New Delhi, Dec. 27 -- Fitness is all about metrics these days. With easy access to numbers like VO₂ max, heart variances and stride length, metrics like speed and distance are just basics. There are more details you can delve into depending on which kind of workouts you do but many of these numbers have been driven by running enthusiasts. While most of them have also spilled into general fitness and sport, cadence (pronounced kay-dns) is the one criteria that running holds onto as its magic metric.

Cadence, in running, simply translates to steps per minute and its popularity dates back more than two decades to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. What cadence does is make it simple for runners to follow a principle of reaching a "numb...