Tweaking Your Running Form? Your Brain Will Catch on Fast – runnersworld.com

Experts agree that there’s no one perfect running form. But there can be better running form.

For many people, that entails slightly increasing their cadence, or the number of steps taken per minute as you run. Making this change may lower your risk for some common injuries and might even improve your efficiency.

The catch, of course, is that changing your running form can be challenging. Your body tends to settle on a preferred movement pattern after hundreds or thousands of miles. But take heart: According to new research published in the Journal of Motor Behavior, when runners increased their cadence, their brains quickly adapted to the form tweak, and the higher turnover soon felt natural.

For the study, 13 runners (10 women, three men) ran with their preferred form while researchers collected data that included metrics like stride rate and, via an electroencephalogram (EEG), brain activity. The runners were then told to increase their cadence by 5 to 10 percent. They did so by an average of 8 percent; for someone with a normal cadence of 160 steps per minute, an 8-percent increase results in a cadence of just less than 173 steps.

The researchers continued to monitor the runners’ brains while they kept up the higher cadence. EEG readings showed a significant increase in activity associated with early stages of learning. In other words, the runners’ brains were working harder while their legs turned over at an unaccustomed rate.

After that lab session, the runners were given a Garmin Forerunner 70 and foot pod to provide real-time feedback on their cadence. Over the next month, on eight runs of at least three miles each, they used the equipment to help them maintain increased cadence of 5 to 10 percent throughout their runs.

Finally, the runners returned to the lab. They again ran with their new quicker-cadence while the researchers took EEG readings. The key finding: The runners’ brain activity was similar to what it was at the beginning of the study, when they ran with their slower cadence.

After just nine runs at a quicker cadence, their bodies appeared to have learned the altered form well enough that their brains experienced the new gait as natural.

Change for the Better

Not everyone should run out and increase their cadence, however. The runners in the study had a history of lower-leg stress fractures, and slightly increasing turnover has been shown to result in less impact forces transmitted to the shin bones. Rich Willy, an assistant professor at the University of Montana and one of the study authors, told Runner’s World that runners with a history of patellofemoral (kneecap) pain and iliotibial band strain might also benefit from adopting a quicker cadence.

Injury aside, some runners might improve their running economy, or how much oxygen they consume at a given pace, by increasing their turnover. A study recently published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that runners had better running economy at submaximal paces when, over 12 consecutive days, they increased their cadence from 170 to 180 steps per minute. That’s an increase of 5.8 percent, at the low end of the increase range used in Willy’s study.

It “seems that novice runners tend to have the most to gain from an increase in running cadence with respect to improving running economy,” Willy said. More experienced runners are more likely to have gravitated toward the most efficient form for their current combination of muscular strength, bone structure, and other contributors to running economy.

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Tracking Your Turnover

If you think increasing your cadence might lower your injury risk or improve your efficiency, base your goal off of your current stride rate, rather than aiming at an arbitrary number, such as the oft-cited 180 steps per minute. Willy recommends an increase of 7.5 percent because that target “seems to maximize the benefit of reduced knee and lower leg loading, while not being too difficult,” he said. (Remember, in his study the runners naturally landed on an 8 percent increase.)

There are several ways to monitor your cadence, including your GPS watch, an app, music set to your goal stride rate, or counting steps for 20 seconds and multiplying by three. If you go the high-tech route, Willy recommends programming your target zone of 5 to 10 percent higher than normal and setting an alarm to beep only if your cadence falls outside that range.

If you don’t want to set an alarm, or if you’re counting steps, don’t constantly check your cadence. Do so only when you’re curious. “The benefit here is that the runner only receives the feedback when they are motivated to learn,” Willy said. “Receiving feedback when you are not motivated to receive it seems to be quite detrimental to motor learning.”

When working with runners on increasing cadence, Willy never gives form cues, such as “quick feet” or “work your arms.” He simply gives the new turnover target. In an earlier study, Willy found that runners tend to try a variety of ways to meet the quicker-cadence goal and eventually find the one that works best for them.

One last logistical point: Using a higher stride rate on several consecutive runs is likely to make the tweak “take” sooner than if you practice it only once a week for several weeks. As the new research suggests, a compressed learning period will help you master the new skill quickly, whereas drawing out the process will mean having to think hard about it each time.

Contributing Writer Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times.