Can increasing running cadence prevent injuries?

Question

Running injuries can indeed be a problem for every runner. One of the possible solutions that I’ve heard is to focus on your running cadence, but I have more questions than answers – How is running cadence related to injuries? What is the optimal running cadence? In this article I’ll attempt to clarify some of these problems as a theory first, and then when it comes to practice it may turn out that the problems are more intricate than expected. But first, let’s talk about cadence. If you’re running and feel pain, it’s usually in your Achilles tendon, calves, shins, or knees. I know that the beginner runners are often discouraged by such injuries and may even feel uncertain and avoid running altogether.

Answer 1

Of course, if you increase the running cadence the chances of getting injured decrease. This is so, because there is less likelihood of overstriding and the foot lands under the flexing knee, allowing perhaps for a lighter heel or gentle midfoot strike. This reduces the stresses that need to pass through the shins and the knees which helps with preventing injuries.

Comments

I play this content with 2x speed, and still feel it's too long. You should fix your content's cadence I think

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The issue for me is increased cadence usually increases my heart rate beyond zone 2. Zone for most of my runs.

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4 weeks of metronome training has helped me increase my cadence by almost 10%

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What I have noticed with fixing my cadence is that I started running more efficient instantly. Because you focus on smaller and more controlled steps beneath you. Your upper leg is used to lift up your leg forward, while the lower leg is to slightly catch yourself and push off slightly (or more depending on your running pace). The trick is to lift up that foot (and knee) ever so slightly more and it should feel effortless in the right pace. To pick up pace my upper body becomes ever more so important to get this fluidity and makes it feel much easier to settle in the right, faster pace. Another thing overlooked imo is having your core engaged and keeping your back straight (not hollow or stooped forward). This gives you the right posture, better and easier to swing your legs right and gives you more support from your upper body swing. All this togethered with breathing controlled really upped my running speed without much effort.

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At my height of 6'01" ~ 185cm, with long legs, my runs average cadence 160 any more than that I am racing! I struggle with the idea cadence should be this or that. A short person (short pendulum) a 170-180 cadence makes sense. I do agree with raising your leg higher makes a big difference but it takes practice. Great content as usual!

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Thanks for putting this content together, James! You explain the leg mechanics better than most I have seen. One question I can't find an answer to: is there any correlation between an individual's height and their ideal cadence? I am 6' 3" and really struggle to get my cadence much above 170. Do longer legs mechanically affect the amount of steps per minute that are possible/feasible?

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I really enjoy this channel and the advice is excellent but, somehow, much of it just doesn’t reflect my own experience. I’m now 71 and I’ve been running as a method of maintaining fitness for well over 40 years. The trouble is that before I owned a running watch I had no idea about cadence or stride length, just time and distance (estimated at that). Since I’ve owned a running watch I’ve discovered that my cadence is 188-190 no matter what speed I’m running. I can look back to several years ago when I was running quickly compared to now (sub two hour half marathons) and my cadence was 188. 5 years ago my running really dropped off and I was running 12 minutes miles. Again 188 cadence. Now I’ve improved again and am running inside 10 minute miles. Same cadence. To be clear, I can see from my charts that I do increase cadence at certain points, such as to speed up or go uphill, but then I settle back so the average is maintained.

Just realised I’ve commented on the earlier content I was reading to do with running form.

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What if you have >180 cadence but very low knee drive? A fast shuffle...  Should you work on lifting the knee in this case?

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I tried this and my calves were extremely sore after! That either means I'm doing something wrong, or I was doing something wrong, haha. Is that normal? My pace was slower too, but I think my cadence dropped a little bit. Definitely felt lighter/less impact on each step. Not easier yet, and heart rate is still high.