Is Forefoot Running Better for Shin Splints? YES!

18/08/2024 Bretta Riches Dealing with Running Injuries, Forefoot Running Benefits 0

The hard truth is foot strike type in running matters immensely for injury prevention whereby forefoot running has been scientifically proven (references below article) to prevent the mechanical defections that cause shin splints. This is because landing with a forefoot strike results in a shorter stride which also results in a wider stance width, which was found to significantly reduce the opposing forces linked to shin splints and fracture.

Is Forefoot Running Better for Shin Splints? YES!
Shin splints can be easily prevented with forefoot running because it directly widens your step width, which reduces widespread  musculoskeletal loading, but namely reduces tissue stress and strain on the shin.

What is a wider step width in running?

A wider step width (shown below) during running means the left and right foot lands farther away from the mid-line. The opposite of a wide step width is a narrow step width, also known as a crossover running gait where the feet fall on, or even worse, across the midline:

Does Heel Striking Cause IT Band Pain? YES!

The problem with a crossover running step is it increases the side-to-side ground reaction force on the shin during the mid-stance of running (McClay, 1995). This ground reaction force leads to greater medial tibial tension and compression, and increases stress on all areas of the tibial bone as compared with running with a wider step width, which is most easily engaged by landing with a forefoot strike, not a heel strike which encourages a narrow step width.

A running-related shin fracture forms when the front (anterior) and back (posterior) parts of the shin bone is exposed to high tensile and compressive stress (Meardon et al. 2014), whereby widening your step width by at least 5% was found to significantly reduce these impact variables.

Ample evidence of this came from a study by Meardon and Derrick (2014) which found found that the only effective way to safeguard the shins from higher-than-normal loading is to widen your step width:

  • The researchers found that running with a wider step width greatly decreased tension on the front of the shin and reduced compression on the back and the middle of the shin.
  • The researchers also discovered that the wider the step width when running, the greater the reduction of shear stress on all aspects of the shin bone.

Last but not least, the researchers found that the inner aspect of the shin bone was more protected from tension and compression when a wider running step width was engaged as compared with a crossover step.


Best of all, forefoot running naturally inches your shin in a safer direction at landing because the action of landing on your forefoot results in less time for the leg to swing out too far ahead of the body, resulting in a shorter stride which directly results in a wider step width.

In contrast, landing heel-first (heel strike) when running automatically causes too much over-reach of the leg ahead of the body, resulting in a longer stride. Over-reaching of the foot ahead of the body also affords more time for the foot to come down on, or across the mind-line, thereby narrowing step-width, shown below:

Is Forefoot Running Better for Shin Splints? YES!
Shin splints remains a key issue in heel strike running because when you land squarely on your heel, the knee-joint automatically unbends at landing. This allows for an overly long over-stride tied to a narrow step width and more stress on the shin because there’s a large burst in impact in the brake phase, which is not produced in a forefoot strike landing. Forefoot running has an impressive record for preventing the injurious risk factors for shin splints by positioning the shin differently at landing, aligning it closer to the body, while allowing the knee-joint to bend at landing as well. A bent knee at landing ensures a shorter stride and therefore a wider stance width, which stops the inflow of a high brake force and the accompanying impacts that account for shin splints.

Shin splints isn’t the only injury forefoot running is well on record for preventing. Here is the growing list of injuries caused by heel strike running that are perfectly prevented with forefoot running.

References:

McClay, I.S., 1995. The use of gait analysis to enhance the understanding of running injuries. Mosby, St. Louis MO, pp. 395–411.

Meardon SA and Derrick TR. Effect of step width manipulation on tibial stress during running. J Biomech, 2014; 47: 2738-2744.


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