By K10 Patel / Nov 16th, 2023
Cadence is a tool you can use to measure your running performance. It is one of several parameters you can track to see how you are improving over the course of time. Most fitness watches automatically track your cadence based on your stride length and your speed; however, cadence can also be measured manually.
What is Running Cadence?
It is important to understand what running cadence means to use it as a running performance metric. Quite simply, it is the number of steps you take when you run. Also explained as the number of times your feet hit the ground while running. It is typically measured over time in minutes. For example, if I told you that my running cadence is 160 spm, this means that every minute I take 160 steps. SPM is the units for running cadence measurement which stands for steps per minute or strides per minute. Some fitness watches may refer to cadence as stride rate which is the same thing.
In general, shorter runners have a higher cadence than taller runners. Let’s take Lionel Messi as an example for a shorter runner since he is the same height as me standing at 5’-7”. If you are a football fan and have noticed him play in Barcelona, PSG, or Inter Miami matches, he takes small steps but takes so many of them while he is running off the ball. Lionel Messi has a high cadence when compared to much taller individuals such as Erling Haaland who is 6’-4” with a lower cadence than Messi.
How to Measure Running Cadence?
These days most fitness watches will automatically provide you with your cadence after you complete your running workout.
If you have an older fitness watch that does not track such metrics, manually measuring cadence is easy. Run for 30 seconds and take a stopwatch with you. During the 30 second time span, count the number of times your feet hit the ground. Multiply that step count by two to arrive at your running cadence in units of ‘spm.’ You can always run for the full minute and calculate your steps during that time span as well to come up with a cadence number.
Running for the full minute can confirm that your cadence you calculated using your 30-second run is correct.
How to Improve Running Cadence?
If you are on a long-distance run, you are trying to conserve all the energy you have. This means that you want to be as energy efficient as possible. Improving your cadence means increasing your cadence – This is more energy efficient than increasing your stride length because over the course of a long run, I tend to decrease my stride length as my running distance increases.
A lot of runners tend to struggle to keep the same stride length in Mile 1 as in Mile 10. Even if the stride length is 5% smaller at Mile 10 than Mile 1, it still slightly decreased. It is difficult to maintain consistent stride length during an entire race. For this reason, increasing cadence is easier than increasing stride length. If you run much shorter distances or are an elite runner where you specifically strength and hill train to increase your stride length, you may disagree with my objective.
If increasing your cadence is one of your goals to improve your running performance, then you can set a goal of increasing your cadence by up to 15%. I will not say it’s impossible but increasing your cadence beyond a 15% goal is extremely difficult. To put that into perspective, I have a natural cadence of about 170 spm. Increasing this cadence by 15% means eventually improving to about 195 spm which is no small task.
Regardless of where you are on the cadence spectrum and what you want to improve to, it will take a lot of practice over a prolonged period of time. I recommend splitting up your goal into 4 or 5 small cadence improvements. For example, if I’m at 170 spm and want to get to 190 spm, I would split my 20 spm improvement goal into 4 baby goals of 5 spm improvements. I would execute my running workouts to achieve a 175 spm cadence consistently. Once I master that, I would take the next baby step and practice running at a 180 spm cadence and so forth until I reach 190 spm.
What is a Good Cadence Number?
Elite Runner > 185 spm
High-Performance Runner = 176 – 185 spm
Average Runner = 155 – 175 spm
Poor Runner < 155 spm
The above cadence ranges are based on my judgment with most runners falling in the range of the Average Runner.
To put the Elite Runner range into perspective, professional marathon runners have a cadence between 185-200 spm. To get a cadence in the upper 190s is very impressive and your physical fitness level would be in extremely good shape.
If you are in the High-Performance Runner range, you are in very good shape and ahead in fitness than most of us.
If you are in the upper portion of the Average Runner range, then you are in good shape. If you are on the lower portion of the Average Runner range, then you have work to do to improve your running form and overall fitness. This shouldn’t discourage you from running but try to maintain consistent running workouts every week to work on your fitness.
Poor Runner category are runners with a cadence of less than 155 spm, it will be beneficial for you to focus on running form as the primary goal. It is likely that you are a runner whose stride lengths are long which can increase chances for an injury due to repetition of extra force you are putting on your body.
Final Thoughts
Infrequent runners who sprinkle in the occasional run simply to mix up fitness activities may not care about cadence at all. But if you are a consistent runner or somebody who focuses on cardiovascular fitness, cadence is an important metric that measures performance. For any runner that has a running goal, knowing your cadence is important. Increasing it by 5% to 10% is a tough but manageable goal If you are one of those who is trying to improve cadence, increasing your steps per minute is achievable by speed and strength workouts over a prolonged period. Keep working at it and your workouts with pay dividends in the long run.