🤯 SHOCKING: Research shows 75% of elite runners heel strike, opposite of popular advice! Are you following the wrong foot strike guidance? Get the truth 👉
Kipchoge, Kiptum, Kejelcha, and Sawe, are all "heel strikers" to some degree.
Also, while quite a few technically "heel strike", some could really be mid-foot striking biomechanically and the heel just happens to touch the ground a microsecond sooner with very minimal ground impact force.
I feel like there is a subtle distinction that undermines the title of this thread and the point you are trying to make.
Quoting the article,
article wrote:
The barefoot running movement, while well-intentioned, created mass confusion by extrapolating laboratory studies on barefoot mechanics to real-world shod running scenarios.
Research published in Physical Therapy in Sport [2] examined over 1,000 recreational runners and found that 89% naturally heel strike when wearing conventional running shoes.
This isn’t a design flaw, it’s how most runners’ biomechanics naturally optimize when provided with heel cushioning.
Notice "when wearing conventional running shoes" and "when provided with heel cushioning."
There are several more examples of this in the text. It seems to imply that the extended heel in todays conventional running shoes is what's causing the heel striking, rather than that the runners are "heel strikers" as some kind of identity.
It would seem it's the shoes making them run that way, rather than that the shoes are just accommodating the way they already run.
This is a zero sum argument and a stupid one to engage in for the most part. People focus on this stuff way too much. Just run, baby. And keep it on the 'crete.
This is a zero sum argument and a stupid one to engage in for the most part. People focus on this stuff way too much. Just run, baby. And keep it on the 'crete.
This reminds me of a local runner I knew who was a high school runner in the 1950s and he was the rare bird that never quit and was still running when I came around in the 1970s. He was the local guru for runners...
And he talked about the "innies" and the "outies".... in describing how people cleared their toes on swing through.... He said 'an "innie" will beat an "outie" every time'.
For fifty years I have watched runners at high school level and up and tried to look at this after him saying that...
And the old guy was right... Seems like 80% 90% of good runners are "neutrals" or "innies"...LOL.
This is a zero sum argument and a stupid one to engage in for the most part. People focus on this stuff way too much. Just run, baby. And keep it on the 'crete.
...just pay $250 for those shoes and don't think about it too much. Nothing to see here.
This reminds me of a local runner I knew who was a high school runner in the 1950s and he was the rare bird that never quit and was still running when I came around in the 1970s. He was the local guru for runners...
And he talked about the "innies" and the "outies".... in describing how people cleared their toes on swing through.... He said 'an "innie" will beat an "outie" every time'.
For fifty years I have watched runners at high school level and up and tried to look at this after him saying that...
And the old guy was right... Seems like 80% 90% of good runners are "neutrals" or "innies"...LOL.
I am confused. Can you describe what you mean? I want to be obsessed with this, too.
Kipchoge, Kiptum, Kejelcha, and Sawe, are all "heel strikers" to some degree.
Also, while quite a few technically "heel strike", some could really be mid-foot striking biomechanically and the heel just happens to touch the ground a microsecond sooner with very minimal ground impact force.
Yes, and most people see an image of an elite in the air as they are coming down and assume that heel is going to hit first because it appears so in the image, but in slow motion it's obvious they runners are at least midfoot striking. Kipchoge at his peak barely ever touched the ground with his heel while racing. Kejelcha has to be the poster boy for the far forward forefoot strike -- you can see the gap under his heels as he runs on every strike.
Also, while quite a few technically "heel strike", some could really be mid-foot striking biomechanically and the heel just happens to touch the ground a microsecond sooner with very minimal ground impact force.
Yes, and most people see an image of an elite in the air as they are coming down and assume that heel is going to hit first because it appears so in the image, but in slow motion it's obvious they runners are at least midfoot striking. Kipchoge at his peak barely ever touched the ground with his heel while racing. Kejelcha has to be the poster boy for the far forward forefoot strike -- you can see the gap under his heels as he runs on every strike.
There are many photos of Kejelcha's heel touching the ground, even in the last lap of a race. If you never let your heel touch the ground, you're running inefficiently because you can't fully take advantage of the stretch shortening cycle. There's a huge amount of energy stored in the achilles tendon that can be released if you allow a brief unloading. It's the same reason you can jump higher after a hop than if you start from the ground. Even elite sprinters frequently touch their heels to the ground once they are done with the acceleration phase (though the considerations there are different because their ground contact time is so short that it can be worth foregoing some passive energy return in favor of a higher rate of force production).
Heel striking is not what slows you down. It´s overstriding .
Overstriding is what causes heel striking, and many people blame the heel strike as the source issue, when in reality, it isn´t. The overstriding is what needs to be fixed.
Heel striking is not what slows you down. It´s overstriding .
Overstriding is what causes heel striking, and many people blame the heel strike as the source issue, when in reality, it isn´t. The overstriding is what needs to be fixed.
Heel striking is not what slows you down. It´s overstriding .
Overstriding is what causes heel striking, and many people blame the heel strike as the source issue, when in reality, it isn´t. The overstriding is what needs to be fixed.
