Jeroen Peerbolte
Running music at 170 BPM puts one beat on every step at a cadence of 170 steps per minute. 170 steps per minute is a brisk, light cadence. Play the mixes below at exactly 170, or turn the wheel to your own cadence.
Hear it at 170 BPM
These are ZoneTempo's Beatmatch mixes, set to 170. Play a preview: the tempo matches 170 steps per minute and the pitch stays the same. Turn the wheel if your cadence is different.
Who runs at 170 steps per minute
170 steps per minute is a brisk, light cadence. Many runners reach it on tempo runs or at a comfortable faster pace, and it is a 5% step up from about 162.
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 170 BPM
170 is drum & bass's home tempo, which usually sits around 170 to 175, and pop punk often runs near it. At half time, hip-hop around 85 BPM fits.
A playlist labelled 170 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 170 keep every step on the beat.
Moving up to 170
If you run at about 162 steps per minute now, 170 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
- 160 BPM running music: easy runs, taller runners, newer runners
- 165 BPM running music: steady runs, a first step up from the mid 150s
- 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 170 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. 170 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 170 BPM?
170 is drum & bass's home tempo, which usually sits around 170 to 175, and pop punk often runs near it. At half time, hip-hop around 85 BPM fits.
How do I run at 170 steps per minute?
Take one step on every beat of music at 170 BPM, with shorter, quicker steps rather than running faster. If 170 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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