Pretty much everywhere you look, its as if a runner is getting injured, which begs the question: are cushy running shoes really needed? Popular explanation for how most runners get injured in standard running shoes is that the padded raised heel encourages a heavy heel strike landing by forcing the landing foot to fling out farther in front of the body (also known as over-striding) upon touchdown. At the same time, the toes and forefoot of the landing foot points up towards the sky upon and at touchdown which makes it easier to strike the ground heel-first (heel strike). Runners who run in this way tend to have greater frontal assaults on the leg and have similar injuries, like runner’s knee and long bone injuries, as compared with barefoot runners who utilize a forefoot strike and a shorter stride which seems to work best for limiting impact production and injury. Read more here about the affects of barefoot vs shoes on stride mechanics and injury in runners.
