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Myth Busting Forefoot Running - from the eye of a Sports Physiotherapist

  

We watch the general public run and more often than not they heel strike. We watch Usain Bolt run the 100m and he is right up on to his forefoot. We watch a group of world-class marathon runners and we see mid and forefoot striking going on.

So the question must be asked as to Who is Right?

In order to start to understand who may be right, we must consider many factors, here are three important ones:

Contact with the ground - how far in front of your body (centre of Gravity COG) does your foot strike the ground? The further forward of your strike is from your COG the greater the impact forces are and therefore the nearer to the COG means less impact

Type of Foot strike - Heel strike is generally associated with a longer front stride. Trying to heel strike under your COG is mighty difficult and would generally change the type of landing to a mid or fore foot strike. This type of strike utilises the bodies natural suspension system and decreases the amount of muscular involvement required for the same effort - i.e less energy cost.

Cadence - Research suggests that the slower the cadence (number of foot strikes per minute) the longer the time spent on the ground with every stride. This means that the potential for tissue overload is far greater as the elastic potential of the tissue is lost.

So what does this mean? - By bringing the stride shorter and more toward the COG, landing mid to fore foot and increasing your cadence you will:

• Reducing the risk of injury

• Reduce the amount of impact on landing

• Reduce time spent on the ground & increase the use of the bodies natural suspension system (elastic potential of the tissue)

• Increasing the bodies economy - leaving you more energy to direct toward decreasing your times

Warning - Transitioning from a REAR to a MID/FORE foot strike may seriously damage your health - this must be done with a careful programme that gradually introduces the concept into your training.

For more information on this or if you would like to book on to one of our workshops, please feel free to contact our sports clinic on 0871 2219394



 

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