Hi everyone, it's Bretta Riches from
runforefoot.com today I'm going to talk
to you about why running with a mid-foot
strike landing pattern, which means
running with your forefoot & your heel
striking the ground all at the same time
why and how landing with a mid-foot
strike landing pattern maybe the nut
to many of your injurious problems that
may be preventing you from advancing
your overall running progress in terms
of preventing injuries. The main problem
with running with a mid-foot strike
landing pattern is that running in this
way may create the same impact platform
or the high impact environment that is
similar to heel strike running as
compared with forefoot running. Forefoot running
running is a foot strike pattern that is
most often used by professional distance
runners, like Galen Rupp, Molly huddle
Tirunesh Dibaba and paula radcliffe, just
to name a few, forefoot running is
probably their favorite thing to do to
run fast and of course to avoid injury
because there is less impact force
variables attached to forefoot running
than in heel strike running and possibly
in mid-foot strike running as well
because remember mid-foot strike running
may actually produce very similar forms
of impact variables as in heel strike
running. Now in contrast, forefoot strike
running is less abusive on the body and
there's a lot of evidence in alignment
with this. Forefoot running is associated
with reduced impact shock levels which
is especially very handy if you are
running long distances like the marathon.
You always want to shield your body from
high impact and forefoot running is one
of the best ways to really help you do
that. This is how forefoot running will
pay off in a big way, but we hear a lot
of talk about mid-foot strike running
and how running with a mid-foot strike
landing style or landing pattern may
help runners create a safer landing
environment during running in comparison
to a heel strike landing
pattern, but mid-foot strike running may
create the same problems, in terms of
injury, because landing with a mid-foot
strike may create the same high impact
climate very similar to heel strike
running especially if you run with a
mid-foot strike in traditional running
shoes which are running shoes that have
a built up, padded heel in which the
elevated cushioned heel could make you
prone to landing heel first or with a
heel strike landing pattern when you run
and there's a lot of research that
complements this in that traditional
running shoes may be setting your foot on
the trajectory to heel strike when you run
this is how traditional running shoes
sets the stage for running with forceful
mechanics and a high risk of injury. None
of the less, in running, one of the
highest goals to help prevent running
related injuries is you want to avoid
landing heel first when you run and also
you might want to avoid landing with a
mid-foot strike because in some cases
a mid-foot strike landing pattern or a
flat-footed landing pattern during
running is a softer version of a heel
strike landing pattern during running
that may do you no favors in terms of
avoiding injury because by impact for
standards a mid-foot strike landing
pattern during running, like a heel
strike landing pattern, may make it hard
to shake off a lot of impact shock
implicated in runner's knee and shin
splints. For instance, a 2003 study in the
journal of sports & science, which i'll
link below, found that mid-foot strike
running shared very similar impact force
characteristics to heel strike running
by many accounts on the element that the
mid-foot strike runners actually showed
greater ankle dorsiflexion at touchdown
which caused the heel to kiss the ground
first. What this means is that the
mid-foot runners weren't really mid-foot
striking when they ran, rather the
mid-foot runners were landing with a
minor heel strike and generating the
impact force variables produced in a
heel strike landing pattern. Now
ankle dorsiflexion at touchdown during
running is what heel strike runners
typically do before they strike the
ground on their heel. Heel strike runners
pull up the front part of their foot in
order to land on the heel first. This is
ankle dorsiflexion at touchdown during
running which makes it easier to heel
strike because remember, the forefoot is
lifted back in ankle dorsiflexion at
touchdown during running which
essentially exposes the heel to the
ground making it very easy to heel
strike first and therefore generates a
large initial impact peak within the
vertical ground reaction force this
force appears to be the base problem
that makes lower leg injuries to thrive
in running .Not only that, it is difficult
to ensure that all aspects of your under-
foot strikes the ground at the same time
during running. When you try mid-foot
striking during running chances are
depending very strongly on your footwear
your forefoot & your heel does
not contact the ground at the exact same
precise time but rather in many cases
and as supported in this study that I
just mentioned a mid-foot strike landing
pattern during running may generate high
impact because the heel so often clips
the ground first before the rest of the
foot, thus more impact shock may be
smuggling in in a mid-foot strike
landing like in a heel strike landing.
From this, the fundamental question
becomes: is a mid-foot strike landing
pattern really a mid-foot strike landing
when you run? Now in most cases should
mid-foot running be in a runner's best
interest to use as a means to reduce
the risk of getting injured while
running? The answer is you may be better
off landing on the front part of your
foot first via a forefoot strike landing
pattern when you run because forefoot
strike running has been defined as a
less distressing style of running and
you may want to try forefoot running in
more barefoot inspired/
minimalistic running shoes rather
than forefoot running in the traditional
running shoe. The biggest takeaway here
is that with mid-foot strike running you
may think you are landing completely
flat-footed in a mid-foot strike landing
style during running but chances are you
are actually clipping the ground heel
first which can be made worse in
traditional running shoes because you
essentially get less powerful sense of
foot strike awareness, thus you could be
heel striking without even knowing and
feeling it since the underfoot
compressible material makes it very
comfortable to heel strike during
running but it doesn't reduce the impact
force variables of heel strike running, it
just makes the heel strike impact force
feel comfortable. Overall, the evidence
implies landing with a mid-foot strike
running style may not let you achieve
your injury prevention objectives. The
research hints that some mechanical
aspects of mid-foot strike running may
be very similar to heel strike running
in that sense impact force variables may
be very similar in mid foot and heel
strike running, may set the stage for
injury, not only that, like I said, if you
wear a traditional running shoe while
you run while trying to make the
conscious effort to land mid footed or
flat-footed the key issue here is that
in these shoes you may fall into the
trap of heel striking when you run if
you don't pay close attention to how you
land. Wearing thickly cushioned heeled
running shoes withers away ground feel
therefore it's a little challenging to
feel exactly where you are stepping on
your foot when you run in cushioned heeled
running shoes or the traditional running
shoe. Indeed lack of ground feel is a
huge obstacle especially if you've been
a long time heel strike runner and you
are learning to avoid heel strike during
running by trying to adopt a mid-foot
strike landing pattern but now we are
finding that landing mid footed when you
run may come with some disadvantages in
some cases mid-foot strike running and
heel strike running
may again share very similar mechanics
that produce potent forms of impact and
so you may be faced with injuries if you
run with the mid-foot strike landing
especially if you do so in traditional
running shoes. To help avoid a lot of
difficulties during running aim for a
forefoot strike landing pattern to
ensure you land far away from the heel
as possible at touchdown. Your heel
strike potential is more diminished at
touchdown in forefoot running than it
would be in mid foot running. When you
run move your initial foot strike
position to land on the front part of
your foot first which is your forefoot
or the balls of your foot just ahead of
the arch and to do so in minimalistic
barefoot feeling running shoes to keep
your forefoot strike pattern very
consistent to ensure your forefoot
strike landing pattern doesn't fly off
in different directions and mistakenly
heel strike. For beginners, minimalist
running shoes is a very positive force
that makes your forefoot strike landing
pattern more navigable because it gets
your perceptual awareness more
consciously directly involved so that
you clearly know where you are stepping
on your forefoot not on your heel first
when you run. Why would you want to
disrupt this form of communication
between the feet and the brain with
cushioned heeled running shoes and
increase your chances of running with
the heel strike that emboldens
high-impact shock. The best real option to
help avoid running injuries is to
eliminate the determinants that cause
running related injuries. Heel strike
running is now becoming more famously
known for causing most running related
injuries so you not only want to avoid
heel striking during running but you may
also want to avoid mid-foot striking
during running as well because inspired
by the current findings mid-foot strike
running may produce the same high impact
outcomes as heel strike running as
mid-foot strike running bears some
mechanical similarities to heel strike
running. For a more straight line
direction to safer running, make
forefoot running your core interest
because your lower leg engages, less
intensively, less harmfully with the
ground, you get less intensive levels of
peak impact forces. Essentially, forefoot
running has a leveling effect that puts
you in a better position with the ground
helping to re-stabilize your bio-
mechanics in a way that tamps down on
high braking or the acceleration forces
and other bone cracking forces that is
so often measured and observable in heel
strike running. To build a more viable
forefoot strike landing pattern during
running, minimalist running shoes are a
good anchor at helping you develop and
maintain a very accurate and organized
and consistent forefoot strike landing
pattern during running thats of low
impact, so you really want to ally
yourself with either running barefoot or
running in minimalistic-like running
shoes that feel barefoot because feeling
the ground really helps you moderate
your foot strike behavior, there's less
distracting sensory information. Thinner
running shoes are a better revealing
indicator of your forefoot strike
landing pattern. For more information on
forefoot running versus heel strike
running, please visit my blog runforefoot.com
and subscribe to my youtube
channel to stay updated on all the
latest research regarding the health
benefits of barefoot running and
minimalist running, thank you so much for
listening and watching have fun out
there on the roads bye for now