Sep 16, 2024
Training Tips by Runzy Director of Coaching Joe McConkey
Power vs Cadence
Increasing your cadence is a common and fairly easy adjustment that runners take on in an attempt to both stay injury-free and increase pace. For the latter, however, power, not cadence, will inevitably be the limiting factor to maximum speed and peak performance for most runners. The reality is the vast majority of amateurs and elites all run between 170-180 strides per minute, which means the main differentiator, bio-mechanically speaking, is stride length - aka 'power'.
Some runners recognize this and hit up the gym, do regular squats, lunges, deadlifts, run on hills, etc. Though all of this might help, often their strength gains do not translate into their regular racing stride. For these runners their gait is so deeply ingrained in their central nervous system that changing this pattern will take a new, conscious adjustment WHILE running to make a real, lasting change.
Adjusting one's stride to be more powerful, with longer steps, can make a major improvement in performance but it also has its fair share of inherited risks (i.e. increased power + increase range of motion = increased force at angles your musculoskeletal system might not be ready to handle). Before engaging in gait retraining for power, a preparatory phase of strength training would be highly recommended:
- General strength with resistance (squats, deadlifts, etc) for 3-6 weeks.
- Single leg strength (single leg squats and deadlifts, reverse bridge with resistance, eccentric calf raises with weighted backpack) for 3-6 weeks.
- Plyometrics (high and long skipping, box jumps for speed, bounding) for 3-6 weeks.
With the above in place, as well as optimal pliability throughout the body, you are better prepared to start working in a new pattern. Typically, this new pattern should be practiced only once per week, starting with 100 meter bouts and increasing weekly based on recovery and adaptation. Expect this process to take 6-12 months to transfer from an anaerobic, explosive activity to an aerobic, ballistic motion.
