Hi everyone, its Bretta Riches from runforefoot.com
today I'm going to be
talking to you about research that shows
you are more likely to stay in injury
limbo if you continue to run with a heel
strike running style. And the specific
study that I'm going to briefly talk
about makes it very obvious. In a study
reported in the Annual Meeting of the
American Society of Biomechanics, the
study looked at 240 heel strike runners
and investigated the probability of
injury in these runners. The research
found that 139 out of the 240 heel
strike runners sustained a new injury of
which 70 of the 139 injured heel strike
runners sought medical treatment. For the
types of injury sustained in the 139 heel
strike runners these injuries included
IT band syndrome, anterior knee pain
which is runner's knee, shin splints also
known as tibial stress syndrome and
plantar fasciitis, these were the
injuries that were the most common in
the heel strike runners. What was the
root cause of their injuries? Of course,
running-related injuries are most often
multifactorial meaning that there are
many factors that are baked into
causing running related injuries but the
researchers mentioned that most heel
strike runners undergo or experience an
impact stimulus at heel strike during
running. This impact stimulus is called
the impact transient force which is a
unique impact signature that exists only
when you land with a heel strike when
you run. This particular form of impact
is most likely the main driver and
underlying cause of most of the injuries
in joggers because many researchers
believe that the heel strike impact
transient is closely involved in causing
most common running-related injuries. The
current study makes the heel strike
injury link more clearly apparent
because the particular study found that
the heel strike impact transient was
greater in magnitude in the heel strike
runners who sustained an injury as
compared with the un-injured
heel strike runners. Moreover, it's very
important to understand that the heel
strike impact transient persist if you
wear thickly cushioned running shoes,
therefore the impact transient is still
present regardless of underfoot
cushioning if you land with a heel
strike running style that is why would
strike type is of paramount importance
because foot strike pattern is the main
determinant for injury because how you
strike the ground when you run really
determines the nature of impact that
pierces through the body, however I must
mention that all styles of running
whether it be a forefoot strike running
style or a heel strike running style
generates a common form of impact which
is called the ground reaction force
which reflects the natural contact
interaction between you and the ground
during running, therefore when you run
regardless of your specific running
style or running form, you can expect to
produce a common ground impact variable
in the form of a ground reaction force
but the ground reaction force starts off
a little violent on the body if you land
with a heel strike pattern during
running because at the beginning of the
production of the ground reaction force
which occurs as soon as the foot comes
into contact with the ground, a heel
strike impact transient is produced when
you land heel first. It has also been
well reported that the heel strike
impact transient does not get channeled
into effectiveness during running. So, the
impact transient at heel strike has no
mechanical advantage or mechanical value
that enhances a heel strike runners
performance. In that spirit, the current
study adds to the prevailing view that
heel strike running comes with an extra
dose of inflaming impact stress that is
an obstacle to the kind of progress that
needs to be made from an injury
prevention perspective. In this view, once
the heel strike impact transient sinks
into the muscles, the tendons
and even the bones, there needs to be
more commitment in terms of post-run
recovery efforts to improve your ability
to avoid injury and to stave off injury,
if you're a heel strike runner, but if
you run with the forefoot strike landing
there is a significant less impact
exchange with you and the ground which
is a big change from heel strike running
because in forefoot running the impact
transient is significantly diminished
and that is one of the ways forefoot
running really helps prevent a lot of
the injuries associated with heel strike
running. The reality is, if you want to
not be overwhelmed with injury, loads of
research has established that heel
strike running is not the way to do it
that's why forefoot running is emerging
as the new standard for helping reduce
injury. A lot of the research highlights
that forefoot running reduces the
relentless flow of impact that is
related to heel strike running because
when you heel strike, your foot wrestles
with the ground more aggressively, but
with a forefoot strike landing pattern
the foot glides onto the ground more
light, more softly with less rigidity and
less jolt like you get in a heel strike
landing pattern. The exchange with your
foot on the ground in forefoot running
makes forefoot running a more
satisfactory answer as to how to avoid
injury when running. So, there is a silver
lining to your running injuries in that
the best experimental research has a
long-standing position in favor of forefoot
running for being the engine that will
move you along a safer set of tracks to
help your potential to run in a
healthier, more productive way. In this
way, since forefoot running provides
more impact protection assistance, if you
stick with forefoot running, I'm
confident and very optimistic that you
will actually see real results because
forefoot running is a more practical and
tactical approach to push the boundaries
without the added risk of injury, not to
mention, forefoot running has worked for
many of the best distance runners
and I always like to reassert and
reaffirm that many of the best distance
runners in the world are products of the
positive changes that occurs in running
performance if you don't utilize a heel
strike landing style and I always like
to say that with heel strike running,
every step you take forward, you
essentially take two steps back because
you pay the price of the impact that is
projected on the body, whereas forefoot
running is very much in line with what
experts see as better mechanical
settings to how to better advance your
performance. For more information on how
forefoot running makes you a stronger,
better prepared runner, please visit my
blog runforefoot.com and don't forget to
subscribe to my youtube channel to stay
updated on all the latest research
regarding the biomechanics of running
and the health benefits of minimalist
running and barefoot running. Thank you so
much for listening and watching. Have fun
out there on the roads, bye for now