Running technique

[Wik]

I naturally run with heel strike and mouth breathing, but I’ve have heard that this is wrong. So what is the correct running technique?

[Austin_Baraki]

Don’t Think Too Hard About Your Foot Strike

[philibusters]

@Wik

I naturally run with heel strike and mouth breathing, but I’ve have heard that this is wrong. So what is the correct running technique?

My experience is if you heel strike the shin and knee absorb more of the impact, whereas if you forefoot or midfoot strike your backside including your achilles and calf will have a great role in shock absorption.

What is best will depend on the person. If you have are struggling with a pulled hamstring, calf, or achilles, you are going to want to heel strike because it makes it easier on those areas. My contrast if you have shin splints or knee issues you may help the injury by being able to midfoot strike.

Most people will vary on the foot strike depending on three factors 1) the speed they are running at 2) how tired they are 3) what type of surface they are running on and what type of shoe they are running in.

In terms of speed–if you are sprinting 50 meters–you are probably not heel striking. The faster you are running relatively to your own top speed to more likely you are to forefoot or mid foot strike. In terms of fatigue, most people (including elites–heel strike in the late stages of a marathon). It could be the CNS get fatigued and the motion for heel striking is easier or it might be that calves are tired, but that is the trend. Finally people are more likely to heel strike on softer surfaces like grass compared to concrete. Also the millimeter drop in your shoe will tend to affect how you footstrike. If you have a 12 millimeter drop from the bottom of the shoe to the front of the show (a very cushioned running shoe) that is going to make it more likely you heel strike. By contrast if you are in a racing flat with 6 millimeters of cushioning in the front and 8 millimeters in the heel (only a 2 millimeter drop) your shoe won’t be forcing you to heel strike.

But there really is no right or wrong way to foot strike. Your injury situation is probably the most important for determining what is the right way for you to heel strike.

[Jordan_Feigenbaum]

@philibusters

My experience is if you heel strike the shin and knee absorb more of the impact, whereas if you forefoot or midfoot strike your backside including your achilles and calf will have a great role in shock absorption.

What is best will depend on the person. If you have are struggling with a pulled hamstring, calf, or achilles, you are going to want to heel strike because it makes it easier on those areas. My contrast if you have shin splints or knee issues you may help the injury by being able to midfoot strike.

Most people will vary on the foot strike depending on three factors 1) the speed they are running at 2) how tired they are 3) what type of surface they are running on and what type of shoe they are running in.

In terms of speed–if you are sprinting 50 meters–you are probably not heel striking. The faster you are running relatively to your own top speed to more likely you are to forefoot or mid foot strike. In terms of fatigue, most people (including elites–heel strike in the late stages of a marathon). It could be the CNS get fatigued and the motion for heel striking is easier or it might be that calves are tired, but that is the trend. Finally people are more likely to heel strike on softer surfaces like grass compared to concrete. Also the millimeter drop in your shoe will tend to affect how you footstrike. If you have a 12 millimeter drop from the bottom of the shoe to the front of the show (a very cushioned running shoe) that is going to make it more likely you heel strike. By contrast if you are in a racing flat with 6 millimeters of cushioning in the front and 8 millimeters in the heel (only a 2 millimeter drop) your shoe won’t be forcing you to heel strike.

But there really is no right or wrong way to foot strike. Your injury situation is probably the most important for determining what is the right way for you to heel strike.

This is good information, though we would have issues with the second paragraph based on present evidence.