Running Cadence: Should You Change Your Running Form?

You've probably heard: “Your cadence should be 180.”

But should it?

Not necessarily.

What is cadence?

Running cadence simply describes how many steps you take per minute.

It varies between runners and can also change depending on running speed.

There isn't one universal cadence that everyone needs to achieve.

When might we change it?

A small increase in cadence can sometimes be useful when trying to modify particular running loads.

For example, it may be considered when someone significantly overstrides or when we're trying to alter loading at a symptomatic structure.

But it should have a reason.

Don't fix something just because it looks different

There is enormous variation in running technique.

Two excellent runners can look completely different.

A running assessment shouldn't be about making everybody look the same.

Instead, we ask whether a particular characteristic is actually relevant to:

• symptoms
• performance
• efficiency
• injury rehabilitation

Running form isn't everything

Technique can matter, but so can:

• training load
• strength
• recovery
• previous injury
• sleep
• footwear
• overall conditioning

Changing cadence without addressing an obvious strength or training-load issue may have limited value.

This matches the approach in our existing running-assessment material: there is no single perfect style, and movement changes should be made because they are relevant rather than simply because something looks different.

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