Do forefoot runners need any cushioning at all at the heel?

Nobody, including "forefoot runners", runs exclusively on the ball of their foot. They land on the forefoot, but transfers weight back to the heel during the footstrike.

The shoes need to be level. Really, cushioning is not needed in shoes for those with good form. If you think you need cushion at all, you are just seeking comfort because of your bad form habits.

If you want shoes with zero cushioning in the heel, buy yourself a pair of sprint spikes. They are set up for landing only on the forefoot.

freddd wrote:

Nobody, including "forefoot runners", runs exclusively on the ball of their foot. They land on the forefoot, but transfers weight back to the heel during the footstrike.

You probably don’t run forefoot, but if you did, you would know that even though the heel touches the ground, there is almost no weight on it at all. I filmed myself running on a treadmill, my heel touches the ground but it feels as though it doesn’t because there is almost no weight on it. All the weight goes on the ball of the foot. But the leveling mighty be the reason.

Runsmith wrote:

The shoes need to be level. Really, cushioning is not needed in shoes for those with good form. If you think you need cushion at all, you are just seeking comfort because of your bad form habits.

If what you said was true, that meant that none of the elites has that “good form”, since all of them run with cushioned shoes on the road. I haven’t seen anyone of the elites run barefoot or with minimalistic shoes. Even Abebe Bikila went into shoes in his second olympic

I believe this whole debate was settled somewhere around the minimalism trend. The solution is that we all wear those Tarahuma tire sandals.

Forefoot wrote:

Runsmith wrote:

The shoes need to be level. Really, cushioning is not needed in shoes for those with good form. If you think you need cushion at all, you are just seeking comfort because of your bad form habits.

If what you said was true, that meant that none of the elites has that “good form”, since all of them run with cushioned shoes on the road. I haven’t seen anyone of the elites run barefoot or with minimalistic shoes. Even Abebe Bikila went into shoes in his second olympic

Bikila ran in shoes in 1960, too. The reason why he ran barefoot in Rome was that his shoes broke down when he trained in Rome before the race and he couldn´t find a new pair that fitted him.

well,, wrote:

Forefoot wrote:

If what you said was true, that meant that none of the elites has that “good form”, since all of them run with cushioned shoes on the road. I haven’t seen anyone of the elites run barefoot or with minimalistic shoes. Even Abebe Bikila went into shoes in his second olympic

Bikila ran in shoes in 1960, too. The reason why he ran barefoot in Rome was that his shoes broke down when he trained in Rome before the race and he couldn´t find a new pair that fitted him.

Lol that is incorrect. He trained for that race barefoot, and the shoes that Adidas gave him for the race didn't fit his feet.

Forefoot wrote:

Runsmith wrote:

The shoes need to be level. Really, cushioning is not needed in shoes for those with good form. If you think you need cushion at all, you are just seeking comfort because of your bad form habits.

If what you said was true, that meant that none of the elites has that “good form”, since all of them run with cushioned shoes on the road. I haven’t seen anyone of the elites run barefoot or with minimalistic shoes. Even Abebe Bikila went into shoes in his second olympic

Well, they are sponsored, and their sponsor wants them to train and race in their shoes to promote the brand. I can guarantee you that most elites could run barefoot or minimal very easily. Plus they will do track workouts with spikes on, which are already very minimal.

Runsmith wrote:

Forefoot wrote:

If what you said was true, that meant that none of the elites has that “good form”, since all of them run with cushioned shoes on the road. I haven’t seen anyone of the elites run barefoot or with minimalistic shoes. Even Abebe Bikila went into shoes in his second olympic

Well, they are sponsored, and their sponsor wants them to train and race in their shoes to promote the brand. I can guarantee you that most elites could run barefoot or minimal very easily. Plus they will do track workouts with spikes on, which are already very minimal.

+1

Forefoot wrote:

I run forefoot.while running on the road I don’t think there is any need for cushioning of the heel in the shoe. I see logic in cushioning the ball of the foot area, but how come I haven’t seen any shoe with cushioning only in the front? That weight on the heel area has no use.

Surely you could have figured out the stack issue before posting this?

I haven't figured it out either.

The high heels in shoes seems only like added weight to those who land on the forefoot.

Not to many zero drop or low drop shoes out there.

Wild is the Wind wrote:

I haven't figured it out either.

The high heels in shoes seems only like added weight to those who land on the forefoot.

Not to many zero drop or low drop shoes out there.

There are entire brands now dedicated to low drop or zero drop shoes. Altra and Topo off the top of my head. In addition, many of the more traditional brands offer low drop shoes these days.

not in the wide 4E though.

I'm going to order a pair of Altra Solstice and try it out. The forefoot is supposed to be wide according to Running Warehouse.

Wild is the Wind wrote:

not in the wide 4E though.

I'm going to order a pair of Altra Solstice and try it out. The forefoot is supposed to be wide according to Running Warehouse.

There aren't a lot of wide shoes in general. Or narrow, for that matter. My mom has narrow feet and she is limited to basically 5 brands.

Runsmith wrote:

Forefoot wrote:

If what you said was true, that meant that none of the elites has that “good form”, since all of them run with cushioned shoes on the road. I haven’t seen anyone of the elites run barefoot or with minimalistic shoes. Even Abebe Bikila went into shoes in his second olympic

Well, they are sponsored, and their sponsor wants them to train and race in their shoes to promote the brand. I can guarantee you that most elites could run barefoot or minimal very easily. Plus they will do track workouts with spikes on, which are already very minimal.

Wrong wrong wrong.

If what you said was true, you would see them running their road races with minimalistic shoes. The sponsors won’t care wether it’s minimalistic or cushioned as long as it’s theirs. Yet the run road races with cushioned shoes. In the sub2 they made all kinds of shoes, and the runners preferred the cushioned ones. This whole talk about barefoot running is just to justify your barefoot running or your minimalistic shoes. For Running the amount of miles that they run at their speed with their impact on the roads you must have cushioned area at the ball of your foot. If your argument is that naturally we are designed to run barefoot, so naturally we are not designed to run 42k at 20 km/h and we are not designed to run 200k a week, and we are not designed to run on concrete roads. For all of that we need cushioning. On the track they run with no cushioning because the track is already cushioned. And to all you talking about drop, I am not talking about drop- for forefoot runners it doesn’t matter 4mm 8mm or 1.2mm- it’s all the same. I am talking about cushioning

that may be but low heel to toe drop is very important.

It is difficult to run without landing on your heels in 10 mm drop shoes that seem to be the most popular,

including the Nike Vaporfly 4%.

Forefoot wrote:

And to all you talking about drop, I am not talking about drop- for forefoot runners it doesn’t matter 4mm 8mm or 1.2mm- it’s all the same. I am talking about cushioning

It matters if you reverse the drop. Which you would be doing if you put a block of foam under the front.

Nobody needs any cushioning, anywhere, no matter what their form is like. Wherever you absorb impact, your bones and tendons will adapt over time to handle the load. The exception is if your form drive your tibia upward into your patella, typical among cushion-using heel strikers. There is no way for the cartilage to adapt - it is scraped away until it's gone forever.