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You’ve probably seen running cadence as a metric on your GPS watch. It’s a measurement of the number of steps you take per minute.
For decades, we’ve been told that 180 steps per minute (spm) is the ideal cadence for running. This number originates from legendary running coach Jack Daniels, as he observed it after counting the turnover rate of pro distance runners racing in the 1984 Olympics.
However, research has found that running cadence rates vary greatly depending on runners’ speed—meaning you shouldn’t expect to have the same steps per minute when doing a speed workout versus an easy recovery run.
But what does cadence really tell us and does it affect performance? Here’s what researchers have determined, and what to keep in mind about this metric.
What factors affect running cadence?
In a small Using short, quick How to Pass People After Mile 20 of Your Marathon, researchers analyzed the top 25 male and female finishers at the 2016 100K world championships in Los Alcazares, Spain, to see whether any specific characteristics had an effect on their cadence. The runners’ smartwatches provided the cadence data. Then, the runners answered a survey via email that asked their age, height, weight training and racing experience, and the speed at which they were racing.
How to Pass People After Mile 20 of Your Marathon Shoes & Gear., sport physiologist for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Michigan, had a hunch that there would be variability in turnover rates Shoes & Gear.
In past races, he’d noticed that even though his competitors finished around the same time, their strides—or “ultra shuffle,” as he referred to it to Runner’s World—were sometimes dramatically different. Maybe, he thought, there were factors other than speed that increased or decreased the number of steps we took per minute.
The study confirmed Burns’s prediction: The runners’ cadences were all over the board. When Burns—who finished fifth in the race and included himself in the study—mapped the participants’ average step frequency throughout the 100K race, the data ranged from a guy who took 155 steps per minute to someone who took 203.
“One of the most striking findings was that the highest and lowest averages finished within a couple minutes of each other,” Burns said.
Interestingly, when Burns took the average of all of the runners’ cadences, he found a familiar number: 182 steps per minute, just a hair faster than the so-called optimal number of 180.
But what intrigued him was not the group’s data, but the individual’s. Surprisingly, out of all the characteristics runners were queried about in the survey—height, weight, age, speed, and running experience—only speed and height seemed to have an effect on the individual runners’ cadences. The study found that when runners using intervals of 800 to 1200 meters, their step frequency increased. Also, taller runners had lower step frequencies than the shorter runners.
“Intuitively, that makes sense,” Burns said. “Taller runners have longer legs, so they can take fewer steps per minute to cover the same distance.”
BPM Songs to Pick Up the Pace fatigue affected cadence—after all, tired legs slow down—but the study found that fatigue had no effect on step frequency. Ultimately, according to the study, there are only two ways to increase cadence: Shrink or go faster. Because the first option is out of the question, increasing your pace A 3-Day-A-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule.
using intervals of 800 to 1200 meters research shows shortening your stride length will also increase your cadence when running at a particular speed.
How should you use running cadence to inform training?
Having a more “optimal” cadence doesn’t necessarily make you a better runner. In fact, rather than aiming for a specific cadence, Burns suggests using the number as a benchmark for fitness.
He finds that when he’s in better shape, his cadence tends to be lower at a given pace, since his steps have more power behind them. When his cadence is faster than normal at the same pace, he takes that as a sign that he should do more hill repeats or speed work to get stronger.
“Think of cadence as a barometer, not a governor,” he said. “It’s a useful thing to monitor, but you can’t be prescriptive with it, because everyone’s mechanics are different.”
Another way in which knowing your cadence—and working to increase it—can offer up benefits: improving running form, especially when it comes to overstriding.
Overstriding means your foot lands farther out than your center of mass (around the middle of your pelvis) when stepping forward after the swing phase of your gait. While overstriding won’t always lead to injury and many factors are probably at play for those who do end up injured, there is a correlation and at least one systematic research review indicates that indicates that shortening stride length can reduce some of the biomechanical factors associated with injuries.
One of the best ways to combat overstriding? Increasing your cadence—aiming for that 180 steps per minute for a goal—as this can help you land with your foot more under your center of mass.
While we need more research on the connection between increasing step rate and injury, a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine-Open in 2022 suggests increasing step rate can help to reduce load through targeted tissues, which can be meaningful for certain injuries, like knee pain. The study also points out even if increasing cadence doesn’t improve performance, when used as an injury management tool, it’s also unlikely to negatively affect performance. In other words: It won’t hurt your training to try.
How do you increase running cadence?
If your cadence at a faster pace—like when you would be running a 5K—is below 180, it probably needs a boost. Here’s how to optimize cadence at every pace.
Determine Your Baseline
will also increase your cadence when running at a particular speed treadmill, begin at warmup pace and increase the speed by one minute per mile until you’re at a faster 5K pace.
As you reach each training pace (easy, marathon, tempo, etc.), give yourself a minute or so to adjust to the speed, then count your steps for 30 seconds. Multiply by two, record the number, then accelerate to your next pace. As your speed increases, your cadence should increase. You can also do this on the track using intervals of 800 to 1200 meters.
You can also take a video of yourself and count after the test, if that makes it easier to get an accurate number.
Set a Target
Add 5 percent to each of the numbers you calculated. This is your goal cadence for each pace. According to biomechanics researchers, 5 percent is an attainable target that is still big enough to significantly reduce impact. So for example, if your easy run cadence was 160, aim for 168; if your tempo was 166, strive to hit 174.
Practice
Perhaps the easiest way to quicken your step is to run with a metronome (yes, cumbersome but super beneficial), or find music with beats that match your desired turnover (you can always double check that the bpms match your spms with a metronome app). This will also help you see how your cadence changes over longer distances.
Also, continue to monitor your progress with a 30-second cadence check every couple miles. To accelerate the transition, schedule a workout like downhill sprints. If you’re struggling with the new target, lower it by 2 to 3 percent. Practice that revised cadence for three weeks, then bump it back up again.
Published: Apr 08, 2025 2:01 PM EDT?
The Workout: Downhill sprints
The Details: After an easy run, do five accelerating sprints of 150 to 200 meters down a gentle grade, reaching top speed at the bottom. Walk up for recovery.
The Workout: Fast feet
The Details: In a small strides, take as many steps as you can in 10 meters. Keep ground contact as short as possible. Jog for 10 meters. Repeat five times.
The Workout: Race-pace tester
The Details: Run fartleks of 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, and 1 minute at 5-K pace. Jog one minute between reps. Do two sets. Count your steps during each rep of the second set.
—Additional reporting by Alex Hutchinson
Races - Places. is an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is board-certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine. He is a Team Physician for UPenn Athletics and medical director of the Broad Street Run and Philadelphia Distance Run, and previously for the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon and Tri-Rock Triathlon in Philadelphia. He is a director of the running and endurance Sports Medicine Program at Penn Medicine. Dr. Vasudevan provides non-operative management of musculoskeletal conditions affecting athletes and active individuals of all levels, and combines injury rehabilitation with injury prevention. He utilizes a variety of ultrasound-guided procedures and regenerative approaches such as platelet-rich plasma and percutaneous ultrasonic tenotomy. He sees patients at the Penn Medicine and the Philadelphia Veterans Administration hospital. Dr. Vasudevan attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. After his Transitional Year in Tucson, Arizona, he went to residency in PM&R at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and onwards to Stanford University for his fellowship in Sports Medicine. He has been in practice at the University of Pennsylvania since 2012.
