Hi everyone it's Bretta Riches from runforefoot.com
and today I'm going to be
doing an updated discussion about ankle
plantar flexion when your foot strikes the
ground during forefoot running so just a
little brief definition of what ankle
plantar flexion is when you're running
ankle plantar flexion means
that before your foot strikes the ground
your forefoot the front of your foot
points downwards and not upward so many
heel strike runners do the opposite of
ankle plantar flexion so this means that
many heel strke runners lift their forefoot
foot up and that's why they strike the
ground on their heel first because
lifting the forefoot exposes the heel to
the ground and this is called ankle
dorsiflexion but one thing you always
want to make sure that you're doing when
your forefoot running is to run with
ankle plantar flexion so you always want
to make sure that your forefoot never
lifts up before your foot hits the
ground you always want to make sure that
your forefoot almost remains parallel to
the ground or a little bit pointed down
and a really good example of ankle
plantar flexion of the foot in forefoot
running is Galen Rupp if you watch Galen
Rupp his performance at the 2016 Rio
Olympics during the marathon you will
see that he beautifully uses perfect
ankle plantar flexion so not one point
during the race does he ever lift his
forefoot up and smack the ground with
his forefoot he always keeps his forefoot
either parallel to the ground or he
keeps his toes pointed out almost like
he's running on his tippy-toes but still
his foot strike position is much flatter
he's not landing high up on his toes you
don't want to do that because that will
blow torch your calves and it will tear
your Achilles tendon you want to make
sure that your foot position with the
ground in forefoot running is very
relaxed you don't want to do anything
extreme like I said you don't want to
land too high up on your toes but you
just want to relax you don't want to
lift your forefoot back
you want to keep a nice level
foot strike or forefoot orientation
with the ground this is ankle plantar
flexion and there's numerous reasons why
ankle plantar flexion during forefoot
running is much better on your knees on
your lower leg because it essentially
lets the foot slide into a forefoot
strike position so your foot slides more
with the ground when your foot is in an
ankle plantar flex position whereas when
you heel strike so you're doing the
opposite of ankle plantar flexion you're
lifting your forefoot which is dorsiflexion
what happens is is that you're
going to slam it to the ground in this
cause is a very rigid interaction with
the ground that's why a lot of heel
strike runners tend to run very choppy
they're not gliders like most forefoot
runners if you watch and Galen Rupp he
glides literally across the ground and
that is because of ankle plantar flexion
he doesn't lift his forefoot when his
foot strikes the ground and I really
want to emphasize that because that is
very fundamental in getting that glide-
like stride when you are forefoot
running. So Im just going to talk about the
health benefits of maintaining ankle
plantar flexion when you are forefoot
running so as I said ankle plantar
flexion during running is the
orientation of the foot in which the
forefoot is pointed downwards towards
the ground and this reduces braking and
allows an easier interaction or
transition between the foot and the
ground and ankle plantar flexion allows
for less joint moment distribution of
the lower leg during running. It has also
been found to minimize negative work and
torque on the knee joint when you point
your forefoot downwards toward the
ground during running. Other researchers
speculate that ankle plantar flexion in
forefoot running allows for more elastic
energy storage which is essentially free
energy. It allows for greater elastic
energy storage within the Achilles
tendon so it makes your Achilles tendon
potentially more economical and a study
by Sinclair et al. 2010,
found that utilizing an ankle
plantar flexed foot during forefoot
running was a very safe mechanism to
reduce patella femoral joint force so
basically what this means is that
running with ankle plantar flexion at
touchdown in forefoot running
essentially did not compress the knee
joint like what occurs in heel strike
running so a lot of heel strike runners
run with a lot of greater and knee joint
compression because they are doing the
opposite with their foot when they land
on the ground. They heel strike and in order
to heel strike, you don't plantar- flex
the ankle and as a result you have
greater knee pressure which will
eventually erode the knee joint. Another
key point to mention about having an
ankle plantar flexed foot in forefoot
running is that it allows for a more
vertically aligned tibia at touchdown
and what this basically means is that
when your foot strikes the ground
remember when your foot is ankle plantar
flexed, not dorsiflexed, you're not landing heel-first,
when the forefoot strikes the ground
this allows for the shin bone to be
positioned in a vertical position (a
straight up-and-down orientation) and
also the tibia is positioned under the
knee and when this happens, in this
position, this allows for less braking
and there's less tibial shock
accelerations penetrating the shin bone
so everything is landing very close to
the body, very close to the center of
mass when you don't lift your forefoot
when your foot strikes the ground and
this is one of the reasons why in
forefoot running knee joint loads and
knee joint torque is significantly lower
in forefoot running than it is in heel
strike running, essentially there's less
braking force or deceleration force
that is exerted on the shin bone when
you run with a forefoot strike which is
why anterior shin splints are a little
rare in forefoot running but is more
common in heel strike running basically
the destiny of your health as a runner in
terms of injury prevention is greatly
determined by how your foot interacts
with the ground and if you want to read
the full article about in detail as to
what exactly does ankle plantar flexion
looks like I
posted the article below, so you can check
it out and have a better idea as to what
you are supposed to do when you're forefoot
running. For more information about
forefoot running versus the dangers of
heel strike running, please head on over
to my blog: runforefoot.com and I hope
this information was useful and don't
forget to subscribe to my youtube
channel for the latest updates on the
latest research on biomechanics. Have fun
out there on the roads, bye for now