Articles by Bretta Riches

Heel strike running in zero drop shoes will get you injured fast because heel strike running naturally produces a heavy burst in collisional impact at landing, whereby a lack of padding at the heel was fond to cause more rising tides of high impact that severely burdens the heel bone and even the shin! Whats worse, running shoes with a thick cushioned heel was found to cause heel strike runners to plow their heel harder into the ground. This is because the foot tries harder to push through all the compressible cushioned materials in efforts to reach a more stable surface. But bigger than that, the key to preventing and avoiding these highly injurious impacts is to land with a forefoot strike because its on record for preventing the kind of impact that cause injuries, especially long bone injuries.

Prior to 2014, Meb Keflezighi was a Nike athlete who ran with a heavy heel strike and struggled endlessly with injuries. In 2011, Meb signed with Sketchers, which markets their running shoes as ‘anti-heel striking’ footwear because the shoe has a rocker-designed underfoot that encourages a mid-foot to forefoot strike. It was the change in foot strike that enabled Meb to train more because he was injuring less, allowing him to bank more meaningful gains in performance whereby in 2014 he became the first American man to win the Boston Marathon since 1983! Foot strike matters!