Does cadence in running really matter?

Fitness is all about metrics these days. With easy access to numbers like VO₂ max, heart variances and stride length, metrics like speed and distance are just basics. There are more details you can delve into depending on which kind of workouts you do but many of these numbers have been driven by running enthusiasts. While most of them have also spilled into general fitness and sport, cadence (pronounced kay-dns) is the one criteria that running holds onto as its magic metric.

Cadence, in running, simply translates to steps per minute and its popularity dates back more than two decades to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. What cadence does is make it simple for runners to follow a principle of reaching a “number” – one that most runners for the longest time thought was key to making sure distances are covered in time. Running coach Jack Daniels was the first to find this out when he observed runners at the games seemed to exceed “180 steps a minute”. It instantly became a magic number to chase in the running community. The shiny new standard for those sharing the world’s most popular hobby. The theory went that taking shorter and quicker steps in a bid to increase cadence could also minimise injury by reducing the load that longer strides could put on the hips and knees.

The first time I found myself curious about cadence was while training for a 5k run through a fitness watch which offered a running plan. One of the early drills involved jogging lightly for 10 minutes, followed by two quick 30-second efforts at 160–200 steps per minute. If you’re into fitness but don’t run much, cadence is a term you may never have encountered. Even if getting on the treadmill is part of your routine, those turn out to be more focused on time and speed and inclines.

Over the years, as it happens with a lot of fitness metrics, the importance of cadence has been widely debated. Its relationship with fatigue, body mechanics and performance is very complicated. Height, for instance, is believed to be a key factor: shorter people can maintain a higher cadence than taller people who have naturally longer strides. A lot of these questions were raised because the primary research most widely cited used calculations from a 100K race in 2016. The 100k was divided into 10 laps of 10k and had a flat running surface for optimal results.

Before this research, it was proven by some studies that “more the fatigue, more the cadence”. But the 2016 results proved something else: “One of the big surprises was that fatigue didn’t seem to matter. If a runner sped up, their cadence increased; if they slowed down, their cadence decreased. This is another reason why setting universal cadence goals make little sense: even Olympians have much slower cadence when they’re jogging rather than racing. But for a given speed, each runner’s cadence was essentially the same after 90K as it was after 5K,” says an Outside article titled It’s Time to Rethink the Ideal Running Cadence.

The study, Step frequency patterns of elite ultramarathon runners during a 100-km road race, published by the National Institute for Biotechnology Information, states that there is “evidence that the variability of an elite runner's SF (cadence) is linked to both speed and fatigue but not to any other characteristics of the runner.” It stresses on ‘elite runners’ throughout the study but thanks to the entry of wearables cadence has become accessible to even a casual runner. What was limited knowledge to top runners became a variable everyone could chase as a goal.

While 182 was the average cadence of every runner who took part in the 100K race, there were runners who did not cross 160 steps per minute and there were those who went up to more than 200 steps per minute and finished within minutes of each other – almost cancelling cadence out as something to swear by when it came to finishing races or calculating running health. What cadence really does is simplify running. If you want to go deeper into running, metrics like ground contact time and force distribution tell a far richer story. But for casual runners looking to understand pace and movement, cadence remains an accessible starting point. Just remember that some day, eventually, it might not matter at all.

Pulasta Dhar is a football commentator and writer.