We are well aware that heel strike running unleashes a chain of impact forces that have
a strong involvement in running injury, and this link is pretty much indisputable because
there is strong evidence showing that much of the impact force variables that are unique
to heel strike running may lead to outcomes that influence many common running-related,
such as shin splints, runner's knee, shin fracture, even back pain whereby the hard,
heavy hitting of the heel during heel strike running most often unleashes waves of high
impact shockwaves that tends to keep feeding muscle pain and tendon swelling.
In contrast, impact shockwaves are dramatically less intensive in forefoot running, especially
when running barefoot, helping you become more insulated from impact-related injuries.
Overall, impact-related injuries are just one of the many unsurprising drawbacks of
heel strike running.
From a performance perspective, I’d like to layout an interesting line of evidence
that may support how the high impact nature of heel strike running may undercut running
economy by complicating running efficiency via hindering and disrupting neural control
and coordination of leg and foot movements whereby high impacts generated at heel strike
during heel strike running could spur repetitive, rattling vibrations within soft tissue compartments
and muscles at profound frequencies which may breach efficient and safe movement and
motor control at the neuromuscular or nerve level, potentially resulting in less responsive,
more slumbering movements of the lower leg during heel strike running because again,
the constant incoming of high impact waves at each step in heel strike running may lead
to unusual and disrupted firing-patterns and motor signals of motor neurons or motor nerve
cells (which are specialized nerve cells that initiate and coordinate movements and control
and coordinate the work of our muscles) the big impact forces and impact-shockwaves that
are constantly propagated during heel strike running may affect motor commands and movement
control of the leg in ways which could keep you off balance to some degree and may dismantle
coordinated movements, which could in turn have economic costs and could play into injury
development.
In that regard, a heel strike runner may have a harder time being as powerfully coordinated
as many forefoot runners, especially forefoot runners who run barefoot because in forefoot
running, includes mechanical actions that results in the muscles being less immersed
with high impact forces and thus, forefoot running, especially when barefoot, naturally
helps wipe out a lot of the high-level modes of vibrational stressors that are not only
associated with irritating the muscles, tendons and bones, but may compromise the flexibility
of movement required to run sturdy, with greater limb control because when the body, especially
at the muscular level, is pelted with less impact during forefoot running, is going to
be a big advantage because the margin of injury development is going to be much narrower,
and that forefoot running also gives you a stronger mechanical basis to move better based
on more secure motor signals zipping around at a faster at a more responsive rate This
is why I feel forefoot running is a far better option at reducing or preventing the prevalence
of impact-related injuries and for playing a tremendous role at maintaining good running
efficiency.
Anyways, proof of how heel strike running impact shockwaves may complicate effective
movement control and may diminish motor control signals that govern enhanced motor and movement
coordination came from a 2011 study in the Journal Biomechanics, eluded that all the
extra impact in heel strike running may be one of the dominant causes of unleashing high
vibrational frequencies within the muscles and soft tissues compartments in the body
and these vibrational frequencies may occur at such a high magnitude where it may actually
rattle or interfere with the communication speed and rate between peripheral motor nerves
responsible for movement initiation, execution and coordination and may put your movement
control and movement flow out of sync.
The researchers found that the potential seriousness of this high volume of vibrational currents
that occur in an intensive repetitive manner during heel strike running may cause minor
to moderate blips or disruptions in electical signals that go from one motor nerve cell
to another, which may negatively influence movement efficiency and generated movements
that may sub-optimal or less responsive.
More specifically, the researchers found that increased amplitude of vibrations associated
with heel strike running reduced motor firing (so it hindered or put a kink sort-of-speak
in the communication highwway between motor nerve cells), it reduced maximal muscle contraction
force, nerve conduction velocity was also reduced (which is the capacity of a motor
nerve to generate a signal that is fast in velocity) and it also was found to reduce
peripheral blood circulation.
Therefore, the constellation of the huge negative forces related to heel strike running that
are all at work, in full force, during heel strike running may hold you back from making
more optimal endurance and performance progress, and this kind of evidence and insights really
does sound some alarms, making it more and more difficult to believe that heel strike
running is the most tactical way to run and form this also, it may be a little unrealistic
to believe that if I continue to heel strike during running, especially during speed sessions
or hill repeats that doing so will bring more positive results as compared to if you were
to go after and adapt mechanical ways during running, like adopting a forefoot strike landing
pattern of the foot, that influences less vibrational stressors within the muscles and
soft tissue compartments of the body, has the extra added benefit of non-interference
of the speed and quality of motor nerve firing and commands.
This is why forefoot running may be a safer route, especially if you integrate barefoot
running into your training, because it’s going to be less of a mechanical distressor
since barefoot running really does put you on a better, safer path for you to be more
on board in your efforts to helping you try and rein in reckless mechanical actions, so
that running may become less costly at the mechanical level.
So when it comes to more optimal movement control, and motor commands and better movement
coordination and efficient, of course you want to limit the amount of impact, if impact
really does have an influence on motor nerve communication.
Given the fact that the communication and signal strength between motor nerves may be
sensitive to higher than normal impact forces during running, it would make sense to limit
impact production via adjusting your foot strike pattern in ways that shuts the door
on high impact forces and the transmission of greatly amplified soft tissue vibrations
that prevents you from getting the best of your performance.
This is why barefoot running is a very clear balance in favor of helping to facilitate
forefoot striking, helping to correct a forceful heel strike landing pattern because the sensory-derived
commands generated during barefoot running, effectively pushes you, almost autonomously
to land away from the heel, plays into helping you avoid heel strike during barefoot running,
encouraging you to make initial ground contact on the balls of your foot, or your forefoot,
resulting in less impact production and taxing vibrational currents, and overall, barefoot
running may collectively help contribute to the betterment of movements with more fluid,
safer steps in a sustained way.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this video and for more on the research regarding the health
and performance benefits of barefoot running and minimalist running, please subscribe to
my YouTube channel.
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Have fun out there on the roads and trails!
Bye for now!