in front (less braking action); and the foot lands and takes off again with less time spent in contact with the ground (less friction).

Obviously, there’s a lot more to the Pose Method than just increasing running cadence but it’s a pretty good start!

Same thing applies to running up hills: we can approach the hill with a high cadence, hit the slope, then maintain the cadence but shorten the stride. This means that we will be travelling slower up the hill but we maintain that all-important rhythm, as we come off the top of the hill, we can again increase stride length but keep the same cadence to increase speed.
[Speed = Stride Length x Cadence]

To be honest, it’s all pretty logical, really. Increasing cadence and reducing stride length accordingly keeps you more aerobic for the same speed. Like cycling, you can introduce higher running cadence during the base training phase for longer and longer periods until all of your running is done at high cadence.

In summary, bike and running cadence, along with gear selection and stride length, are critical to maintaining aerobic conditions in the body during exercise. Including high cadence work in your training is an easy way to reduce your race times for free.

Original Author : Mike Potts