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Part 2: Music To Run To At 170-180 Beats Per Minute

So my first blog about cadence and running song suggestions went over well enough that I have put together a more extensive playlist of songs that will get you running about 30 minutes (about a 5k).  I have the song choices  set for between 170-180 beats per minute.  What this means is that your feet should be hitting the ground to the beat of the music (170-180 times in a minute).  Why this number range?  Well, this seems to be the “sweet spot” according to the research on runners.  When a runner’s foot hits the ground, those forces are transferred up her/his leg.  The higher the forces, the higher the stresses and too many runs with high stresses can lead to tissue break down and injuries like tendonitis, knee pain, and stress fractures.

When I see runners in clinic and watch them run on the treadmill, there may be a number of factors contributing to the cause of their pain, most commonly they tend to overstride, with bigger steps and a slower leg turnover rate.  I may only ask that they increase their cadence to this 170-180 range and many of their “abnormalities” (I say this in the kindest way)  settle down.  In other words, when you run, you should be at or train to run at this cadence to keep yourself healthy.

Here’s some music to get you running at a good cadence.  I hope you enjoy it.  Have a great run!

(This may not be everyones cup of tea in regards to workout music.  If you are wondering what a song’s beat per minute rating is, you can google it or there are apps like Cadence Desk Top that will read your whole music library)

Thanks for reading!

– Amy