How to avoid heel striking

If you want to "look more elegant", just learn to run effortlessly fast ... ;)

Probably, that'll take care of your foot strike too.

Should you decide to train in zero drop shoes (I do, never been a real heel striker though) be VERY careful during the transition period. Take your time, the body needs it.

Oh, and cadence is another typical thing to change from heel to midfiot striking.

So, if, for whatever reason, you want to change your foot strike, I suggest the following:

1) run faster

2) move towards zero drop shoes

3) increase your cadence

4) do NOT try to "reach forward" with your toes. This will only mess with your point of impact relative to your knee / center of mass.

Only my opinion / personal research results, so proceed with caution.

I was a heel striker for my first 6-8 months of running. I just decided to start midfoot/forefoot striking one day and speed up my cadence to 3 steps per second, and have run that way ever since (17 years). I think changing my cadence at the same time was a happy accident, as it helped the other goal make so much more sense. It's quite hard to heel strike at that cadence as your foot as already landing before it has a chance to get ahead of your center of gravity and be at the point in its cycle when the heel would naturally contact the ground first.

My calves (and the area at the top of my foot where it meets the ankle/leg) were sore for the first week or so. I remember counting 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, as each second ticked by to remember the cadence until it was burned into me and became reflex. After a few more months, heel-striking felt as weird and foreign as running with ski boots on.

Old memory that just resurfaced to me as I type this: in the beginning I would marvel at the soles of my shoes when they had a few hundred miles on them and the sole wear would be evident everywhere except the heel, which would look almost scuff-less. It looked so different than my first pair of running shoes, which had the familiar wedge of rubber missing from the outer edge of each heel.

Cadence depends on speed. My cadence is already high, 188 steps/min @5k pace.

heel striker wrote:

Cadence depends on speed. My cadence is already high, 188 steps/min @5k pace.

What's the 5k pace?

Do you actually heel strike at that pace?

Also, what's the drop your current shoes have?

I converted from heel to forefoot strike years ago. I find it almost impossible to run in normal 10mm heel-to-toe drop shoes now. Most of my shoes are 4mm drop. I tried the 0mm drop. It was too much for me.

One tool to help with the transition is to do several strides barefoot on a football/soccer field. It's almost impossible to heel strike when barefoot. Once you get the feel of the barefoot strike, immediately put on your shoes and attempt to recreate that feel on the track.

It's best to do this for only 20 seconds or so at a time. When I was converting, I'd run from one telephone pole to another on my forefoot, then return to normal heel strike for a minute or two. Gradually, I increased the time to one minute on, one minute off.

It took me three months to get over the new aches and pains, but I was slower. After 6 months, I could run well on forefoot, but not quite as fast. Then, I added a slight push off with my trailing foot. I immediately could run 5 sec faster for 400m, but I couldn't hold the push off. After another three months...now nine months in... I was faster on forefoot than my old heel strike.

This was 15 years ago. I think with the newer low drop shoes and adding the barefoot strides, I could have cut this transition time in half today.

All this talk of heel strike, angle, etc, is stupid bullshhhit for the weak-minded. Put on a pair of running shoes. Run many, many miles, working slowly over months/years into training. Enjoy. Don't over train and don't race too soon.

Minimalism. Stupid.

Maximalism. Stupid.

Worry about offset. Stupid.

Just run. Your body will find its most efficient form by....wait for it.....RUNNING.

You're welcome young idiots.

There is nothing wrong with heelstriking. Many elites heelstrike and do just fine.

Pre was a heelstriker.

How to avoid heel striking?

Lead with your knee and allow your foot to land "naturally". This should promote a more mid-foot landing.

Stop it with lame-ass discussions about foot strike.

Put on shoes, any running shoes that fit.

Go running, build lots of miles, slowly building your base.

Repeat.

Your body builds into its most efficient form through DOING, not through anything else.

Now, STFU and go for a run.

Don't increase cadence- that's nonsense and won't help, also different shoes won't help. The one thing you need to learn is to relax your foot during the swing phase. Heel strikers dorsiflex their foot before impact, activating the shin muscles. Learn how to relax it. You can practice even when not running. Walking or standing.