We are often asked at Body in Motion about whether a runner should land on their heel on their mid foot.
More and more research is coming out that supports forefoot or midfoot landing.
Our ancestors ran for millions of years barefoot using midfoot landing as do many Kenyans today with little or no foot, ankle and shin problems. In addition lab research analysing running kinetics also demonstrates that there may be less impact and less injuries sustained with fore/midfoot running.
So what is the research?
Most midfoot or forefoot landing does not generate the huge sudden impact that heel striking does. Therefore mid/forefoot runners do not need the generous heel cushioning that modern shoes provide.
Studies show 30% of runners get injured every year (mainly shin splints, knee pain, plantar fasciitis and Achilles problems) and our data at Body in Motion Bournemouth physiotherapy also backs this up.
Many runners do heel strike and provided they have no injuries, there is no problem with that. However some evidence may suggest that landing on the heel is similar to applying the brakes. There may be some benefit to a runner’s speed by midfoot landing and well as less injury.
Should I switch?
If you are running well with no problems I would be hesitant to change.
However if you are just starting or get repeated injuries and know you need to improve your biomechanics, make any changes slowly and with patience. Start by getting a video analysis of your gait to see what issues may be there. Sometimes there are other issues with the back, hip or knee that should be addressed before making changes in the feet.
In the beginning it is likely you will experience some muscle soreness in the calf, lower leg and feet. If you progress too quickly, you risk causing injury to your muscles or tendons.
Sports massage will allow your muscles and tendons to adapt to any changes in biomechanics more quickly.
Ok, so let’s check out some video:
This is heel striking with the force graph:
With heel striking the foot and lower leg come to a dead stop at impact while the rest of the body continues to fall above the knee. Also the effective mass is approximately the foot plus the lower leg, which equals 6.8% of total body mass in the runners measured in Lieberman et al. (2010).
Let’s compare this with force graph for forefoot running:
Forefoot striking produces a very slow rise in force with no distinct impact transient. There is essentially NO impact transient in a forefoot strike. The same is true of some (but not all) midfoot strikes.
Even on hard surfaces runners who forefoot strike have impact forces that are 7 times lower than runners who heel strike Lieberman et al. (2010).
Heel striking is equivalent to someone hitting you on the heel with a hammer using as much as 3 times your body weight. These impacts add up, since you strike the ground almost 1000 times per mile!
Grab Your FREE report on fitness and strength training here
Many running shoes make heel strikes comfortable and less injurious because they slow the rate of loading considerably but they do not eliminate the impact transient.
If you have repeated injuries with running, book a videoanalysis or ask one of our Bournemouth physiotherapists for advice.
If you fancy a beginner’s triathlon or getting your kids involved check out these great events.
If you live in or near Bournemouth and are looking for a triathklon club, check out Zoom
Tags: achilles tendonitis, knee pain, physio, plantar fasciitis, running, shin splints, sports massage, triathlon, videoanalysis
I have been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.
Hey – nice blog, just looking around some websites, seems a really nice platform you are using. I’m currently using Wordpress for a few of my sites but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run.
I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work.
Excellent job.
I recently come across your weblog and think this is a great post i enjoy reading and provide me some great information for that concern. Thanx for this great read.
I have to state, you chose your words well. The ideas you wrote on your encounters are well placed. This is an incredible blog!
That was a very interesting topic.
Great tips, these are useful and this site rocks especially for beginners like myself…
I really like that information that you wrote. It shows that you really know your stuff.
This website just made my week! I have been looking around for info on this. I’m glad now that I ran across this webpage. Woohoo!
Good article. Very well written
Whats up, That is a good summation, I located your blog checking google for any similar subject and discovered this. I couldnt discover too significantly other tips and facts on this posting, so it was great to discover this one. I am going to almost certainly be returning to contemplate various other content that you have written another time.
Great information thanks for getting this out there for people like me to read.
Great site you have. Congrats!
Wow this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article
This is very good article, I am very interested in its topic and read them was a pleasure.
Very good site, where did you come up with the knowledge in this post? I’m happy I found it though, ill be checking back soon to see what other articles you have.
Hi there may I use some of the information here in this post if I provide a link back to your site?
Interesting article… Thank you for the info!
It is a wonderful post thanks for sharing this informative data.. I will go to your blog regularly for some latest post.
Building up your core muscles is very important for strength, posture, and overall health. I have back issues and I focus a lot on core exercises to help take care of my back now…and proper stretching of course.
That is very inspirational stuff. Never known that feeling can be this diversified. Thanks for all the enthusiasm to extend such helpful information on this post. . . .
You can do both, one does not keep you from being effective at the other. As you gain more muscle weight you will not be as efficient at running, because you are carrying the extra weight. So just do what you have been doing, knowing that as you put on the muscles you are working a lot harder at the running.