Why It's Ok To Heel Strike! | Running Technique Explained
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- A lot has been said about footstrike, and heel striking in particular. Mostly, that it’s bad - but is it really? How bad is it? The truth is, heel strikers win races. Lots of them! So is it really ok to heel strike when running? James & Heather have been investigating!
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What type of runner are you? Let us know 🏃♀
Barefoot. Wearing super supportive shoes and heel strikes were giving me constant plantar fasciitis. Now my feet feel amazing and have more supportive muscles. But also don't do long distance running.
Heel striker for sure. Oddly enough.. all my shoes wear out around the outside edge of the heel 🤷🏽♂️.
Being a heal striker myself and wondering about trying to change this has been a very informative video. The only thing I can say is heal strikers will wear out shoes much faster. I only got 106 miles out of my very comfortable and fast ON Cloudmonster shoes before I wore them down to splitting on the heal.
Can you do a challenge video where you take a professional cyclist, swimmer and runner who only have a basic level of the other sports and ask them do do a triathlon against each other to see which sport is the most important
Former
It’s important to call out over-striding with a heel strike and the potential dangers. I injured my knee over-striding with a heel strike not realizing I needed to land over a bent knee.
I used to suffer from knee and hip pains as a heal striker. Changed to mid/forefront striking and the pain stopped immediately. It takes a bit of time to adjust to the muscle and tendon demands but I recommend it as long as you build slowly. I think heal striking isn't the culprit per se, but the fact it encourages a straight and locked knee is what caused my injury. If you heal strike, while using the natural shock absorption of muscles and tendons (that we've evolved beautifully over millions of years), you should be ok.
Same here, I had yeh worse problems in my right knee when I started running. Changed to mid foot and they went away. In retrospect I realize, it was most likely due to over striding. However, I’m still glad I switched, works better for my running style
This is whats wrong with this channel. The solution is to change form but the channel wouldve made you buy one of their sponsors
Wow, that video really opened my eyes about foot-strikes! When I first started running, I was a heel-striker and never had any injuries. But then I started hearing all these people saying that fore-striking was better and would save me from injuries, so I tried to change my stride. Big mistake! I ended up with Achilles tendonitis and then shin splints, and had to sit out of my big race. It was so frustrating! Now, I just go with what feels natural and adjust my foot-strike depending on the situation. No more forcing it and no more injuries - I'm injury-free and loving my runs again
omg, me too! I'm a long distance recreational runner and to improve my speed, I recently tried to train for fore-strike and now I'm having my runner's knee back. Big mistake. Should have watched this video first.
@@lm8podtunes324 - The transition (if one wants to do that) needs to be slow. If you demand too much, the parts of the legs that are now being used more for the first time, will be overloaded. Gotta be patient for the weakest links to catch up (or some shit like that). I don't know if this happened to you or not, but yea.
You missed the key point on this, and that is where, in relation to the hips, the foot strikes the ground. All the video clips in this show runners landing underneath their hips, but what we often see in sessions are inexperienced runners over-striding, landing in front of the hip and therefore hitting the brakes. This is where coaching has changed over the years, as a L3 tri coach I now work on where runners land, rather than which part of the foot hits first, which may be their individual method, based on their own movement patterns. Usually, people running faster, even over 10km, are more mid-forefoot strikers, and as the distance comes down and pace goes up, even more so.
First point of contact does not define it correctly, moment the foot handles the full body weight is what counts. If at that moment your still only on your heel you overstride and cause a breaking effect and massive force in knee and hip.
If im sprinting i feel like forefoot helps me, but if im going long distance my heel strike kicks in and it works better.
Thank you for this episode! I’m a midfoot to heel striker who has been trying to change that because the research discouraged heel striking. Now I can just run naturally!
This is becoz today's shoes are so thick and stacked compared to yesteryears trainers which were mostly just a thin layer of foam.. we definitely dont wanna heel strike on those oldschool shoes
I was all over the place, a ... whatever got me through the run striker :) But your videos (prior videos) helped me convert to more of a forefoot striker, and fixed my cadence etc. I had a lot of knee pain before but your vids got rid of that for me, especially your downhill running vids. Thanks for putting all of this stuff out there for us. Love it!
Your running content is the best on CZcams, which is doubly impressive given that you're not a channel that's dedicated exclusively to running.
Interesting article, not seen anything covering this before so well done team GTN. Coming from an running 800m background I've moved from front to mid foot. Still get the odd Achilles and calf strain so need to keep on with the strength and rehab!
Very informative, especially in regards of changing the stride pattern.
Videos confirm that most in marathon leading groups roll from heel to front while maintaining short contact time, i.e. not overloading joins.
Way back when I was a wee lad I was taught to land on the balls of my feet when running. I’ve always tried to maintain that form. I’ve recently heard that it’s not so much what part of the foot hits the ground, but where the foot is with relation to your knee. That is what I’m currently struggling with.
I forefoot strike uphill, heel strike downhill, and everything in between depending on distance/gradient/speed. My focus is on soft landings and efficiency rather than worrying too much about toe or heel first as I run Ultras and have to keep going for 100's of km up and down mountain trails. If I was running shorter distances and flat road races I would probably be a lot more focused on foot strike and speed.
I have always thought my foot strike varies depending on my pace & the gradient. Uphill or faster paces lead to forefoot & vice versa.
When I look at pictures of me running, it looks like my right foot strike is definitely a heel strike, while the left is more like a midfoot. True or not, I wonder if asymmetries are common and if they are an issue at all.
I'm a little late to the game, but kudos to you for addressing this issue where many people in the minimalist "barefoot" running camp have an almost religious fervor about it. I was caught up in the movement after reading Born To Run, a very entertaining book and compelling. Then, looking at sports medicine articles about running injuries and after my own experience (very dangerous, anecdotes are not data, N of one, etc) with achilles tendonitis starting I had my doubts. I also questioned the veracity of the book after a Nat Geo article came out on the Tarahumara. They are indeed phenomenal runners but do not live almost forever as depicted in the book and the average lifespan is less than in many developed countries (in part due to staggering childhood mortality). When Micah True (Caballo Blanco in the book) died of a cardiac arrest during a training run in his 50's and when articles about the incidence of atrial fibrillation in extreme endurance athletes surfaced I now regard the book as raising certain questions but not scientifically accurate. We are all different and most of us grow up wearing shoes, a definite necessity in the northern climates. Some are genetically built like Mo Farah, others like Pavarotti and most in between and to think that one style fits all would require pretty strong evidence in my opinion. You've gotten a ton of comments contesting your video but I thank you for discussing it.
How bad is heel strike? Really really bad if you've got crappy joints! Everyone I've ever talked to who has gone through the considerable effort of relearning how to run
a) didn't do it because heel striking was working so darned well they thought "let's introduce a new variable!" They did it because their body obviously could not take the impact from heel striking
b) fore-foot running solved the issue. Now I'll concede that the people for whom it didn't solve the issue probably just gave up at that point and are unfortunately no longer in our community, but the point remains, it solved the issue for a great many of us whom I've talked to!
4 years ago I couldn't run 5km consistently without having knee injuries: last Saturday I finished my second marathon (5th running of the Qingdao Marathon) in a time of 3:39.
If you're having joint issueswhen you run, STOP HEEL RUNNING!
Yes, I was having hip and knee pain with a midfoot strike, until my aunt taught me how to do a proper forefoot strike.
Great video GTN. Always informative.
But much more too it than that. It’s not so much the part of the foot that strikes first, it’s WHERE the foot strikes the ground relative to the the body/Centre of mass that’s important.
Ie. In front of the body’s mass will result in more ‘braking/sharing’ forces at foot strike, which can slow the momentum and add braking forces through the knee particularly. Plus increased vertical loads.
Also let’s realize that when we all walk, we all heel strike, and when we all sprint we all fore-foot strike to use the elasticity of the feet, Achilles tendon and windlass mechanism. So every pace in-between those, results in every foot strike in-between, just varying degrees for each person and as we age, it changes too.
Perhaps GTN can cover off some of this stuff too!
This is definitely not OK, "for me." Thanks for sharing the information.
Very informative video with some great truths in there. Thank you! I can attest that I'm one of those idiots who tried changing from heel strike to fore-strike. I was (wrongly) under the impression that this was a more efficient and safer way to run long distances. I got three things from that experience: plantar fasciitis, multiple calf tears, and new-found knowledge that my "normal" gait and heel strike is safest and most efficient for my bio-mechanics. Lesson learned.
That is my experience also.
The transition (if one wants to do that) needs to be slow. If you demand too much, the parts of the legs that are now being used more for the first time, will be overloaded. Gotta be patient for the weakest links to catch up (or some shit like that). I don't know if this happened to you or not, but yea.
Awesome & Thanks :)
I am a freacking heel-striker who has a tendency to fool-foot strike with a short history of trying to adopt to fore-strike, and still subconsciously using this method running uphill. But my focus actually is on the moment the foot handles the full body weight. 😊
Thanks for this you hear alot about the injury rates in the barefoot shoes community so it's good to know nothing to worry about... As for me I believe I heel strike when walking, Mid strike when running and toe strike with sprinting.
Finally!!!🎉🎉 With so many “better than thou” runners with their pinky in the air calling out heal strikers, this video is so refreshing!!
Thank you, cheers 🍻
Stop talking about how your foot strikes, it’s irrelevant. What IS relevant is WHERE your foot lands. In some of your close up shots showing that it’s “OK” the foot is landing ahead of your center of gravity. That’s just inefficient and sloppy form.
Busted a few myths with this one. Thank you Heather and James.
Question: can you name exercises the make use of the fore foot or heel?
Like A B C D Skips are fore foot. I'm interested in where the focus on the muscles, tendons and coordination is of the exercises used for running. That should say something I guess.
In 1960 Abebe bikila won the Rome marathon with bare foot, now imagine him being a heel striker on a pavement.
Damn Vaporfly's heels wear out quicker than the midfoot and forefoot. That's why I changed my strikes.
I started jogging 2 years ago and naturally had a heel strike, at some point I started having knee pains so I looked up forefoot striking and changed to it; but I also changed my shoes to probably better ones. The load on my calves definitely gets felt, but I like it as it’s more of a muscle pain rather than a dangerous joint pain, this aligns with what the video says about the changing loads, but not really the injury risks as I feel much better with forefoot striking and my times have also improved. How much that’s due to the foot strikes or the shoes is debatable, though; I might’ve been fine keeping a heel strike and just changing my shoes maybe. End point a load on your calves is much better than a load on your knees (or hips) in terms of injuries though, even if your calves do get injured more often, it’s not gonna be a serious injury.
Can’t wait to get new shoes!
To me it depends on the distance. Shorter distances I go for speed so mid to forefoot. If the distance is longer I switch to heel strike when I get tired. Even larger distances I alternate.
There is a reason why we heel strike when we walk and all sprinters use their front foot, not heel. You just do not have a speed with heel strike and it's often causing you to get wrong position when running(over-striding). If you can run while heel striking and injury free - good for you but most of the people don't. Many people think they should run exactly the same as they walk and this is why heel striking is so popular.
Have always been a forefoot striker which I think is because I played football when I was younger which involves short burst of speed where its more natural to be up on your toes. Heal striking feels clumsy and unnatural to me but there are plenty of heal strikers who are better distance runners than me and nothing wrong with it providing you don't over stride.
Kinda confused when u are heel strike and at the same time underpronation
Heel strike is good: me with inflammation in my left knee😂
I've never had problems running before but some of my friends suggested to land on my forefoot and just after 2 days of running my calves hurt so much that I had to take 3 rest days cause I can't even stand properly. Was I doing something wrong or is it just because forefoot striking isn't natural for me?
Put in a pair of ear buds with no sound and then see which one has impact vibrations and which one doesn't.
i'm 45 i am just starting to run, i feel so hard to change my foot strike to a proper one, whenever i use middle foot to land, my pace tend to increase so does my hr
Learn to do both, reduces injury by altering the loads on different training days and speeds.
Mind you, in answer to the question "what type of runner are you?"
My answer is....slow.
it does not really matter what strike you run as long as you land your foot over your center of gravity. usually off balance body positioin and low cadence is the main reason for typical runners injuries. the thing is that people who are changing their running style to a mid footstrike will have to pay more attention to their body position and usually have to shorten their stride lenght to land on the mid foot which simultaneously is rising their cadence having them to run a better technique without them even noticing.
All I know is that heel striking is not natural now if you’re being hard core about it brushing your teeth is not natural either. So I don’t know but I do know that strengthening the foot prevents injury, and barefoot is a good way to strengthen the foot, and if you heal strike barefoot is flippin hurts.
High sugar diet ain't natural either
I like how they are comparing elite runners with recreational ones. It's like saying: professional drivers in sports cars wear helmet during the race so you should also wear one in your everyday drive inside your family Toyota.
What works for elite runners doesn't necessary translate to recreational runner.
It is insane to compare these two and thus advise anyone.
Most important point is not overstriding. You can land anywhere on your foot as long as it is natural and comfortable for you. Some people rigidly think people should only run on their fore foot or midfoot. These people probably never ran or ran only on flat surfaces. They should try running very slowly down a steep incline. See if you can do that without using your heels. Even some world champions run with heel strikes
a) It is about understanding the terms used together. If the heel just touches the ground slightly, and under a slightly bent knee the foot rolls through on its outer edge, you feel that it's good and you are doing right. - But it would be wrong if the viewer now lets himself be seduced into the really wrong overstriding. b) It's natural for me to switch between forefoot and midfoot adapted to the situation and my strength. When I'm really exhausted, I also roll over the heel, as I said at the beginning. c) But whether forefoot, metatarsal or heel run: always emphasising the outer edge of the foot! Here in the video you can see many feet putting on as if the people filmed had never heard anything about the meaning and usefulness of the lower (!) ankle joint. If the forefoot picks up like this, there's got to be some damage. If you're not running at the top of the world with carbon soles, the point of first ground contact is at the metatarsal head of the fifth beam, so where the small toe attaches to the metatarsal. I'm in my 67th year, and I know something about the subject.
I don’t need to analyze my run. I am a heel striker. I can see it on the wear of my shoes. It is a problem because my shoes look like new but the heels wear out very quickly.
Depends on my speed, while running slow I heel strike, normal speed middle or heel, fast forefoot.
university of bath..... spent 4 years there ill never get back
Actually the proper technique is skimming. that means, making initial contact with the heel, but very lightly and letting the foot roll forward onto the ball. the sensation would be that the foot feels as if it is sliding backwards. striking firmly with the heel is very bad for the knees, hips, lower and mid back.
I've always been a heel striker and I've never had a running injury
Эта тема всегда выносила мне мозг
That dude has a thick south african accent😂
heel strike ftw!
I suffer from horrendous shin splints. I've bought some barefoot shoes and going to actively try moving from a heel strike to a midfoot strike. Anybody had any similar stories?
In my experience, shin splints are due to over-striding with your foot landing too far out in front of your center of gravity. To keep your forefoot from "slapping" down every time you land, the muscles in front of your shin "pull back" the front of your foot. These shin muscles are not designed for this type of repetitive load. Try this drill: Run barefoot or with socks on grass at your long distance pace. Pay attention to your cadence and foot placement. Then try to emulate this same form when running with shoes on pavement. You should find your cadence quicken and your stride shorten. Your arm swing will most likely have less motion as your hands are tucked up under your armpits.
Starting out, wear the barefoot shoes for very short distances. As was said in the video, most injuries occur when attempting to change your stride. When I changed my stride, it took my 2 months to "unlearn" my overstriding form.
The new book Born to Run 2 has information on this. The back has a guide for exercises and advice for shin splints etc as well as leg strengthening, form and a 90 day plan to get started.
@@TadeuszCantwell Ordered the book. Thank you
@@masonv45 thanks for the advice!
2:15 how is getting insoles more cost effective if a video assessment is free?
GCN is referring to a "video analysis" which is done, usual, by a professional in a lab setting. Where your biomechanics are analysed. Some local running shops can do a variation of this analysis too. These both involve some form of trained person analyzing your running which is usually a paid service or part of a buying something else. This is different than a friend filming you for free.
My Aunt taught me to front strike to avoid knee and hip pain. Before that I was a mid foot striker. To me the knee and hip pain was much worse than any ankle pain.
100% heel strike.
Very slow running heel striker like given.
Best footstrike? Take off your shoes and run barefoot, you'll find out 👌
But I don't run bare feet
if you run barefoot on asphalt you forefootstrike, but if you run on grass you heelstrike. The ground matters
i neither
I am a runner, not a striker. Natural runner... 😊
@@TroyQwert natural would be completely barefoot I assume
Very little research was done. Please don't push stuff just to get more views and money. I've been a triathlon coach for around 7 years and have thoroughly studied running biomechanics. What's the problem with this video?
1. Muscle recruitment: A forefoot/mid-foot strike is required to stimulate your glutes during jogging. When you strike with your heels, you just use your quadriceps and very little of your hamstrings or glutes.
2. It is more important to consider where the foot lands than where it strikes the ground. It should be near your body. If you move it away from your body, you will disrupt the rhythm.
3. Efficient running is similar to cycling. Make little circles on the outer knee to complete it.
4. To enhance biomechanics Barefooting is essential. It teaches your body how to land properly and strengthens your limbs. It is sufficient to do this at least once a week for 20 minutes.
If a debate is required, I am willing to participate.
Your incompetence amazes me!!
I disagree, heel strike caused back pain for me.
Everyone is different. I ran most of my life on my heels except when i am sprinting. I dont have any pain.
Very bad video, full of misinformation.
Many drunk people drive succesfully home. This doesn't mean that driving drunk is ok. Heel strike is simply a mistake that some lazy runners are not willing to correct. In the end, running is something that anyone can do, it doesn't need a technique, right? No! It needs a techinque like every other sport. Don't be lazy and struggle to learn it and apply it correctly.
We get it you idolize Born to Run. No need to gatekeep running form. Not everything needs to be the most effecting, optimized, or "perfect technique." People can enjoy participating in a sport for the sport. From your remarks, that's probably not you and that's okay. Everyone is participating in running for their own reasons. As long as they are doing it safely (which heel sticking is, so long as it not an over stride), just chill out and let people be. Side note, equating drunk driving to heel striking is a wildly hyperbolic analogy lol
@@mrpoutine6588 You are right, it is an hyperbolic comparison, but I'm not completely convinced that heel strike can be really safe, especially when high volume and medium-heavy weight are involved. For me correct technique is much more about long term safety rather than about performance.
So many experts in the comment section 😂