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Does Your Cadence Really Matter?
The Significance and Practical Insights for Runners
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If you are reading this then you are more than likely interested in running. I’d assume you also have an understanding of the term cadence or stride rate (SR) and what it means.
If you don’t then let me break it down. Simply put, cadence is how many times your feet strike the ground per minute when running.
Now, lots of people have heard that 180 is the magic number and will sell their pension schemes to be able to hit that number, but might ask yourself… WHY is it so important?
The relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand
The first time athletes started to pay more attention to their cadence dates back to the 1984 Olympics and Dr Jack Daniels (not the whisky guy……), who noticed that in the track events of longer than 800m, only one athlete had a cadence of less than 180.
Photo by: Joshua Hearnden
There is a relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand. The higher the cadence, the greater the demand on the cardiovascular system – however you get the benefit of less musculoskeletal stress on the body.
The lower the cadence, the less the demand on the cardiovascular system but the greater the musculoskeletal stress.
A good way to picture this is to think about going for a cycle. If you are in a high gear at slow RPM, you will tire much quicker than someone peddling in a lower gear at a higher RPM at the same speed.
Running cadence in elite athletes
The caveat to this whole cadence discussion is that you need to be properly conditioned to maintain the higher Cadence or RPM. If you are unconditioned, you will not have the cardiovascular fitness to be able to maintain the higher cadence numbers.
Most elite athletes tend to have a short forward stride and long posterior strides whereas we tend to see the opposite being true in recreational runners who over stride and have short posterior strides.
This will create a lower cadence but also generate greater eccentric stress on the hamstrings, elicit less glute activation and cause increased “breaking forces” giving a lower running economy, greater ground reaction forces and with that, an increased risk of injury.
So, should you be targeting 180?
Running cadence: is 180 the ultimate goal?
Not necessarily – There are studies that suggest an element of self-selection, meaning as runners we will naturally select the most efficient stride length and rate for our bio-mechanics based on many factors like weight, conditioning, speed, terrain etc.
From spending a lot of time looking at runners’ cadence, the majority of non-elites have a cadence between 150-170.
Focussing on increasing your fitness and form should come as the first starting point as without good cardiovascular fitness it will be incredibly difficult to maintain a higher cadence (you only need to look at how runners form breaks down in the Dubai Marathon at the 35km mark compared to the 5km mark).
Cadence will naturally increase with increased fitness and form but trying to deviate too much too soon from your “comfort cadence” will be inefficient.
So – If you are already running and have good cardiovascular fitness, looking at cadence numbers could help make improvements. All good running watches track this metric and it can be viewed on screen whilst running or analysed post session.
3 tips to increase cadence when running
Tip #1 – Focus on quick arms
If you run with faster arms, your legs will follow. Focusing on the arms will mean you are not focussing on the legs and give less inclination to over-stride.
Tip #2 – Add high-cadence strides to your training
The best time for this type of training is usually at the end or built into an aerobic run. Perform 8-12 accelerations of about 4-10s concentrating on turning over your legs as fast as you can. This will help your neuromuscular system to create new neural pathways and “learn” how to optimise mechanics at this new cadence.
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The goal here is not speed but faster legs. Imagine running on a hot surface, keep the steps smooth and pop off the ground quickly.
Tip #3 – It’s all about balance, so run tall
If your cadence is going to increase then you need to be balanced when running.
Try not to sit back on your heels when you run but instead you should “run tall” – this means keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe. You should have a slight forward lean.
Additionally, you should more than likely work on hip mobility as well as glute activation.
Interested in some one-on-one endurance coaching? Send me an email at rj@innerfight.com.
ENGINE
A sustained 50-minute aerobic workout designed to build your engine and endurance. Expect continuous movement across the bike, rower, ski erg, and running, all at a manageable, steady pace.
GYMNASTICS
This week is all about the bar! On Tuesday, we’ll continue working on pulling strength, followed by kipping and butterfly progressions. On Thursday, Bar Muscle Ups will make an appearance. Get ready for low bar drills, strength work and BMU progressions galore.
HYROX
A high-intensity session focused on building leg strength and muscular endurance. We will finish each movement with short runs to build resilience under fatigue.
MOBILITY
Back to the flows, yes, back in popular demand, I’m running it back. Full body stretching ended with stability/activation of course.
PURE STRENGTH
This week in Pure Strength, we kick off Monday with a heavy set of RDLS, followed by some Front squat volume, and then some frontal plane strength work. On Wednesday, we have some overcoming isometrics to kick our session off, followed by some cluster sets on the bench press, and then some push-pull accessory work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Weightlifting this week is snatch; we are breaking down the movement. Starting with the 3-position snatch. Drilling the timings under the barbell. Followed by snatch pulls and a complex of behind-the-neck push press into OHS.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 5 mins blocks. You will take a 2 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 5x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 300m repeats at 3km pace, each with a very easy float between.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running 100m effort through the park behind InnerFight, you will then have 300m easy/recovery before repeating the sequence.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be working on a negative split run. After 20 mins of easy running you will go into 1 min on, 1 min off intervals for 30 mins. Post session coffees at Common Grounds from 7am.
Monday:
Starting the week with some pressing tempo push-up work, followed by some bench press and death march, and then a strongman-style workout for an epic start to the week!
Strength:
A) EMOM x 8 - 3 to 5 tempo push-ups tempo @31x1
B) Every 90 sec x 10 alt between - 5 Barbell bench press @20x1 (building) & 16 alt DB death march
Conditioning:
For Time:
10-1 Sandbag Over Shoulder
1-10 Dumbbell STOH
Tuesday:
Tuesday, we have some sled work in the strength, and then some Interval work that will challenge your squat and pull endurance.
Strength:
A) 6 mins build to max triple broad jump
Rest 2 mins
B) Every 2 mins x 5 2 length sled push
Conditioning:
4 min window
30 sec wall sit
30 wall balls
15 pull-ups
AMRAP cal ski
Rest 2 mins x 4
Wednesday:
Wednesday is all about the barbell in both the skill and a fast-paced
Squat clean and run workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 8 - 2 power clean + 2 push press
Rest 2 mins
B) Every 90 sec x 3 6 BB good mornings @30x1
Conditioning:
For Time:
15-12- 9 Squat Cleans
After each set, a park run
Thursday:
Thursday, we have some strict pull-up work followed by a long endurance workout on the rower.
Strength:
A: In a 2-minute window, establish a MAX unbroken set of strict pull-ups/chest 2 bar/bar muscle-ups
+
B: EMOM 8 @ 33% of A
Conditioning:
30 mins Max Cal Row:
0-10 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpees
11-20 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpee box jump
21-30 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpee box jump over
Friday:
FUF, we are finishing off with some single-leg and core work, and then 6 rounds of
Strength:
A) EMOM x 6 - 20 sec strict TTB/SLR
rest 2 min
B) Every 2 mins x 4 - 12 alt front rack KB reverse lunge
Conditioning:
6 Rounds For Time:
12 TTB
40/30 Cal Ass Bike and C2 bike (Alternating)
20 Russian KB Swing
If you are reading this then you are more than likely interested in running. I’d assume you also have an understanding of the term cadence or stride rate (SR) and what it means.
If you don’t then let me break it down. Simply put, cadence is how many times your feet strike the ground per minute when running.
Now, lots of people have heard that 180 is the magic number and will sell their pension schemes to be able to hit that number, but might ask yourself… WHY is it so important?
The relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand
The first time athletes started to pay more attention to their cadence dates back to the 1984 Olympics and Dr Jack Daniels (not the whisky guy……), who noticed that in the track events of longer than 800m, only one athlete had a cadence of less than 180.
Photo by: Joshua Hearnden
There is a relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand. The higher the cadence, the greater the demand on the cardiovascular system – however you get the benefit of less musculoskeletal stress on the body.
The lower the cadence, the less the demand on the cardiovascular system but the greater the musculoskeletal stress.
A good way to picture this is to think about going for a cycle. If you are in a high gear at slow RPM, you will tire much quicker than someone peddling in a lower gear at a higher RPM at the same speed.
Running cadence in elite athletes
The caveat to this whole cadence discussion is that you need to be properly conditioned to maintain the higher Cadence or RPM. If you are unconditioned, you will not have the cardiovascular fitness to be able to maintain the higher cadence numbers.
Most elite athletes tend to have a short forward stride and long posterior strides whereas we tend to see the opposite being true in recreational runners who over stride and have short posterior strides.
This will create a lower cadence but also generate greater eccentric stress on the hamstrings, elicit less glute activation and cause increased “breaking forces” giving a lower running economy, greater ground reaction forces and with that, an increased risk of injury.
So, should you be targeting 180?
Running cadence: is 180 the ultimate goal?
Not necessarily – There are studies that suggest an element of self-selection, meaning as runners we will naturally select the most efficient stride length and rate for our bio-mechanics based on many factors like weight, conditioning, speed, terrain etc.
From spending a lot of time looking at runners’ cadence, the majority of non-elites have a cadence between 150-170.
Focussing on increasing your fitness and form should come as the first starting point as without good cardiovascular fitness it will be incredibly difficult to maintain a higher cadence (you only need to look at how runners form breaks down in the Dubai Marathon at the 35km mark compared to the 5km mark).
Cadence will naturally increase with increased fitness and form but trying to deviate too much too soon from your “comfort cadence” will be inefficient.
So – If you are already running and have good cardiovascular fitness, looking at cadence numbers could help make improvements. All good running watches track this metric and it can be viewed on screen whilst running or analysed post session.
3 tips to increase cadence when running
Tip #1 – Focus on quick arms
If you run with faster arms, your legs will follow. Focusing on the arms will mean you are not focussing on the legs and give less inclination to over-stride.
Tip #2 – Add high-cadence strides to your training
The best time for this type of training is usually at the end or built into an aerobic run. Perform 8-12 accelerations of about 4-10s concentrating on turning over your legs as fast as you can. This will help your neuromuscular system to create new neural pathways and “learn” how to optimise mechanics at this new cadence.
The goal here is not speed but faster legs. Imagine running on a hot surface, keep the steps smooth and pop off the ground quickly.
Tip #3 – It’s all about balance, so run tall
If your cadence is going to increase then you need to be balanced when running.
Try not to sit back on your heels when you run but instead you should “run tall” – this means keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe. You should have a slight forward lean.
Additionally, you should more than likely work on hip mobility as well as glute activation.
Interested in some one-on-one endurance coaching? Send me an email at rj@innerfight.com.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 5 mins blocks. You will take a 2 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 5x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 300m repeats at 3km pace, each with a very easy float between.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running 100m effort through the park behind InnerFight, you will then have 300m easy/recovery before repeating the sequence.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be working on a negative split run. After 20 mins of easy running you will go into 1 min on, 1 min off intervals for 30 mins. Post session coffees at Common Grounds from 7am.
Monday:
Starting the week with some pressing tempo push-up work, followed by some bench press and death march, and then a strongman-style workout for an epic start to the week!
Strength:
A) EMOM x 8 - 3 to 5 tempo push-ups tempo @31x1
B) Every 90 sec x 10 alt between - 5 Barbell bench press @20x1 (building) & 16 alt DB death march
Conditioning:
For Time:
10-1 Sandbag Over Shoulder
1-10 Dumbbell STOH
Tuesday:
Tuesday, we have some sled work in the strength, and then some Interval work that will challenge your squat and pull endurance.
Strength:
A) 6 mins build to max triple broad jump
Rest 2 mins
B) Every 2 mins x 5 2 length sled push
Conditioning:
4 min window
30 sec wall sit
30 wall balls
15 pull-ups
AMRAP cal ski
Rest 2 mins x 4
Wednesday:
Wednesday is all about the barbell in both the skill and a fast-paced
Squat clean and run workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 8 - 2 power clean + 2 push press
Rest 2 mins
B) Every 90 sec x 3 6 BB good mornings @30x1
Conditioning:
For Time:
15-12- 9 Squat Cleans
After each set, a park run
Thursday:
Thursday, we have some strict pull-up work followed by a long endurance workout on the rower.
Strength:
A: In a 2-minute window, establish a MAX unbroken set of strict pull-ups/chest 2 bar/bar muscle-ups
+
B: EMOM 8 @ 33% of A
Conditioning:
30 mins Max Cal Row:
0-10 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpees
11-20 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpee box jump
21-30 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpee box jump over
Friday:
FUF, we are finishing off with some single-leg and core work, and then 6 rounds of
Strength:
A) EMOM x 6 - 20 sec strict TTB/SLR
rest 2 min
B) Every 2 mins x 4 - 12 alt front rack KB reverse lunge
Conditioning:
6 Rounds For Time:
12 TTB
40/30 Cal Ass Bike and C2 bike (Alternating)
20 Russian KB Swing
ENGINE
A sustained 50-minute aerobic workout designed to build your engine and endurance. Expect continuous movement across the bike, rower, ski erg, and running, all at a manageable, steady pace.
GYMNASTICS
This week is all about the bar! On Tuesday, we’ll continue working on pulling strength, followed by kipping and butterfly progressions. On Thursday, Bar Muscle Ups will make an appearance. Get ready for low bar drills, strength work and BMU progressions galore.
HYROX
A high-intensity session focused on building leg strength and muscular endurance. We will finish each movement with short runs to build resilience under fatigue.
MOBILITY
Back to the flows, yes, back in popular demand, I’m running it back. Full body stretching ended with stability/activation of course.
PURE STRENGTH
This week in Pure Strength, we kick off Monday with a heavy set of RDLS, followed by some Front squat volume, and then some frontal plane strength work. On Wednesday, we have some overcoming isometrics to kick our session off, followed by some cluster sets on the bench press, and then some push-pull accessory work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Weightlifting this week is snatch; we are breaking down the movement. Starting with the 3-position snatch. Drilling the timings under the barbell. Followed by snatch pulls and a complex of behind-the-neck push press into OHS.
If you are reading this then you are more than likely interested in running. I’d assume you also have an understanding of the term cadence or stride rate (SR) and what it means.
If you don’t then let me break it down. Simply put, cadence is how many times your feet strike the ground per minute when running.
Now, lots of people have heard that 180 is the magic number and will sell their pension schemes to be able to hit that number, but might ask yourself… WHY is it so important?
The relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand
The first time athletes started to pay more attention to their cadence dates back to the 1984 Olympics and Dr Jack Daniels (not the whisky guy……), who noticed that in the track events of longer than 800m, only one athlete had a cadence of less than 180.
Photo by: Joshua Hearnden
There is a relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand. The higher the cadence, the greater the demand on the cardiovascular system – however you get the benefit of less musculoskeletal stress on the body.
The lower the cadence, the less the demand on the cardiovascular system but the greater the musculoskeletal stress.
A good way to picture this is to think about going for a cycle. If you are in a high gear at slow RPM, you will tire much quicker than someone peddling in a lower gear at a higher RPM at the same speed.
Running cadence in elite athletes
The caveat to this whole cadence discussion is that you need to be properly conditioned to maintain the higher Cadence or RPM. If you are unconditioned, you will not have the cardiovascular fitness to be able to maintain the higher cadence numbers.
Most elite athletes tend to have a short forward stride and long posterior strides whereas we tend to see the opposite being true in recreational runners who over stride and have short posterior strides.
This will create a lower cadence but also generate greater eccentric stress on the hamstrings, elicit less glute activation and cause increased “breaking forces” giving a lower running economy, greater ground reaction forces and with that, an increased risk of injury.
So, should you be targeting 180?
Running cadence: is 180 the ultimate goal?
Not necessarily – There are studies that suggest an element of self-selection, meaning as runners we will naturally select the most efficient stride length and rate for our bio-mechanics based on many factors like weight, conditioning, speed, terrain etc.
From spending a lot of time looking at runners’ cadence, the majority of non-elites have a cadence between 150-170.
Focussing on increasing your fitness and form should come as the first starting point as without good cardiovascular fitness it will be incredibly difficult to maintain a higher cadence (you only need to look at how runners form breaks down in the Dubai Marathon at the 35km mark compared to the 5km mark).
Cadence will naturally increase with increased fitness and form but trying to deviate too much too soon from your “comfort cadence” will be inefficient.
So – If you are already running and have good cardiovascular fitness, looking at cadence numbers could help make improvements. All good running watches track this metric and it can be viewed on screen whilst running or analysed post session.
3 tips to increase cadence when running
Tip #1 – Focus on quick arms
If you run with faster arms, your legs will follow. Focusing on the arms will mean you are not focussing on the legs and give less inclination to over-stride.
Tip #2 – Add high-cadence strides to your training
The best time for this type of training is usually at the end or built into an aerobic run. Perform 8-12 accelerations of about 4-10s concentrating on turning over your legs as fast as you can. This will help your neuromuscular system to create new neural pathways and “learn” how to optimise mechanics at this new cadence.
The goal here is not speed but faster legs. Imagine running on a hot surface, keep the steps smooth and pop off the ground quickly.
Tip #3 – It’s all about balance, so run tall
If your cadence is going to increase then you need to be balanced when running.
Try not to sit back on your heels when you run but instead you should “run tall” – this means keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe. You should have a slight forward lean.
Additionally, you should more than likely work on hip mobility as well as glute activation.
Interested in some one-on-one endurance coaching? Send me an email at rj@innerfight.com.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 5 mins blocks. You will take a 2 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 5x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 300m repeats at 3km pace, each with a very easy float between.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running 100m effort through the park behind InnerFight, you will then have 300m easy/recovery before repeating the sequence.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be working on a negative split run. After 20 mins of easy running you will go into 1 min on, 1 min off intervals for 30 mins. Post session coffees at Common Grounds from 7am.
Monday:
Starting the week with some pressing tempo push-up work, followed by some bench press and death march, and then a strongman-style workout for an epic start to the week!
Strength:
A) EMOM x 8 - 3 to 5 tempo push-ups tempo @31x1
B) Every 90 sec x 10 alt between - 5 Barbell bench press @20x1 (building) & 16 alt DB death march
Conditioning:
For Time:
10-1 Sandbag Over Shoulder
1-10 Dumbbell STOH
Tuesday:
Tuesday, we have some sled work in the strength, and then some Interval work that will challenge your squat and pull endurance.
Strength:
A) 6 mins build to max triple broad jump
Rest 2 mins
B) Every 2 mins x 5 2 length sled push
Conditioning:
4 min window
30 sec wall sit
30 wall balls
15 pull-ups
AMRAP cal ski
Rest 2 mins x 4
Wednesday:
Wednesday is all about the barbell in both the skill and a fast-paced
Squat clean and run workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 8 - 2 power clean + 2 push press
Rest 2 mins
B) Every 90 sec x 3 6 BB good mornings @30x1
Conditioning:
For Time:
15-12- 9 Squat Cleans
After each set, a park run
Thursday:
Thursday, we have some strict pull-up work followed by a long endurance workout on the rower.
Strength:
A: In a 2-minute window, establish a MAX unbroken set of strict pull-ups/chest 2 bar/bar muscle-ups
+
B: EMOM 8 @ 33% of A
Conditioning:
30 mins Max Cal Row:
0-10 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpees
11-20 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpee box jump
21-30 mins every 2:30 mins 6 burpee box jump over
Friday:
FUF, we are finishing off with some single-leg and core work, and then 6 rounds of
Strength:
A) EMOM x 6 - 20 sec strict TTB/SLR
rest 2 min
B) Every 2 mins x 4 - 12 alt front rack KB reverse lunge
Conditioning:
6 Rounds For Time:
12 TTB
40/30 Cal Ass Bike and C2 bike (Alternating)
20 Russian KB Swing
ENGINE
A sustained 50-minute aerobic workout designed to build your engine and endurance. Expect continuous movement across the bike, rower, ski erg, and running, all at a manageable, steady pace.
GYMNASTICS
This week is all about the bar! On Tuesday, we’ll continue working on pulling strength, followed by kipping and butterfly progressions. On Thursday, Bar Muscle Ups will make an appearance. Get ready for low bar drills, strength work and BMU progressions galore.
HYROX
A high-intensity session focused on building leg strength and muscular endurance. We will finish each movement with short runs to build resilience under fatigue.
MOBILITY
Back to the flows, yes, back in popular demand, I’m running it back. Full body stretching ended with stability/activation of course.
PURE STRENGTH
This week in Pure Strength, we kick off Monday with a heavy set of RDLS, followed by some Front squat volume, and then some frontal plane strength work. On Wednesday, we have some overcoming isometrics to kick our session off, followed by some cluster sets on the bench press, and then some push-pull accessory work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Weightlifting this week is snatch; we are breaking down the movement. Starting with the 3-position snatch. Drilling the timings under the barbell. Followed by snatch pulls and a complex of behind-the-neck push press into OHS.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
If you are reading this then you are more than likely interested in running. I’d assume you also have an understanding of the term cadence or stride rate (SR) and what it means.
If you don’t then let me break it down. Simply put, cadence is how many times your feet strike the ground per minute when running.
Now, lots of people have heard that 180 is the magic number and will sell their pension schemes to be able to hit that number, but might ask yourself… WHY is it so important?
The relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand
The first time athletes started to pay more attention to their cadence dates back to the 1984 Olympics and Dr Jack Daniels (not the whisky guy……), who noticed that in the track events of longer than 800m, only one athlete had a cadence of less than 180.
Photo by: Joshua Hearnden
There is a relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand. The higher the cadence, the greater the demand on the cardiovascular system – however you get the benefit of less musculoskeletal stress on the body.
The lower the cadence, the less the demand on the cardiovascular system but the greater the musculoskeletal stress.
A good way to picture this is to think about going for a cycle. If you are in a high gear at slow RPM, you will tire much quicker than someone peddling in a lower gear at a higher RPM at the same speed.
Running cadence in elite athletes
The caveat to this whole cadence discussion is that you need to be properly conditioned to maintain the higher Cadence or RPM. If you are unconditioned, you will not have the cardiovascular fitness to be able to maintain the higher cadence numbers.
Most elite athletes tend to have a short forward stride and long posterior strides whereas we tend to see the opposite being true in recreational runners who over stride and have short posterior strides.
This will create a lower cadence but also generate greater eccentric stress on the hamstrings, elicit less glute activation and cause increased “breaking forces” giving a lower running economy, greater ground reaction forces and with that, an increased risk of injury.
So, should you be targeting 180?
Running cadence: is 180 the ultimate goal?
Not necessarily – There are studies that suggest an element of self-selection, meaning as runners we will naturally select the most efficient stride length and rate for our bio-mechanics based on many factors like weight, conditioning, speed, terrain etc.
From spending a lot of time looking at runners’ cadence, the majority of non-elites have a cadence between 150-170.
Focussing on increasing your fitness and form should come as the first starting point as without good cardiovascular fitness it will be incredibly difficult to maintain a higher cadence (you only need to look at how runners form breaks down in the Dubai Marathon at the 35km mark compared to the 5km mark).
Cadence will naturally increase with increased fitness and form but trying to deviate too much too soon from your “comfort cadence” will be inefficient.
So – If you are already running and have good cardiovascular fitness, looking at cadence numbers could help make improvements. All good running watches track this metric and it can be viewed on screen whilst running or analysed post session.
3 tips to increase cadence when running
Tip #1 – Focus on quick arms
If you run with faster arms, your legs will follow. Focusing on the arms will mean you are not focussing on the legs and give less inclination to over-stride.
Tip #2 – Add high-cadence strides to your training
The best time for this type of training is usually at the end or built into an aerobic run. Perform 8-12 accelerations of about 4-10s concentrating on turning over your legs as fast as you can. This will help your neuromuscular system to create new neural pathways and “learn” how to optimise mechanics at this new cadence.
The goal here is not speed but faster legs. Imagine running on a hot surface, keep the steps smooth and pop off the ground quickly.
Tip #3 – It’s all about balance, so run tall
If your cadence is going to increase then you need to be balanced when running.
Try not to sit back on your heels when you run but instead you should “run tall” – this means keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe. You should have a slight forward lean.
Additionally, you should more than likely work on hip mobility as well as glute activation.
Interested in some one-on-one endurance coaching? Send me an email at rj@innerfight.com.
If you are reading this then you are more than likely interested in running. I’d assume you also have an understanding of the term cadence or stride rate (SR) and what it means.
If you don’t then let me break it down. Simply put, cadence is how many times your feet strike the ground per minute when running.
Now, lots of people have heard that 180 is the magic number and will sell their pension schemes to be able to hit that number, but might ask yourself… WHY is it so important?
The relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand
The first time athletes started to pay more attention to their cadence dates back to the 1984 Olympics and Dr Jack Daniels (not the whisky guy……), who noticed that in the track events of longer than 800m, only one athlete had a cadence of less than 180.
Photo by: Joshua Hearnden
There is a relationship between cadence and cardiovascular demand. The higher the cadence, the greater the demand on the cardiovascular system – however you get the benefit of less musculoskeletal stress on the body.
The lower the cadence, the less the demand on the cardiovascular system but the greater the musculoskeletal stress.
A good way to picture this is to think about going for a cycle. If you are in a high gear at slow RPM, you will tire much quicker than someone peddling in a lower gear at a higher RPM at the same speed.
Running cadence in elite athletes
The caveat to this whole cadence discussion is that you need to be properly conditioned to maintain the higher Cadence or RPM. If you are unconditioned, you will not have the cardiovascular fitness to be able to maintain the higher cadence numbers.
Most elite athletes tend to have a short forward stride and long posterior strides whereas we tend to see the opposite being true in recreational runners who over stride and have short posterior strides.
This will create a lower cadence but also generate greater eccentric stress on the hamstrings, elicit less glute activation and cause increased “breaking forces” giving a lower running economy, greater ground reaction forces and with that, an increased risk of injury.
So, should you be targeting 180?
Running cadence: is 180 the ultimate goal?
Not necessarily – There are studies that suggest an element of self-selection, meaning as runners we will naturally select the most efficient stride length and rate for our bio-mechanics based on many factors like weight, conditioning, speed, terrain etc.
From spending a lot of time looking at runners’ cadence, the majority of non-elites have a cadence between 150-170.
Focussing on increasing your fitness and form should come as the first starting point as without good cardiovascular fitness it will be incredibly difficult to maintain a higher cadence (you only need to look at how runners form breaks down in the Dubai Marathon at the 35km mark compared to the 5km mark).
Cadence will naturally increase with increased fitness and form but trying to deviate too much too soon from your “comfort cadence” will be inefficient.
So – If you are already running and have good cardiovascular fitness, looking at cadence numbers could help make improvements. All good running watches track this metric and it can be viewed on screen whilst running or analysed post session.
3 tips to increase cadence when running
Tip #1 – Focus on quick arms
If you run with faster arms, your legs will follow. Focusing on the arms will mean you are not focussing on the legs and give less inclination to over-stride.
Tip #2 – Add high-cadence strides to your training
The best time for this type of training is usually at the end or built into an aerobic run. Perform 8-12 accelerations of about 4-10s concentrating on turning over your legs as fast as you can. This will help your neuromuscular system to create new neural pathways and “learn” how to optimise mechanics at this new cadence.
The goal here is not speed but faster legs. Imagine running on a hot surface, keep the steps smooth and pop off the ground quickly.
Tip #3 – It’s all about balance, so run tall
If your cadence is going to increase then you need to be balanced when running.
Try not to sit back on your heels when you run but instead you should “run tall” – this means keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe. You should have a slight forward lean.
Additionally, you should more than likely work on hip mobility as well as glute activation.
Interested in some one-on-one endurance coaching? Send me an email at rj@innerfight.com.
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