Scientifically, a mid-foot strike is more efficient than a heel-strike. Books such as ChiRunning and Born to Run are turning everyone on to the idea that the barefoot running style is the way to go.
With the promise of a faster leg turner over and faster race times, I wondered what would happen if I jumped on the mid-foot minimalist bandwagon. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you know that it took me quite a long time to transition to a mid-foot strike. You may also recall that I’m returning to a heel strike.
While many people feel strongly that there is only one proper way to run, I believe that both heel striking and mid-foot striking can be efficient. It’s really based on the individual.
5 Things Runners Should Consider Before Changing Their Foot Strike
1). How long have you been running with your current form?
2.) How often do you encounter running related injuries?
3). Is your current running form working with you or against you?
4). Why are you changing your form? Boredom, experimentation or because you truly believe you need to make the switch?
5). Do you have a running coach or another expert that can help asses your form and coach you on how to make the transition properly?
I actually wrote a whole blog post about this same topic. (http://summerslowrunner.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/geriatric-hips/) I am a natural mid-foot runner, but the stride was actually giving me problems due to weakness in my hips. I switched to a heel-strike stride and things have been much better ever since! I run faster (slightly), my hips don’t have to bear so much of the workload, and my painful ankle problem appears to have been put to bed.
To each their own, indeed.
Thanks for sharing! Your the first person (other than myself) that I’ve heard changed back to heel striking.
I never considered changing but I haven’t confronted injury so I guess I don’t need to.
In my fourteen years (yikes!) of running, I’ve only been injured once…I had IT band problems for a little under a year (miserable!), and that was solved after two months of rest and switching up my shoes. Based on all my pictures, I’m a definite heel striker…one of my running form expert ran with me once and said I was a mid-foot striker, but none of my pictures go along with that. 🙂 I’ve read Born to Run and don’t necessarily believe in the barefoot movement…not really sure it’s the best for everyone! I think I would risk way too much injury if I tried to switch over, and I’m really only running for myself…not paying the bills with it or anything, so it’s not really worth it, especially if it increases the risk of injury by changing my form. Heel strikers unite!
This is so interesting to me. I only began running, really, and was ABLE to run (i.e. not get cramps after 3 minutes) this past Fall. Now — when I would try to run years ago, my natural tendency was more on the front of my foot, almost such that my heel would barely touch the ground. When I started running this past fall– I read “correct form” was heel planting=== now I wonder….hmmm I do agree that in running and almost anything- there is no ONE right way. There are personal trainers that swear by “empty tummy cardio” and then others that say it is baloney== and both have “science” to back it up– we all have to find what resonates and works for us I guess.