Running Cadence with a Phone Metronome

A running warm-up where a metronome app connected to a speaker sets the cadence: 160, 170 and 180 steps per minute. Students measure their natural cadence and feel how their foot strike changes with a shorter stride.

How to play

1. In pairs, one jogs freely for 30 seconds while the other counts steps; multiply by two to get the cadence, then switch (2 min).
2. With the metronome at 160 steps per minute, jog easy down and back in 30-meter lanes, landing on every beat (2 min).
3. Go up to 170 and then 180, one lap at each pace, aiming for a short stride and landing under the hips (3 min).
4. Low skipping and a build-up run at 180 (2 min).
5. Each student writes down which cadence felt most comfortable and which felt the least jarring (1 min).

Rules

• Only speed up once your foot lands under your hips, not out in front.
• Keep lanes separate and always return along the side so no one crosses paths.
• The phone and speaker stay in one spot, outside the lanes.
• If anything hurts, go back to a free jog.

Variations

Adaptations

• Hearing impairment: the teacher keeps the beat with visible claps or the screen's flashing light.
• Autism: preview each pace change with a card and turn the speaker down.
• Knee or ankle injury: brisk walk to the metronome with no flight phase.

Learning goals

• Measure your own running cadence.
• Match stride frequency to an external beat.
• Connect cadence with how much impact you feel when landing.

Equipment for a class of 25

• tablets or phones: 1
• speaker: 1
• cones: 8

Teacher tip

Any free metronome app works if it's connected to a Bluetooth speaker. The goal isn't for everyone to run at 180, but to notice how the foot strike changes.

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