How shoe heel drop affects running?

Switched to zero drop Altras with a 24-25mm stack height back in May. I feel more activation in my calves and quads when running. I always suffered from Achilles tendonitis when using cushioned trainers with a drop and so far I've had no issues with the zero drop shoes. The only thing I will say is that I need to make a conscious effort to keep turnover high with minimal contact on the ground as I have had issues with my knees coming down on pavement too hard. If I'm running alone, it's no issue to maintain form, but if I'm running with someone it become harder.

I was a Saucony wear tester a while back, during the minimalist shoe craze. The first pair they sent me with a very minimial drop I wound up with really tight calves, one of which developed into a strain.

Can't remember which shoes they were exactly.

gentlerunner wrote:

Can those who have used similarly cushioned (by forefoot stack height) shoes but with different heel drops (zero/low vs high) explain how running feels different in the two?

IMO the difference is mainly dependent on your foot touch down position (commonly referred to as foot strike)

HEEL STRIKERS:

Many think that they need a high drop shoe. But in reality, biomechanically the high heel is actually interfering with their 'natural stride' by causing pre-mature ground contact with the heel. They are better off with something with low drop high cushion shoe like a Hoka Bondi. With this, their heel can more naturally touch down then the shoe provides consistent cushioning through toe-off.

HEEL-TO-MID STRIKE:

(similar to above)

MIDFOOT STRIKERS:

Have the most wiggle room and varying personal preference. I think that shoe bottom geometry(flat, rocker, ect...) could be more relevant to them than drop.

MID-To-FOREFOOT STRIKERS:

There is a big misconception that natural forefoot running needs to be done with 0-drop shoes. This is far from the truth. A significant % of competitive distance runners utilize a mid-to-forefoot strike most of which are rocking ~8mm drop shoes. There is a reason that ~8mm(+/-2) is the standard marathon racing shoe spec.

The drop of a shoe aids these runners with calf&achilles relief. Without a drop/heel, as their forefoot touches down it is followed by the heel lowering to the ground then lifting back up again prior to toe-off. This heel down&up requires the calf&achilles to absorb a significant load (which depending on the runner/event could be considered wasted energy and create unwanted/excessive fatigue). Simple solution. Add just enough of a heel to the shoe so when the the runners forefoot makes ground contact the heel only has to drop a couple mm prior to making contact.

FOREFOOT STRIKERS:

(similar to above)

Here is some input I received from Matt of Doctors of Running when I asked about incorporating lower drop shoes in my rotation.

Thank you so much for your patience. You may have found your answer, but I still want to provide some additional information.

1. With any large transition, slow and steady is always best to reduce injury risk and allow the body to adapt to the new stimulus.

2. Your pace and efficiency may be affected as you will be using different strategies (more ankle strategy, more range of your calf, etc). However not everyone responds negatively. It is person specific. Some people may feel faster and increase their paces faster than they should (increasing load too fast and thus increasing injury risk), while others run much slower initially (as they are not used to using their ankles/calf as much and they body reduces muscle power outputs to protect itself).

3. A variety of shoes is always a great idea to expose your body to different stimulus. The greater variety, the more "cross training" your body gets (ie forces in different areas so nothing gets overdone). However, with large changes like heel drop, you have to see whether your body can tolerate that. You have experienced slightly lower drop with the Next% (8mm) and the Endorphin Speed (8mm). So 4mm should be another slow transition. JUST because you go lower drop does not make you more efficient or faster. It is just a different stimulus.

A few things you need to consider:

1. You need to have adequate ankle motion, at least 15-20 degrees of dorsiflexion (bend) is important

2. You need to be able to perform +25 single leg heel raises (without hand support) on each leg to demonstrate appropriate calf power and resilience

3. It would help you to be able to balance for 20-30 seconds on each leg at a time with your eyes closed (proprioception) This will help with your ankle stability.

Heel or midfoot or forefoot only slightly biases which of the above three are most important (do all three). The actual amount is minimal for you. These are overall guidelines.

So yes, a little variety would be a great idea, however just make sure you ease into them.