The big reason heel strike running is most damaging to the knee is that the act of landing heel-first causes the knee-joint to rapidly unbend and lock-out, which also causes the swing leg to overextend too far ahead of the body, creating an over-stride tied to a prolong brake force. In this way, the knee extensors are prevented from absorbing energy and impact, causing impact to be amplified. At the same time, mechanical work dramatically increases on the knee to bring the vertical velocity of the body segments to zero as compared with forefoot running, which has been found to be the literal antidote for runners knee! Read more here!
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