It is normal for your running to feel more awkward and difficult after changing your cadence, but your body will adjust quickly. When adjusting your cadence, make sure you are not just increasing your pace. An easy way to prevent just running faster is to run on a treadmill and to use a metronome app on your phone to give you a target pace.
After a couple of runs, you can try increasing your cadence another 5-10 steps per minute and see how it feels after a couple of runs. Try to find the cadence that works best for you. If running feels worse after increasing your cadence a second time, then go back to the lower cadence. Each runner has an optimal cadence that works for them. For some people, 168 is their optimal cadence, others feel better at faster cadences. Don’t be afraid to experiment to find out which feels best for you.
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Here are some resources used for this blog:
Anderson, L. M., Bonanno, D. R., Hart, H. F., & Barton, C. J. (2020). What are the Benefits and Risks Associated with Changing Foot Strike Pattern During Running? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Injury, Running Economy, and Biomechanics. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 50(5), 885–917. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01238-y
Brindle, R. A., Taylor, J. B., Rajek, C., Weisbrod, A., & Ford, K. R. (2020). Association Between Temporal Spatial Parameters and Overuse Injury History in Runners: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 50(2), 331–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01207-5
Ceyssens, L., Vanelderen, R., Barton, C., Malliaras, P., & Dingenen, B. (2019). Biomechanical risk factors associated with running-related injuries: A systematic review. Sports Medicine, 49(7), 1095–1115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01110-z
Neal, B. S., Barton, C. J., Gallie, R., O’Halloran, P., & Morrissey, D. (2016). Runners with patellofemoral pain have altered biomechanics which targeted interventions can modify: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Gait & Posture, 45, 69–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2015.11.018
2 Responses
Great article about running from your colleague, Alex Ewart. We will surely share it with our daughter and her husband who just finished the Jamestown triathlon sprint.
I, too, will try shortening my stride while going on exercise walks. Maybe it will alleviate the intermittent pain in my knee and hip and allow me to increase my daily number of steps…..to be continued.
Hope those tips and trick help immensely. Thanks, as always, for reading!