Shin Splints

Foot strike strongly influences shin injury in running whereby forefoot running has been proven to do a better job at reducing opposing forces on the shins while improving shin angle at landing as compared with heel strike running, which is shaping up to be the foot strike most damaging to the shins!

What Does a Forefoot Strike Look Like? (It's Not a Toe Strike!)

Forefoot Running is NOT Toe Strike Running

18/10/2022 Bretta Riches 23

Forefoot running all too often gets misconceived as toe strike running. Forefoot running and toe strike running are two different styles of running. Toe strike running involves landing too high up on the toes without letting the heel drop to the ground after landing, and is a major source of foot and shin injuries whereas forefoot running is not because its a much flatter strike angle, landing on the balls of the foot followed by the heel lowering down to the ground. In this way, impact pressure was found to spread best in a forefoot strike landing as compared with both toe striking and heel strike running.

Heel Strike Running is the Main Cause of Shin Splints

Why Heel Strike Running is Bad for Shins

24/05/2020 Bretta Riches 3

One way to stop your shins from hurting when you run is to avoid landing with a heel strike and instead land with a forefoot strike. This is because forefoot running was found to have the biggest improvements in reduing opposing forces off the shins.

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