Jeroen Peerbolte
Running music at 160 BPM puts one beat on every step at a cadence of 160 steps per minute. 160 steps per minute is a relaxed cadence. Play the mixes below at exactly 160, or turn the wheel to your own cadence.
Hear it at 160 BPM
These are ZoneTempo's Beatmatch mixes, set to 160. Play a preview: the tempo matches 160 steps per minute and the pitch stays the same. Turn the wheel if your cadence is different.
Who runs at 160 steps per minute
160 steps per minute is a relaxed cadence. It is common on slow, easy runs, for taller runners with a longer stride, and for newer runners who are still finding their rhythm. If you run in the low 150s now, 160 is a sensible first step up.
Cadence rises with speed, so the same runner sits lower on an easy run than on a tempo run. Measure it on the kind of run you want music for: count your steps for 30 seconds and double it, or use the cadence finder.
Music that is 160 BPM
Jungle and the slower end of drum & bass sit close to 160. At half time, songs around 80 BPM work too: you take two steps for every beat.
A playlist labelled 160 BPM is usually a range, though. A song 3 BPM off puts your steps 3 beats out of line every minute, so you drift on and off the beat, and every song has its own tempo. Mixes played at exactly 160 keep every step on the beat.
Moving up to 160
If you run at about 152 steps per minute now, 160 is a 5% step up: the size of change lab studies tested. At the same speed, 5% more steps per minute reduced the load on the knees (Heiderscheit et al., 2011). Take slightly shorter, quicker steps, not faster ones, and practise in blocks of a few minutes on easy runs.
Music makes it stick. Runners follow the tempo of their music without trying: in one study, tempo changes too small to notice still shifted their cadence (Van Dyck et al., 2015). More in the running cadence guide.
Other tempos
- 165 BPM running music: steady runs, a first step up from the mid 150s
- 170 BPM running music: tempo runs and a brisk, light stride
- 175 BPM running music: faster paces and shorter runners
- 180 BPM running music: faster running; the famous rule of thumb
- Running music by BPM: find your tempo in 30 seconds
Questions
Is 160 steps per minute a good running cadence?
It can be. There is no single right cadence: it rises with speed and depends on your build. 160 is a good choice if it is your cadence now, or about 5% above it. Lab studies tested small increases like that, not a jump to a fixed number.
What music is 160 BPM?
Jungle and the slower end of drum & bass sit close to 160. At half time, songs around 80 BPM work too: you take two steps for every beat.
How do I run at 160 steps per minute?
Take one step on every beat of music at 160 BPM, with shorter, quicker steps rather than running faster. If 160 is above your usual cadence, start with a few minutes at a time on easy runs and let it become normal over a few weeks.
Sources
- Van Dyck E, Moens B, Buhmann J, et al. Spontaneous entrainment of running cadence to music tempo. Sports Med Open. 2015;1:15. doi.org/10.1186/s40798-015-0025-9
- Heiderscheit BC, Chumanov ES, Michalski MP, Wille CM, Ryan MB. Effects of step rate manipulation on joint mechanics during running. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(2):296–302. doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181ebedf4
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