Increase Your Stride Rate
Physics dictates that there are only two ways (or 3 ways, if you combine the two) to run faster:
- Increasing your stride rate (also known as leg turnover)
- Increasing your stride length
According to this article in Running Times, elite runners have a stride rate of about 180 steps per minute, while recreational runners take about 165-175 steps per minute. So you can see that most of us have quite a bit of room for improvement. Even if you are already taking about 175 steps per minute, you can increase your speed by approximately 3% just by increasing your stride rate to 180 steps per minute.
You can easily measure your stride rate by running for one minute, counting your strides as you run. Once you have your baseline, you can work on increasing that number. However, it’s probably better to calculate both your stride rate and your stride length so you can make sure that you are not increasing your stride rate at the expense of decreasing your stride length, since if you increase one by 1% and decrease the other by 1%, you’ll end up with no net gain. You can also make this calculation fairly easily by running for 1 minute, counting your strides as you go, then dividing the distance you covered by the number of strides.
So now that I’ve convinced you to try to increase your stride rate, you’re probably wondering how best to do that. Here are a few workout ideas:
- Downhill strides - find a gentle slope, and after warming up, start at the top of the slope and allow gravity to help you to accelerate. Repeat 4-6 times.
- Striders - after warming up, run 8-10 accelerations of about 80-100 meters. You’ll want to accelerate gradually so that you’re up to ‘full’ speed about halfway through each acceleration, and you’ll hold that speed through the rest of the acceleration.
- Hot coals - visualize running on a bed of hot coals, trying to step as quickly as possible over them. Do this for about 50 yards at a time.
For more ideas on improving your stride rate, consider taking a look at these resources:
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November 4th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Increase Your Stride Rate | Run Faster | Tips for improving your running…
There are only 2 ways to increase your speed: increasing your stride length, or increasing your stride rate. Because increasing your stride length is more likely to lead to injury than increasing your stride rate, it is better for most people to focus …
November 7th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Just ignore Harry. He’s an archetype troll.
I found it interesting and will probably try it out at some point.
November 16th, 2007 at 11:35 am
When you increase your stride rate, that just means you are running faster, correct? So essentially, to increase your stride rate you need to be in better shape. Is that wrong?
November 16th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Increasing your stride rate means that you are taking more steps in a given period of time which should increase your total speed unless your stride length gets significantly shorter. Most people probably naturally decrease their stride length a bit as they increase their stride length, but on balance, your speed should tend to increase.
I don’t think you have to be in better shape to work on increasing your stride rate; I think working on it helps you get into better shape. In other words, when you’re just starting to work on this, you probably won’t be able to maintain a stride rate that’s faster than normal for you for the entire length of your run. But as you work on this, you’ll be getting more fit, and you’ll be able to maintain a faster stride length for longer and longer periods.
Hope that answers your question, Josh.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Move faster and take bigger steps, it’s a miracle breakthrough! Honestly, the article is helpful, in that it shows drills on how to improve the stride rate. My 2 cents…it’s a matter of how much are you willing to push yourself during runs, and how consistent are you about training? Both are mental questions, yes technic is important, but it’s the ability mentally to consistently push yourself beyond what you’ve been capable of doing each time that makes progress possible. That is an all-inclusive mantra…exercise, diet, sleep, attitude, life… Set yourself a truely challanging goal, and don’t settle for anything less than obtaining it.