CADENCE IN RUNNING
Report #6652 11/19/95
Will you run faster by moving your legs at a faster rate/ or by taking longer strides?
When you try to take strides that feel longer than natural, you lose energy and can't run as fast. Your most efficient stride length is determined by what feels most comfortable to you. Your heel hits the ground with great force. The tendons in your legs absorb some of this energy and then contract forcibly after your heel hit the ground/ so you regain about 60 to 75% of that stored energy. When you try to take a stride that is longer than your natural one, you lose a great deal of this stored energy, tire earlier and move your legs at a slower rate.
When most athletes run as fast as they can, they run at close to the same stride rate. For example, a video at the New York City Marathon showed that the top 150 runners had the same cadence, taking 92 to 94 steps a minute. The difference between the top runners and the others is that the best runners took longer strides. The key to running faster in races is to make your leg muscles stronger so you can contract them with greater force and they will drive you forward with a longer stride. Competitive runners strengthen their legs by running very fast in practice two or three times a week, doing leg exercises on a weight machine 2 or 3 times a week and by running up and down hills once or twice a week.
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News