Beats per minute

[pilquin]

On second week of post couch to 5k and have searched for running tunes. Some are 140bpm up to 180bpm I’m starting at 140 but not sure if it’s right for me. Any advice on this please ?

[Rammy75]

I use the podrunner podcasts where you choose the bpm to run to. My advise would be to try a couple of these to see how you get

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

I used the NHS podcasts with the music I loved it.. and now, I run to all my favourite tunes... mostly to do with my mood not to do with bpm

[misswobble Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

I like to run to a mixture of tempo’s. And take whatever comes 🙂

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Do what comes naturally. We all have a go-to foot turnover (cadence) and to change it takes time. The faster your cadence the less time your feet are on the ground and therefore there is less risk of injury. But beware, increasing your cadence should be gradual and over a period of weeks, even months.

Don't worry about this now, you have other stuff to focus on while you get through the programme 🙂

[Christene Graduate]

I wouldn't worry too much about BPM, if you like running to music, as I do, just play whatever you like. Its mostly for distraction, so it's not important what the speed is. You will find that you always drop into your natural cadence anyway, and changing that too much could actually make you more prone to an injury as you try to get faster.

You can increase your cadence, without increasing your ground speed, by just shortening your stride, and conversely, slow you your cadence with longer strides though this just encourages a more pronounced heel strike where you should almost be aiming for a flat, simultaneous heel and toe strike - plenty of time to improve technique later on....

Bottom line, play music and enjoy your running pilquin ...

[Curlygurly2 Graduate]

You could find out your cadence by counting your footfalls for one minute, also what about the + podcasts? They'd give you a clear idea what your current cadence is, then you can take it from there.

[Shelby1973 Graduate]

I just run to whatever music I fancy on the day that Stored on my phone . Just enjoy 😉 xx

[Razouski]

I put together different playlists with a range of music that I feel like running too. I have no idea what the BPM is of any of the tracks, and I don’t tend to run in time with them. (As a Retro Runner a lot of my playlists heavily feature 1980s music 😂)

[mrrun Graduate]

There is no such thing as running music, that's another myth where they take your money away.

Do you like any music at all? Then you should listen to that when running. If you don't like any music then don't play any as there's nothing worse than some guy out there counting and deciding what bmp suits you.

If you really, really, want to run to bpm then listen to a stopwatch, it sound better at least.

[MarkyD Graduate]

It can sometimes help to have some running music with a defined tempo. Especially if that tempo matches your cadence. Since you have graduated, running to a defined tempo is a good way to progress.

You could go for a practice run... forget all about time and distance and music. Just head out with a metronome app on your phone, and run in time to the beats. Start at 140 and see how you get on. The app will let you fine-tune the tempo until you find the cadence that suits you. Try and run for 200-400 meters at the tempo you've set so that you fall into rhythm. It'll take some experimenting to get it right.

Then, you can build a running playlist when you get home - start of with warm-up walk music, then progress to 'lower-end' tempo, build up over a few songs to your natural tempo, and you could put something faster in the middle.

And don't forget to tell us how you get on, and post your playlist so we get some ideas.

[pilquin]

Wow wasn’t expecting those answers ! But glad I got them I’m learning all the time thanks 👍👍