Heel strike running is the main cause of chronic lower leg pain and even shin fracture as compared with less-force intensive running styles, like forefoot running. For example, heel striking when running was consistently found to produce a braking load at higher magnitudes which was found to spark dangerous rises in pain-triggering intramuscular pressure in the lower leg, which chronic lower leg pain derives from. Worse still, the impact produced at heel strike is so great it causes soft tissue compartments in the lower leg and foot to vibrate at a unusually higher frequencies, beyond a tolerable limit, also contributing to swelling and pain in the lower leg. All of this is either greatly reduced or even fully resolved in forefoot running. Read more here!
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