The first part of your foot you should land on when running is your forefoot. Why? There’s a special relationship between this contact-point on the foot with the ground and injury prevention in running. More specifically, the precise part of your forefoot that should strike first is towards the outer-side (lateral) of the forefoot, just under the 4th and 5th toes. Landing on the lateral side of the forefoot has proved to be incredibly effective for dispersing bending strain over a larger area of the forefoot, thereby preventing peak pressures from exceeding normal on the foot. Read more here about the advantages and the mechanical relevance of making initial-ground contact towards under the 5th toe, not the big toe in forefoot running.
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.