Pick a familiar easy pace. For a short stretch, take slightly quicker, shorter steps while keeping that pace steady.
That is a cadence experiment. Cadence means steps per minute, counting both feet. Changing it gives you a way to explore your running movement without making speed the challenge.
In a 2011 study of 45 healthy recreational runners, researchers held treadmill speed constant while changing step rate. At 5% above each runner's preferred cadence, steps became shorter and the knee absorbed less mechanical energy during landing.
Those were immediate laboratory findings. They do not establish an ideal cadence for everyone, prove injury prevention or show that every runner needs to change their stride.
If you are curious and running comfortably, begin with your own rhythm. On a flat, predictable stretch, count every foot contact for 30 seconds and double the total. Repeat once at the same pace to check your estimate.
A 5% increase from 160 steps per minute is 168. Treat that as an example of a small adjustment, not a number everyone has to reach. You are changing one thing about your usual running.
For an introductory trial, try the slightly quicker rhythm for 30 seconds, then return to your normal stride. One or two short attempts are enough to explore the sensation. This is a suggested starting exercise, not a tested training dose.
Keep your shoulders relaxed and let the steps shorten. Avoid deliberately switching how your foot lands at the same time. If you start accelerating, reset before trying again. Otherwise, you have changed both rhythm and speed and made the comparison harder to interpret.
Afterwards, consider how it felt. Could you hold the same pace comfortably? Did the movement feel natural enough to explore again, or did it feel forced? A higher number alone cannot answer those questions.
Stop the experiment if it causes pain. Existing running pain deserves individual assessment rather than a self-prescribed cadence target.
You can finish the run with your usual stride. The value here is learning how a small rhythm change alters your movement. There is no requirement to adopt it permanently or turn every run into a form check.