One good reason it may be bad to heel strike when running is it may increase the risk of shin splints as compared with forefoot running. This is because to engage a heel strike landing during running, the front of the foot (forefoot) pulls back upon and at touchdown. The more the forefoot yanks back at touchdown, the harder it slaps down onto the ground to initiate the stance phase. Shin splints may arise from this because the impact and mechanical strain from the continuous forefoot-slapping may ripple up the lower leg causing painful rises in contractions of the anterior tibialis (muscle that runs down the front of the shins). Read more here!
Bretta Riches
"I believe the forefoot strike is the engine of endurance running..."
BSc Neurobiology; MSc Biomechanics candidate, ultra minimalist runner & founder of RunForefoot. I was a heel striker, always injured. I was inspired by the great Tirunesh Dibaba to try forefoot running. Now, I'm injury free. This is why I launched Run Forefoot, to advocate the health & performance benefits of forefoot running and to raise awareness on the dangers of heel striking, because the world needs to know.
BSc Neurobiology; MSc Biomechanics candidate, ultra minimalist runner & founder of RunForefoot. I was a heel striker, always injured. I was inspired by the great Tirunesh Dibaba to try forefoot running. Now, I'm injury free. This is why I launched Run Forefoot, to advocate the health & performance benefits of forefoot running and to raise awareness on the dangers of heel striking, because the world needs to know.
Leave a Reply