The Actual Truth about Cadence (and 180 spm)
Cadence simply means “steps per minute.” And the actual truth about cadence is that it changes depending on speed.
If you run faster, your cadence increases. If you slow down, your cadence decreases. If you start walking, your cadence drastically decreases.
Read more here: Cadence & Speed
This is the most important thing to know about cadence, but unfortunately it isn’t widely known among recreational runners.
Confusion
Unfortunately, there is some persistent misinformation in the running community that 180spm is the best cadence. “You can be a better runner if your cadence is 180spm.” or “You can avoid injuries if you increase your cadence to 180spm.” The problem with these statements is that no one is saying at what pace should we be running 180spm!
An Experiment
Recently I got on my treadmill wearing my Garmin watch so I could track my cadence. I started at a walking pace, (4.0mph which is 15min/mile or min/km) and increased the speed all the way up to 12.0mph (5min/mile or 3:06/km). I split my watch with each change in pace to get an average cadence reading at every speed.
Here are the results:
All Runners Are Different
Yes, cadence is individual. Steps per minute will depends on body type, range of motion and strength. But cadence will always increase with increased speed.
In the above table, you can see that my cadence gets up to 180spm when I’m running at a pace of 6:31per mile or 4:03per km. Some runners will have a higher cadence at 6:31 pace, and others will have lower cadence.
Importantly, many runners never touch 9.2mph on the treadmill! If someone is running relatively slowly it makes sense that their cadence may never get up to 180spm. It really depends on the person and on their speed.
An Example
One of my favourite runners is Marco Arop of Canada who specializes in the 800m run. He has a particularly low cadence, noticeably so. As a world champion, he hardly needs to increase his cadence to “be a better runner” or “avoid injuries.”
In the video linked here, all the runners have a relatively high cadence because of the speed they are running (pace is approx 3:30/mile or 2:07/km) but Arop’s is clearly an outlier compared to the others.
Injury Prevention
A quick note here, as many runners are told to increase their cadence to manage knee pain. This is because knee pain is often caused by overstriding. Overstriding is when a runner lands with their foot out in front of their body as opposed to underneath their body. Overstriding causes braking forces and pain. Taking more steps (increasing cadence) can correct overstriding in some cases. But remember that cadence and speed are naturally linked and by taking more steps you’ll likely just run faster. If you’re trying to increase cadence in order to reduce pain, run on a treadmill at a set speed and use a metronome.
Nicole Sifuentes is a full-time Running Coach for adults of all ages and abilities. She is a former professional runner and 2-time Olympian, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Read more about her services, and schedule your free coaching consultation.
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