The Ultimate Guide to Improve Run Cadence: 17 Tips From Easy To Hard
Plus bonus free 6 month training plan to get you started
Watch, read and listen to this on your next run here.
In a few days, it’s Thanksgiving in the US of A (my home country), so in the spirit of giving and the holidays, there is a free 6-month improve cadence training plan that comes with this guide. Hit me up if you have any questions, concerns, or need anything adapted, and I’ll try to see if I can do something for you.
Imagine running faster and stronger but with less effort, and all from a tiny adjustment. What is it? Increasing your run cadence – But how do you actually do it? Well, we need to go back 20 years.
How I Got Obsessed With Increasing Run Cadence
Way back in college, I ran track and had an excellent coach. One day, we were doing 200-meter repeat sprints. He saw that I was stretching my legs out and running faster at the end of each interval. I was like, “Yeah, I go faster that way.” He then said something that changed my life.
“Hey, Daren, why don’t you try shorter steps to get more power from your glutes and hamstrings instead of stretching your legs out and breaking your stride.”
I scoffed at it, but on the next interval, I tried it.
It was super awkward, but my times were slightly faster by the third one, and I felt fresh at the end.
My obsession with cadence was born from there, and I wanted to tell the world about this one metric that could potentially change the game for all runners, from the 5k to the marathon and even up to Ultramarathoners.
What You’ll Learn
I’ll first start by defining what run cadence is, why you should care about it, and how to measure your cadence.
Once we quickly get through that, we can move into the meat of it all, and I can give you 18 different ways to improve your cadence, ranging from super easy to a bit more complex and nuanced.
I’ll touch on the traps you should avoid as you look to increase your cadence later on.
In the end, I’ll show you how this plays out in the real world and give an example training plan followed by a longer-term plan to increase your cadence over six months.
And last I’ll be joined by a few running physical therapist experts to help me explain this better.
Dr. Marie Whitt / Strength Coach for Runners who’s on YouTube and Instagram.
TLDR/Ain’t Nobody Got Time For It:
Definition of run cadence and its importance
18 ways to improve cadence
Traps to avoid when increasing cadence
Real-world example and 6-month training plan
Input from running physical therapist experts
What is Run Cadence Exactly
Run cadence describes the number of steps a runner takes per minute.
It’s literally counting how many times your feet hit the ground in one minute while you’re running.
Now, why should we care about run cadence?
Three main reasons:
For Efficiency Reasons:
A higher cadence can make your running more efficient by reducing your feet’ time on the ground. Runners want to spring off the ground quickly. (possibly intro) A fast marathon runner will take 20,000 steps, and a slower marathoner will take 60,000 or more. Now, imagine if you could shave off a quarter-second per step and use that energy to spring forward. Yeah… that’s efficiency.
2. For Injury Prevention: It can help lower the risk of injuries by reducing the impact on your joints and muscles.
3. Possibly Increase Speed: Increasing your cadence can help you run faster without increasing your effort. This is a bit of a misnomer because when someone increases their cadence, they run faster, but it’s because they increase their stride length.
Maintaining speed for longer than a minute combines several things, including cadence, stride length, overall fitness, running form, economy, and strength. Increasing cadence is just one part of the formula, but it’s important because it helps you prevent injury and, again, run more efficiently, which will help you run faster overall once you train that.
Now, how do we train that? I’ll get to that shortly.
But first, we need to measure cadence.
How to Measure Your Cadence
Count Steps: Count how many times one foot hits the ground in 30 seconds and then double that number. This is way easier said than done, so use technology to help.
Technology: Many smart running watches and apps can automatically track your cadence. For the nerds, these devices use an accelerometer and algorithms to determine how many steps you take per minute.
This is way easier than counting and doing math.
Optional advanced technology—Using a foot pod like the Garmin Running Dynamics Pod, Wahoo Tickr-X chest strap, or Stryd’s power meter/foot pod will give you a crazy amount of data that is probably overkill for most people. But not for me. I have all of these devices, and I love analyzing my data. To each is their own.
But you’re not me, so let’s get to what the ideal cadence is
Ideal Cadence
There is no perfect number for everyone. While it varies from person to person, depending on factors like height, weight, running style, foot strike (forefoot, midfoot, or heel strikers), experience, speed, and surface, a lot of data suggest aiming for a cadence of around 170-180 steps per minute, but even that number has been in question as of late as
My number is between 175 and 185 bpms, but sometimes, I question that and want to get it professionally assessed in the future.
Taller runners can run at a lower cadence and be efficient, while short runners run at a higher level. Eliud kipchogee is around 190 spms for his marathon pace.
Now that you know all the basics about cadence, here are 18 ways to train and increase your cadence. They start off easy and then progress to more complex. The complexity combines how difficult it is for you to do, the gear you’ll need, etc.
Something to Consider
One complaint I’ve heard when people increase their cadence is that they are more tired, and their heart rate goes up. This is mainly because your body works harder to maintain the quicker steps, using more energy and oxygen.
Yes, this might happen initially, and there is nothing wrong with it.
A recent (ish) study found that upping your running cadence by 10% can ease the stress on your joints but also make your heart work harder, so your heart rate goes up.
All this means is that you should take it slow and let your body adjust to the quicker steps to avoid getting too tired or injured. This is why I have a 6-month cadence increase plan that I’ll share at the end.
Note—I am not your physical therapist or run coach. Take everything I say and the experts I have on moving forward as entertainment only. Consult a run-specific physical therapist to get your run form and gait assessed to see if increasing your cadence is best for you.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE IMPROVE YOUR CADENCE 6-MONTH TRAINING PLAN HERE
1. Stride Length Reduction – Easy
Focus on shortening your stride slightly while maintaining speed.
This can help naturally increase your cadence without requiring significant changes in effort or technique.
2. Run with a metronome – Easy
Run in sync with a metronome set to a specific BPM.
This could be on your watch or in your headphones.
My Garmin Forerunner and most run-specific smartwatches made in the last 4-5 years will have something like this.
I wouldn’t say I liked it. I tried vibration, audible alert, and both, and it was weird.
There are better solutions that I’ll touch on shortly, but these are simple things you can do now with low lift and effort.
3. Practice run-walk intervals – Easy
Start by running for a short time at a higher cadence, then walk to rest, repeating this cycle throughout your workout.
Watch, read and listen to this on your next run here.
4. Run with Spotify playlist – Easy/Moderate
Run with a Spotify playlist based on your taste that analyzes music around a specific BPM.
This is super easy.
Just open up Spotify (free or premium) and type your BPM of choice into the search.
Spotify will automatically create a playlist based on your music listening style.
This playlist includes music that you have listened to or would listen to, and now you can run to songs that are around that BPM.
Note: It’s not perfect.
Take it with a grain of salt.
Some songs are not at the BPMs due to many factors, like the AI misanalyzing the music or the song changing BPMs naturally, but you can delete those tracks if you don’t like it and slowly get the playlist to be beneficial for you.
5. Hill repeats – Easy/Moderate
Running uphill naturally increases your cadence.
Start with smaller, less steep hills and gradually progress to steeper ones.
6. Mindfulness and Visualization – Easy/Moderate
Spend a few minutes before each run, visualizing yourself running with a higher cadence.
During your run, periodically remind yourself to check your cadence and make adjustments as needed.
7. Cadence Reminders – Easy/Moderate
Using a watch or fitness tracker with vibration alerts set to your target cadence can provide tactile reminders during your run.
8. Get a DJ mix of songs – Moderate
This is the most granular, specific, and my current favorite.
You can pick the exact music you want and get the same steps per minute while enjoying the music.
This is the advanced version of the metronome.
Get a DJ mix that is mostly the same BPMs of songs you like/can tolerate, and then match it precisely to the BPM you want.
Drum and Bass and hip hop are best for this as the nature of the genre is around 170-190 BPMs (you need to do mental math and multiply by 2 for hip hop if it’s 85-90 BPMs).
This will require you to download an MP3 and the VLC player app on your smartphone.
You then need to open the MP3 audio file on your phone with a VLC player.
Then, every time you open the app, set the BPM to your choice.
This is my go-to option since I run 175 BPMs for my slower, easy runs and 182 for faster runs.
It’s a bit more mental bandwidth, but the specific nature of dialing it right in is what I live for.
Confused? Want more info? Want to Say Hello? - Email me directly (talk@dlakecreates.com) or respond to this email for a video of this that explains it all in more detail.
9. Use a running app – Moderate
Many apps offer cadence coaching features that provide real-time feedback on your steps per minute.
10. Cadence Counting – Moderate
During your runs, periodically count the number of steps you take in one minute.
This helps you become more aware of your cadence and encourages adjustments as needed, but it is pretty painful.
11. Barefoot or Minimalist Running – Moderate
Running with minimal or no shoes can encourage a more natural, higher cadence stride due to the increased proprioceptive feedback from the ground.
Start on grass, sand, or dirt and do very short intervals of 20-30 seconds a few times until your feet build-up.
This is not for people with Achilles, plantar, or calf issues.
12. Speed Workouts – Moderate/Hard
Incorporate interval training with short bursts of higher-speed running.
This naturally forces a quicker turnover and helps your body adapt to a higher cadence over time.
Watch, read, and listen to this on your next run here.
13. Practice high knees – Moderate/Hard
This drill encourages quick foot turnover.
Start by marching in place with high knees, then gradually speed up to a run.
14. Downhill Running – Moderate/Hard
Similar to hill repeats, running downhill can help reinforce a higher cadence as you work to maintain control and avoid overstriding.
15. Running form drills and plyometrics – Hard
Remembering what the right steps per minute feels like involves doing running form drills and plyometrics.
There are a million different plyometrics and form drill exercises you can do.
I spoke about that here, or there is a link in the show notes.
16. Strength Training for Lower and Upper Body – Hard
Focus on exercises like squats, lunges, and calf raises to build strength and power in your legs, which can help you maintain a higher cadence more efficiently.
17. Work with a professional
Hire a running coach, run physio/physical therapist to do a run form/gait analysis with video – Hard
A professional specialist can provide personalized advice and training plans to help increase your cadence safely and effectively.
Periodically recording your running form and analyzing it with the specialist can help identify specific areas for cadence and stride mechanics improvement.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE IMPROVE YOUR CADENCE 6-MONTH TRAINING PLAN HERE
Bonus Quick Overview Of the 6-Month Training Plan
We’ve gone through all the techniques, and this is where most guides like this end. OPB is not most guides, we want to transform you into someone that runs with increased cadence.
Again, like everything in life, there is a tradeoff. Increasing cadence has its pros and cons. Increase too quickly, and you increase the risk of injury. This is why I made a six-month plan and not a six-week or six-day plan.
Please adapt this as necessary, talk to a professional running medical person, and listen to your body.
Month 1: Get a Cadence Baseline
Goal: Establish current cadence and introduce cadence-focused running.
Frequency: 3-4 runs per week, 30-45 minutes per run.
Activities: Measure baseline cadence, use metronome/music-based runs, add hill repeats, and form drills (high knees, butt kicks).
Month 2: Initial Cadence Increase
Goal: Gradually increase cadence in drills by 5% for this month
Frequency: 3-4 runs per week, 35-50 minutes per run.
Activities: Continue to use metronome/music-based runs at increased cadence, interval training, hill repeats, form drills, and monitor cadence during long runs.
Month 3: Cadence Integration
Goal: Integrate the new cadence into regular running while increasing cadence in drills by 5% for the month
Frequency: 4-5 runs per week, 40-60 minutes per run.
Activities: Perform easy, tempo, and long runs at new cadence, introduce speed workouts, continue hill repeats, and form drills.
Month 4: Cadence Solidification
Goal: Maintain a new 10% higher cadence comfortably and consistently (only increase if you know your goal cadence is higher)
Frequency: 4-5 runs per week, 45-60 minutes per run.
Activities: Focus on maintaining cadence during all runs, add advanced speed workouts, continue form drills, hill repeats, and cadence checks.
Month 5: Advanced Cadence Training
Goal: Refine and optimize cadence for different running conditions.
Frequency: 5-6 weekly runs, 50-70 minutes per run.
Activities: Tailor drills for different race distances, maintain cadence uphill and during fatigue, use slow-motion video analysis, and continue all previous drills.
Month 6: Cadence Mastery and Maintenance
Goal: Achieve cadence mastery and integrate it into all runs.
Frequency: 5-6 runs per week, 50-75 minutes per run.
Activities: Maintain high cadence across all runs, perform advanced drills, use visualization and mindfulness techniques, review and adjust training.
Tips To Nail This
Consistency: Stick to monthly goals and progress gradually.
Monitoring: Use your smartwatch, app combined with a metronome/music-specific bpm app to track cadence and make sure you are at the right cadence
Adaptation: Adjust training as needed to avoid injury, and you may need to stretch this out to 9 or 12 months depending on a lot of factors
Progression: Increase drill and workout difficulty each month to suit cadence goals
DOWNLOAD THE FREE IMPROVE YOUR CADENCE 6-MONTH TRAINING PLAN HERE