Is it possible to heel strike and not overstride?

I'd think some good orthotics would be worth a shot...

same for me, except im only 17 years old

try doing split squats for strength

also you may have a leg length issue

how much do you weigh? that is always a factor

as long as your foot is mving backwards at impact and your foot isnt WAY "out there" it sould be fine

yet another demonstration of "what feels natural is ussually best"

Aren't you doing form drills? Barefoot strides?

leg up wrote:

same for me, except im only 17 years old

try doing split squats for strength

also you may have a leg length issue

how much do you weigh? that is always a factor

as long as your foot is mving backwards at impact and your foot isnt WAY "out there" it sould be fine

yet another demonstration of "what feels natural is ussually best"

ok, i'll take advice from a 17 yr old :)

i've gained a bit of weight since i haven't been training enough, but i'm still under 150 lbs..

what do you mean my foot moving backwards?

I will take a blind stab in the dark on this one and say, if you can't run that way, go back to a different running style. It is much better to turn on a light than to curse the darkness.

yes, it is called speed walking.

Does this answer your question??

Been there, done that - when I was "young and naive" on all this stuff. I changed my foot strike pattern years ago, without sufficient strength and flexibility to handle it (which most people never emphasize before they change it), and wound up with heaps of injuries. I converted back to my natural strike, did the rehab and they went away.

Basically, here is the way I think about it. With your new footstrike, you are theoretically faster and more efficient... but that is only is you can run. You cannot achieve your potential and set PR's if you cannot run!

With your natural foot strike, you are not quite as efficient and fast, in theory, but at least you can run and train.

So for now, I would really recommend going back to your natural stride, and correct all your imbalance. It is great that you know what they are - that is one step a lot of people are missing when they try to recover from something like this. If you want, e-mail me and I can send you some videos of exercises I specifically made for another runner that had similar area of muscle weakness that may help some of your imbalances.

yes

your foot should claw the ground backwards using the hamstrings

not impact, then pull

there is less braking force every step

less stressful and faster

Your goal is to reduce ground contact time. Heel striking increases it so try to alter that over time.

Thanks Dr. S.

I'll take you up on that offer.

ttc wrote:

Does this answer your question??

no, why do you think it would?

wondering wrote:

ttc wrote:

Does this answer your question??

no, why do you think it would?

Sorry. I took the thread title, "Is it possible to heel strike and not overstride?" and only addressed that, without reading the entire deal. Unfortunately I do not know much about the issue. Hope the other posters help more.

I think alberto salazar was a heel striker.

Nobody is a natural heel striker. If you take off your shoes and run around the house, how do you land. If you answer "on my heels," you are either a) a liar, or b) actually walking.

All of us naturally run on the balls of our feet. Shoes desensitize us, and over time, we start this heel striking thing.

Start training in shoes that have as little elevation gain from forefoot to rear foot---this is a good start. Once you can do that, go for the most minimal of shoes---just enough to protect your feet from glass---

when you wear shoes you heel strike. Look at pictures of tergat and other elites, they all heel strike sometimes. Stop worrying about it and just run.

lohalloran wrote:

when you wear shoes you heel strike. Look at pictures of tergat and other elites, they all heel strike sometimes.

This is wrong on just so many levels.

I´ll bet you are right handed and wear your watch on left hand.