Increased stride-rate in runners following an independent retraining program: A randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE

Increasing stride-rate by 5%-10% has been used for injury prevention and rehabilitation but evidence is limited if an independent program can alter stride-rate in runners. The objective of this study was to determine whether the preferred stride-rate of recreational runners can be increased by 5%-10% following a 6-week independent training program.

METHODS

Thirty-eight runners running a minimum of 15 miles/wk with a preferred stride-rate ≤85 strides/min determined during treadmill testing were randomized into two groups: (a) Experimental group was instructed to increase stride-rate by 10% using a watch and foot pod for stride-rate feedback; and (b) Control group was instructed to continue normal running. Compliance was tracked with a training log. One stride being defined as two sequential steps. Preferred running stride-rate was retested at 6 weeks using the same testing protocol.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in baseline preferred running stride-rates between the experimental or control groups. A significant (P < .001) increase in stride-rate from 79.9 ± 4.8 to 86.8 ± 5.7 strides/min (8.6% increase) was found in the experimental group. The control group did not significantly change their stride-rate (Baseline: 80.4 ± 4.2, 6 weeks: 81.3 ± 3.3 strides/min).

CONCLUSION

A 6-week home training program using a watch and foot pod can increase the preferred running stride-rate by 5%-10% in runners with a stride-rate of 85 or less. Clinicians may be able to apply this type of gait retraining in recreational runners when designing injury prevention and rehabilitation programs.