Minimalist running shoes are intended for landing with a forefoot strike, not a heel strike, because forefoot striking, whether in conventional cushioned shoes or barefoot-inspired minimalist shoes does significantly more to reduce injury to the knee, shins, hips and lower back by breaking the flow of high impacts and driving better footstep stability.
There are major differences between minimalist and normal running shoes which include the barefoot-feel of minimalist running shoes were found to do a better job at increasing the likelihood of avoiding a force intensive-heel strike, and instead, encourages a forefoot strike landing tied to significantly lower instantaneous loading and vertical impact peaks as compared to normal cushioned running shoes.
Heel strike running produces an impact variable, known as an impulse wave, that is primarily responsible for long bone injuries, such as a femur fracture, as compared with forefoot running, which was found to sufficiently counter this damaging impact.
In running, changing your foot strike pattern from a heel strike to a forefoot strike landing does not increase the risk of an Achilles injury. Even better, forefoot running enables the Achilles tendon to function more optimally as an energy-saving spring whereas heel strike running may actually be an impediment to the economic elastic properties of the tendon.
Minimalist running shoes work best for older runners in preventing falls, enabling the feet to become strong to deflect loading and absorb impact without protective running shoes, while making the foot’s bony architecture more tolerable at handling normal loading as compared with thick cushioned running shoes.
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