Cadence: slightly shorter steps, less load on your knees

Cadence is the number of steps you take per minute. When running, it usually falls between 150 and 180, depending on the person, the speed and the terrain. It sounds like a technical detail, but it’s one of the simplest and most effective changes you can make to run lighter.

Less impact with every stride

In 2011, a team from the University of Wisconsin (Heiderscheit and colleagues) studied 45 runners on a treadmill, always at the same speed, changing only their cadence with the help of a beat.

With 5 to 10% more steps per minute, meaning slightly shorter steps:

• the knee absorbed less energy with each stride;
• at 10% more, the hip was spared as well;
• the body bounced up and down less, and the “braking” of each step went down.

A review of 10 studies (Schubert and colleagues, 2014) reached the same conclusion: more steps per minute, less impact on the joints.

You can learn it

The best news is that cadence can be trained. In a 2016 study (Willy and colleagues), runners did 8 sessions with a cue to raise their cadence. The result: the work done by the knee with each stride dropped by about 27%, and the new cadence was still there a month later.

What about 180 steps per minute?

You may have heard that every runner should take 180 steps per minute. That number comes from elite athletes in races, running very fast. For most people, the advice is simpler: raise your own cadence by 5 to 10% and see how your body responds. In the 2011 study, the average natural cadence was around 172.

Why music is the easiest way

Changing your cadence on your own is hard: you count steps, get distracted and slip back into your old habit. With a beat in your ears, you just step in time. The researchers themselves used a beat to guide the runners.

In OmniBeat, every beat is a step. Want slightly shorter steps? Raise the BPM with a single tap, without changing the pitch of the vocals, and let the music lead.

A tip to get started: don’t try to run faster. Take slightly shorter steps, in time with the beat, and feel your run get lighter.

These studies measured the impact on the joints, which went down consistently. Long-term studies are still needed to measure the direct effect on injuries. If you feel pain, see a professional.