songs for cadence

Hello - Just joined this

Hello - Just joined this group and saw this forum.

I've been running barefoot 6 years, starting my 7th. Back when I ran shod, I used to run with these long, slow, bounding strides. It was hard for me catch the vision of running with a much faster cadence. Too easily I found myself slipping back to long, slow strides -- which was murder on my feet.

So I started 'singing' different songs in my head while running, to keep my pace up. Some of my favorites are these (don't laugh):

Handel's Messiah ("Forrrr unto us a Child is born, ..., unto us, ..., a Son is given," etc)

A silly song our church choir sang once called Jubilate, it has a good beat, though.

A song our Primary kids at church used to sing (I played the piano for them) called "Scripture Power."

Lately I've also been muttering this little chant I came up with one time while running through some gravelly beach sand. Its kind of like doing a voice 'beat-box!'

I wanted to emphacize the "up beat" part, to match "lifting" my feet. I can't write it out here very well, but its kind of like: tsee TSA TSA TSA TSA TSAtsee TSA TSA TSA TSA ... and various variations, with lots of off-beats stressed. It seems to help my cadence as well as keep my feet light.

Ryan
 
Angie- I love the "I like you

Angie- I love the "I like you better naked" song. I could use that for running. That's about the cadence I gravitate towards although it seems to be around the 170s BPM range (unless I'm tapping wrong).

Zum - I started watching that video and I was all, WTF? where's the music? Is this like the Brit's version of Fight Club or something? (one of my all time favorite movies BTW). Then the music started up again and I was all, waahhh? this is waaaaaayyyy too slow. AND THEN, it started to speed up and I LOVE it! That would be a great song for running!
 
Welcome, Ryan!

Welcome, Ryan!
 
Yes, I was the one that

Yes, I was the one that originally suggested Turning Japanese. I used to run with that in my head all the time.



That is until the time that I used my digital piano and my Wii Fit to work on running cadence at home. I put the Wii Fit on the run program and turned down the sound. I have a digital piano in the same room as the Wii, so I turned it on and programmed the metronome for a 180bpm waltz (odd number of beats is best). I discovered 3 things doing that. 1) Nearly all the Miis on Wii fit are running with a 180bpm cadence. 2) You can hit a high score on Wii Fit running with a perfect 180 cadence the whole time. 3) After listening to the 180bpm waltz metronome for a few minutes I spontaneously started singing along using the kids' song, "Have You Ever Seen a Lassie."



So if you thought it was bad to have Turning Japanese in your head while you run, try running for an hour with Have You Ever Seen a Lassie playing continusouly in the back of your head. Doesn't seem that bad? Here, this is the version I hear whenever I run now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E88Mp1OfWXE



Now, aren't you glad I shared that with you? ;)



I will also point out that I recently noticed that the pop song "Airplanes" by B.o.B. has close to a 180 cadence. Not sure if that's better or worse than the other 2 songs, but at least I find that it's not quite as easy to get stuck in my head as the others.



Peace,

Karen
 
So how many Wiggles have they

So how many Wiggles have they replaced now?
 
the wiggles and b.o.b. on top

the wiggles and b.o.b. on top of turning japanese? i am going to be institutionalized by the end of the week!

Actually the B.o.b song is a solid choice. More of a 92bpm thing, which is good for me, being a bit faster than 90/180.

The wiggles got me thinking of other songs in "three" time. How about "Love is a hard waltz" by nancy griffith? about 179 bpm once you find the beat. try here.
 
Not sure what you mean,

Not sure what you mean, MikeT... I personally haven't noticed any contradiction between "running well" and in general having a higher cadence than most shod runners. However, I don't think that means a specific cadence number like 180 should be a religion.

The number 180 is a starting point... and I think shooting for this number is good because it does seem to come with a more elastic floating feel. For most newbies this will mean taking shorter quicker steps. For me personally that was the beginning of better form.

However on this thread several people have mentioned that faster rates work for them. I think I'm finding that on pavement this is true for me as well. I have really short legs so something like 190 can feel great. But then on trails or if I'm really trying to go fast (legs going out behind me) my cadence naturally seems to go down a little. Not that my performance in terms of times is anything to copy. But I've heard faster runners write similar things on this site, so I don't think I'm totally off base.

You'll figure it out.
 
I ran with a metronome track

I ran with a metronome track on my mp3 player for the first time today (180 BPM). It was awesome, brought up my speed and did not effect my form at all. (guess I was doing too much thinking and not enough trying :p)
 
GarageBand users on Mac, take

GarageBand users on Mac, take a look at this Instructable:


http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Chi-Running-Metronome-MP3-track/

For M$ Windows users:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Running-Metronome-Windows-Users-for-Free/
 
sloutre wrote:GarageBand

sloutre said:
GarageBand users on Mac, take a look at this Instructable:http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Chi-Running-Metronome-MP3-track/

Oh so cool! Hadn't thought to use garage band. What a great idea!
 
peacekaren, u r Evil!First

peacekaren, u r Evil!

First of all, I thought I was safe, after what you wrote a few days ago on this thread. Then today, in the morning, I was minding my own business in the shower, not hurting a soul, thinking that I actually might make a positive contribution to the planet, yes, in my own small way, when guess what came rising up out of my brainstem... you know, the lizard part of my brain, responsible for breathing, heartbeat, etc, from which nothing CAN EVER BE ERASED?

peacekaren said:
Have You Ever Seen a Lassie... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E88Mp1OfWXE . Now, aren't you glad I shared that with you? ;)

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I was left wondering if it is possible to run from oneself screaming.

I hereby curse you with this reggae-tinged version of Baby Elephant Walk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcL2crstaBA&feature=related .

;-)

ps. here's a prettier song to get that out of your head.
 
She does it all the time,

She does it all the time, Stomper! Going around sticking sick songs in our head like "Turning Japanese!"

We had some good exhanges awhile ago. Anyone remember these songs?

Memories

Feelings
 
I've been scrubbing iTunes

I've been scrubbing iTunes and the web for some good tunes. I didn't think so, but I guess I'm picky. I really like these two which I think are 180 BPM.



A totally cool one - Eagles of Death Metal / From the Album: Peace Love Death Metal

I Only Want You



Another good one... - Metric / From the Album: Fantasies

Gold Gun Girls
 

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