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So what should your cadence be? It's generally accepted that a turnover of 90 steps/minute is optimum for most people (180 steps/minute if counting both feet). To start off, check your cadence when you are running and if the number is 90 or higher, pat yourself on the back. If the number is lower than 90 then you should look at changing your cadence. Your cadence does not have to be exactly 90, and is likely to change somewhat with your pace and terrain. A faster pace may have a higher cadence, as will up or down hill sections.
=Measuring Cadence=
The cheapest way is to measure your cadence is to simply count how many times your foot touches the ground in a minute. However, it's much easier to use a [[Best Running Watch| running watch]] that displays cadence. Some watches will use a small [[Footpod]] attached to your shoe, but others make use of an internal accelerometer. ==Comparison of Cadence Monitors==[[File:Cadence Comparison.jpg|none|thumb|1000px|A comparison of cadence monitoring devices.]]The graph above is from a [[High Intensity Interval Training]] session, which is a challenging test of Cadence monitors. The [[Warmup]] and [[Cooldown]] sections of the run are not included, just the intervals. You can see the cadence rise to above 100 during the fast, high intensity intervals, then drop back to my more normal 90, then a further drop as I walk for a short period before commencing the next interval. I don't normally walk, but I wanted to challenge the cadence monitors a little extra. I avoided looking at any device during the run, as that can prevent the internal accelerometer based systems from operating without the normal arm swing. * The blue line is from a [[Polar M400]] with the Polar Stride Sensor [[Footpod]]. The Stride Sensor is huge, but it seems to provide the best data. The Polar data is smoother (greater sampling frequency), and reflects the changes in Cadence a little better than other sources. For instance, I stood stationary for a few seconds around the 7:30 mark, and the Polar reflects this drop better. * The purple line is from a [[Garmin 920XT]] with a Garmin Footpod. This is very nearly as good as the Polar data, and matches the changes fairly accurately. * The green line is from a [[Garmin Epix]] with the Garmin HRM Run heart rate strap that also monitors cadence. This matches the Garmin Footpod nicely, showing a similar sampling frequency. * The red line is from a [[Garmin 225]] that is relying on its internal accelerometer. The Garmin 225 is firmly strapped onto my wrist to ensure its optical heart rate monitor is effective. This is rather tighter than I would like, and mostly it does okay. You can see it's a little delayed in some of its responses, and at the 5:00 and 6:30 minute marks it misses the rise completely. While it's far from perfect, it does a reasonable job. * The orange line is from an [[Suunto Ambit3]] using its internal accelerometer. The Ambit3 was reasonably firmly strapped to my arm, but nowhere near as tight as the Garmin 225. I suspect it's this looseness that causes the poor data for the Ambit3. You can see that on the fast intervals the Ambit3 loses the plot completely and assumes that my cadence drops to zero. I plan to perform further tests of the internal accelerometer based devices as time allows.
=Changing Cadence=
There are several ways of changing your cadence.