Fortnightly Fitness Fridays - A Sweat Pink Post

For a little while now I have been aware that I present this blog as being about "food, health, fitness..." (and so on, see column to the right) but post on fitness and exercise relatively rarely. I have some posts on the topic of course, but they appear intermittently and with no particular structure.

This blog is never going to be all, or even mostly, about fitness. That's just not what I enjoy writing about the most. I like talking about food, and creating new dishes, and sharing the results. At the same time, exercise is a major part of my life, and a part that I consider instrumental in keeping me sane. I would like to mention it a little more than I currently do.

Recently, a solution to this minor dilemma landed in my lap. The lovely co-founders of Fit Approach asked if I would be interested in being one of their 'Sweat Pink Ambassadors'.

To give you a sense of the philosophy behind Fit Approach, I'd like to share a quote from their website:

"Do you have a passion for inspiring others on their journeys to health? Do you believe that strong is the new skinny, pink is the new black, and that a positive attitude and whole foods are a healthier route to happiness than self-loathing and 100-calorie snack packs?" [Source]

The last part, in particular, rings absolutely true for me. It is incredibly nice to be connected to like-minded women, and to know that a group has been created to promote this philosophy.

With this Fit Approach involvement, it seemed like a good time to organise the way I approach exercise-related topics on this blog. My goal? From now on, once a fortnight on a Friday, I will do a fitness-related post. These are likely to be varied and linked to whatever activities I've been doing or thinking about over the previous 2 weeks. The activities may be formal or informal, exercise in the high-intensity sense or just a walk or cycle outdoors somewhere.

Today, I thought I'd share some of what I've been reading lately about running stride or cadence. I've never thought a lot about how many steps I take each minute when I run - I pay attention to how far and how fast, but not my specific stride rate.

It turns out, there is a remarkable amount written on 'optimal' cadence, where cadence is the number of steps you take per minute. It is accepted that everyone is going to run slightly differently, but striking around 180 steps per minute, 90 on each foot, is believed to be more efficient than lower stride rates, and to reduce the likelihood of injury whilst also increasing running performance. Not surprisingly, therefore, it is a cadence that is common to elite runners.

To clarify what 180 strides per minute feels like, in one second you would need to have your left foot hit the ground, then your right food, and then your left foot again. In other words, it is quick! Most people don't run at that rate naturally, and doing so requires your legs to stay close to your body and for each step to make contact with the ground only briefly. This, in part, is what accounts for the lower injury rate with this quicker stride.

I was curious to know what my 'natural' cadence is, so I set out to count my strides on a treadmill this week. My most comfortable speed when running is 11 km / hour (6.8 miles / hour), and so I set the treadmill to that speed and counted my foot strikes for a minute. I did this a few times and counted about 160 quite consistently. 

I then adjusted my stride to make three steps to one second, and was able to run at a cadence of 180 without too much difficulty. It did feel odd, but manageable. And the impressive thing was, it also did feel better. I had to shorten my steps quite noticeably, but it felt lighter and smoother and I could imagine running that way over long distances. I'm not sure how I will go without the timer of the treadmill to guide me, but it is definitely something I'll be paying attention to. If it can help my knees and hips stay uninjured, it will certainly be an adjustment that would be worth the effort!

If you run, do you know what your stride rate is? Or had you heard of 180 steps being a recommended number?

I'd also love to hear your thoughts on how these fortnightly fitness posts unfold. If you have suggestions or ideas, please let me know!

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