Has anyone had success changing their cadence?

Why would you do such a thing? Do you also blink manually?

Years of injuries, trying to figure out how I can consistently do the thing that I love.

2nd question which I should have asked first. Is there any evidence that changing your cadence to a more "optimal" range helps prevent injury?

I have managed to increase my cadence somewhat in the past few months. My natural rate is horribly slow at 158-159. I have done some running with a metronome at 175 and it feels a bit unnatural and makes me run too fast. However, my normal day to day running is now averaging 164-165, and it does feel more efficient and easier on my legs. Time will tell if that is true.

There is zero evidence.

My cadence changes naturally as I increase speed. My stride length also lengthens. I can and will at times change my cadence if my legs feel a little off, but then go back to whatever is natural.

This is the way.

I managed to increase my cadence, but now I have trouble moving forward. I go out the front door, try to run, but my feet just move at 500 cadence, otherwise I am stationary. So I have success with changing cadence, but now I have a problem with speed.

How on earth does a non-elite athlete have years of injuries? Running is about as human as a task as sleeping.

Chronic IT band and low back problems

How are trying to implement this protocol?

You may see improvement after 3-6 weeks by adding a routine of 8-10 strides at the end of runs 2-3 times a peek, and some form drills. You can always use the metronome if you're having trouble with cadence during the strides. Also, don't go crazy with cadence speed during the sprints.

I know there's a lot of debate over cadence, and a lot of people argue that your body will naturally adopt what works best, and cadence varies widely. Obviously, cadence and stride length do tend to increase with faster-harder efforts.

On a personal note, I will say that after being stuck in a rut for over a year I decided to slowly tweak cadence (increase cadence from 167 on easy runs to 170-171) and stride length (very slight increase). After about six months of strides, drills, shot hill sprints, and some strength work I saw huge improvements in training and racing after getting my average cadence to 170ish on easy days. I would not have gotten there without placing an emphasis on cadence/stride.

Are you overstriding? Are you a heel striker? Do you have runners knee, Achilles, or plantar fasciitis problems. I had all those things, especially runners knee. I made several form changes including running at a faster cadence. Faster cadence and converting to forefoot strike resolved the knee problems.

I'm guessing that you set your metronome at 180. That's too big of a jump from 160. Try setting your metronome at 170, run for 20 seconds, return to normal cadence for a couple of minutes, then back to 170 for 20 seconds. After a few runs you should be able to increase the time to 30 seconds, then a full minute.

It's important that you NOT speed up when doing this. Consider it as a drill.

That’s not true, there is some scientific evidence for increased cadence being correlated with reduced injury risk.

The question is if consciously increasing cadence is worth it, and I’d agree it’s not for most people, but it might be for a small fraction as increasing cadence forces shorter strides => less impact per step.

OP, you need to experiment and figure out for yourself if increasing cadence helps or does nothing for you.

Link to the studies then.

It takes over 6 months and sometimes longer to change. I haven't known too many people that have successfully done this. Your cadence is neurologically engrained from years of activity.

I did and it was fairly easy. Went from 160-165 spm on average to 174+. Started December 2022 and it's been almost a full year now. I just have cadence displaying on my watch and look at it every now and then. I've also increased my volume and every 5k race has been a recent PR. So it's working great for me. Oh and no injuries.

This is my story too. I have found that my aerobic demand seems to be decreased if I am hitting my goal cadence of 173-174. In other words, after much practice getting to this cadence I can do the conversation test easier.

But it will take much practice to get there. Your body has been trained to do the lower cadence for a long time.

I view it as low hanging fruit to increase your speed at distance events.

I was at 155-160 cadence and had hip issues and pelvic stress fracture. 46 yr/old ran college. After healing and PT wanted to be 168-172. Had to make a conscious effort. Pick music that keeps your feet moving. It sucks doing it, but it was necessary to stay healthy this time around. And yes, cadence does matter when injuries are involved. Over striding puts more pressure on the pelvis.

Thanks. I'm proven wrong. So higher cadence = lower impact forces. To me though, higher impact forces are required to run at maximum stride length. Once at maximum stride length, increase in cadence gets an athlete to max velocity. It's not the other way around. You don't train yourself to run 200spm at all paces and then put more force into the ground to go faster. Cadence and stride length should both increase at a similar rate for most people. Changing that to do something your body doesn't naturally do doesn't reduce injury. It's more likely to cause injuries.

Nope, can’t care to do work for you.