The specific impacts and physical stressors in heel strike running are the single biggest contributors to most injuries, especially severe injuries as compared to forefoot running, which is well on record for preventing all the injuries caused by heel strike running.
In running, foot strike does matter because mounting research shows that how you land on your foot directly affects your knee joint mechanics which was found to have an enormous influence on impact production.
Heel strike running was found to increase the risk for an Achilles injury by causing excessive heel motions that increases bending strain and rotational stress on the tendon as compared with forefoot running.
The reason why heel striking is so bad for running is because it’s the only foot strike pattern that produces the impact forces that directly cause long bone fractures.
Barefoot running is healthier for the feet because it not only makes the foot’s muscles, soft tissues, nerves and blood vessels stronger, barefoot running also engages a forefoot strike and higher cadence which prevents abnormal foot motions and postures, like over-pronation.
Copyright © 2025 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes