How Increasing Your Running Cadence Can Protect Your Ankles, Knees, and Hips

Running injuries are incredibly common, but small changes in technique can make a big difference to your injury risk.
One of the most effective adjustments you can make — without needing to change your distance, pace, or footwear — is increasing your running cadence (steps per minute).

In this article, we’ll explore:

• What increasing cadence does to your running mechanics

• How it changes forces at the ankle, knee, and hip

• Why it’s especially useful for road runners

• How to apply cadence changes using practical tools like metronomes and smartwatches

What Happens When You Increase Running Cadence?

Increasing cadence, even by a modest 5–10%, produces several important mechanical changes:

Shortens your stride length

• Reduces vertical oscillation (less "bouncing" up and down)

• Lowers braking forces on landing

• Shifts your foot strike closer underneath your centre of mass

Each of these adjustments helps to soften impact forces and makes running more energy-efficient.

Why Does This Matter?

When you reduce vertical oscillation, you move your body more horizontally rather than "wasting" energy moving up and down.
As a result:

• Ground contact time becomes shorter

• Braking forces (the forces that slow you down) decrease

• Vertical ground reaction forces are reduced

• Joint moments at the hip and knee are lowered

This leads to significantly less stress on your knees and hips, reducing the risk of common overuse injuries like patellofemoral pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and gluteal tendinopathy.

What the Research Says About Cadence and Joint Forces

High-quality studies show clear benefits from cadence increases:

• Heiderscheit et al., 2011 found that a 5–10% increase in cadence led to reduced vertical ground reaction forces, smaller hip adduction angles, and reduced braking forces.

• Lenhart et al., 2014 used musculoskeletal modelling and found that increasing cadence by 10% reduced patellofemoral joint forces by up to 20%.

• Fukuchi et al., 2018 confirmed that higher cadence reduces joint loads at the hip and knee, although it can slightly increase demands on the ankle and calf.

Overall, the changes in stride mechanics with higher cadence offload vulnerable areas like the knee and hip, while increasing the work slightly for the ankle.

Is This Strategy More Relevant for Road Runners or Trail Runners?

Increasing cadence tends to be most relevant and effective for road runners.
Here’s why:

• Road running generally occurs on flat, predictable surfaces, where stride pattern and cadence are relatively consistent. Adjustments to cadence can be easily made and maintained across long runs.

• Trail running, by contrast, involves constantly changing terrain, inclines, declines, technical footing, and obstacles. These natural variations already cause frequent adjustments in stride length, cadence, and foot placement — often forcing runners to adopt a shorter, quicker step pattern automatically.

Therefore, cadence retraining strategies are best applied and monitored in road runners, where surface consistency makes intentional changes much easier to control and measure.

Practical Tools to Help Adjust Your Cadence

Making a cadence change can feel awkward at first — but there are excellent tools to help:

Metronomes

• Apps like Run Tempo or general metronome apps allow you to set a beats-per-minute (BPM) target.

• Matching your steps to the beat helps establish a rhythm without needing to consciously "think" about your foot speed.

Smartwatches and Running Apps

• Most modern running watches (Garmin, Coros, Polar, Apple Watch) automatically measure your cadence in real-time.

• Some watches allow you to set vibration or audio alerts if your cadence drops below a target.

• Post-run data analysis can show trends in your cadence changes over time.

By combining these tools with short-term goals (e.g., maintaining a 5% increase for specific segments of a run), you can make cadence changes feel smoother and more sustainable.

How to Apply Cadence Changes Safely

Here’s a structured way to make it work for you:

1. Measure Your Starting Point
   Run at your normal, relaxed pace and record your steps per minute.

2. Apply a Small Increase (5%)
   Start small to reduce the risk of overloading your calves and Achilles tendon.

   • Example: 160 spm → target 168 spm.

3. Use a Metronome or Watch Alerts
   Match your foot strike to the beat, or monitor your smartwatch data live during runs.

4. Focus on Quick, Light Steps
   Imagine your feet landing quickly and softly underneath you — not pushing harder or running faster.

5. Monitor Adaptation
   Some initial mild calf tightness is normal. Persistent soreness suggests you need to progress more slowly.

6. Reassess Every Few Weeks
   As cadence becomes more natural, you can progress towards slightly bigger changes if needed.

Final Thoughts: A Simple Strategy for Resilient, Injury-Free Running

Increasing cadence is a straightforward, evidence-backed strategy to protect your hips and knees, improve efficiency, and reduce impact stress — especially important for road runners who experience consistent, repetitive loading patterns.

While not a one-size-fits-all solution, careful application of cadence adjustments, supported by the right tools and a gradual approach, can significantly improve running performance and reduce injury risk.

If you're looking for tailored advice on cadence, running technique, or managing running injuries, our clinic can help. We combine high-quality biomechanical assessments with practical, personalized advice to help you run smarter, safer, and stronger.

Ready to optimise your running and reduce injury risk?
📞 Book a Running Assessment with us today — and start your journey towards stronger, healthier running.