The debate continues. More support for mid and forefoot strikers.…
“Forefoot and midfoot strikers had significantly shorter ground contact times than heel strikers. Forefoot and midfoot strikers had significantly faster average race spe…

The debate continues. More support for mid and forefoot strikers.

“Forefoot and midfoot strikers had significantly shorter ground contact times than heel strikers. Forefoot and midfoot strikers had significantly faster average race speed than heel strikers.”

We are not saying “better”, but according to this study “faster”!

What is the ideal?  We wish we knew…Biomechanics seem to point to less impact is better, but what is actually best for the individual is probably due to genetics, training, practice, running surface and that individuals neuromuscular competence and ability to compensate.

The Gait Guys. bringing you the facts, even if you or we don’t like them…

                                                                                                                                     

J Sports Sci. 2012;30(12):1275-83. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2012.707326. Epub 2012 Aug 2.

Foot strike patterns and ground contact times during high-calibre middle-distance races.

Source

Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 8ST, UK. phil.hayes@northumbria.ac.uk

Abstract

The aims of this study were to examine ground contact characteristics, their relationship with race performance, and the time course of any changes in ground contact time during competitive 800 m and 1500 m races. Twenty-two seeded, single-sex middle-distance races totaling 181 runners were filmed at a competitive athletics meeting. Races were filmed at 100 Hz. Ground contact time was recorded one step for each athlete, on each lap of their race. Forefoot and midfoot strikers had significantly shorter ground contact times than heel strikers. Forefoot and midfoot strikers had significantly faster average race speed than heel strikers. There were strong large correlations between ground contact time and average race speed for the women’s events and men’s 1500 m (r = -0.521 to -0.623; P < 0.05), whereas the men’s 800 m displayed only a moderate relationship (r = -0.361; P = 0.002). For each event, ground contact time for the first lap was significantly shorter than for the last lap, which might reflect runners becoming fatigued.

PMID:22857152[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22857152

Looks like Newbies are heel strikers 
&ldquo;Nearly all novice runners utilize a rearfoot strike when taking up running in a conventional running shoe. Hereby, the footstrike patterns among novice runners deviate from footstrike patterns among elite…

Looks like Newbies are heel strikers

“Nearly all novice runners utilize a rearfoot strike when taking up running in a conventional running shoe. Hereby, the footstrike patterns among novice runners deviate from footstrike patterns among elite and sub-elite runners.”


please take some time to explore the links we put in, as they are germane to the post


The question begs, “Why?”

  • do they believe running is merely an extension of walking, and just “speed up” the process?
  • are they afraid of going too fast and are using the heel strike to “brake”?
  • do they learn to strike differently with more experience? at least one paper eludes to “yes”
  • is it “more comfortable” as this paper says it may be?
  • If there is a rear foot strike, the foot is poised to be able to pronate to a greater degree. This theoretically means it (ie, the foot) can absorb more shock through this mechanism, although this seemingly contradicts the Lieberman study

This paper certainly had a nice cohort size (> 900 runners) so we can state, at least for this group, that this is not by chance.  When there is a fore foot strike, the foot is more supinated and makes a seemingly “rigid lever”, does this mean there is less shock (perceived or actual) with this foot posture?

Lots of questions. This is only 1 part of the puzzle.

The Gait Guys. Sifting through the literature and giving you the beef

            

Gait Posture. 2012 Dec 29. pii: S0966-6362(12)00448-1. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2012.11.022. [Epub ahead of print]

Footstrike patterns among novice runners wearing a conventional, neutral running shoe.

Bertelsen ML, Jensen JF, Nielsen MH, Nielsen RO, Rasmussen S.

Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg Hospital, Orthopaedic Surgery Research Unit, Science and Innovation Center, Aalborg DK-9000, Denmark. Electronic address: miclejber@gmail.com.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

It has been suggested that striking on the midfoot or forefoot, rather than the rearfoot, may lessen injury risk in the feet and lower limb. In previous studies, a disparity in distribution in footstrike patterns was found among elite-, sub-elite, and recreational runners.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the footstrike patterns among novice runners.

METHODS:

All runners were equipped with the same conventional running shoe. Participants were video filmed at 300 frames per second and the footstrike patterns were evaluated by two observers. The footstrike was classified as rearfoot, midfoot, forefoot, or asymmetrical.

RESULTS:

A total of 903 persons were evaluated. The percentages of rearfoot-, midfoot-, forefoot-, and asymmetrical footstrike among men were 96.9%, 0.4%, 0.9%, and 1.8%, respectively. Among women the percentages were 99.3%, 0%, 0%, and 0.7%, respectively.

CONCLUSION:

Nearly all novice runners utilize a rearfoot strike when taking up running in a conventional running shoe. Hereby, the footstrike patterns among novice runners deviate from footstrike patterns among elite and sub-elite runners.

Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


PMID: 23280125 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]



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