After reading and experimenting more, I coming to the conclusion that almost all running problems, injuries, etc., stem from one central issue: overstriding.
In the last post, it was shown that both forefoot and rearfoot runners experienced running injuries. Clearly, just switching to a forefoot strike alone then doesn't guarantee proper running form. But the study showed that rearfoot strikers had twice the injury rate of forefoot strikers. Why?
My thought is that heel-striking is a more severe case of overstriding. While you can overstride with either a forefoot or rearfoot strike, I think the heel strike is a clearer case that the lower leg is being thrown ahead of the center of mass.
As to the cause of overstriding, the cause seems to be pretty clear: shoes! If you look at various studies comparing barefoot versus shod running, putting on shoes leads to a larger stride length and a lower cadence. With shoes, a runner is taking fewer, larger strides.
This is not to say that a person can't overstride in bare feet, or that they can't wear shoes and not overstride. I'm saying that wearing shoes while learning to run can prevent a person from learning to run with good form. Yet even if you learn good form, wearing shoes can still disrupt things. In the Lieberman 2010 study, for the recently shod Kenyan adults who ran shod during the study, some changed into heel-striking (and this is after a lifetime of mostly barefoot running).
Also in the Liberman study, for adults who grew up shod and then ran barefoot in the study, the majority still ended up heel-striking even though they were barefoot.
I would then conclude the following:
- If you are running in shoes, you have to cautiously guard against overstriding
- If you are running barefoot but grew up shod, you also have to guard against overstriding
If you grew up barefoot and then you run barefoot, you're probably okay!
You may want to think about this in another way: to run most efficiently and reduce risk of injury, minimize the foot’s contact time with the ground.
My coach, Bill Leach, has been working on this concept for several years now. He is continually devising methods to help runners objectively measure their ground contact time and has developed drills and methods to include in training to develop the motor patterns and strength necessary to approach an ideal metric, particuarly over very long distances since many of his clients are marathon participants.
Matt,
Been giving your last posts thought.
You know how I said I “sometimes ” feel that effortless flow?
I’ve thought about it and it strikes me I’m in that zone when I really want to go for a run. Like a child breaking stride and starting to run. And realistically I’m not often truly in the mood for a run. Must have something to do with that whole energy conservation evolutionary thing
I wonder if there where hunter gatherers that weren’t in the mood for the hunt but knew they had to cause they were getting hungry.
See the similarly …..?
And over striding is cause by swinging your leg from the hip, rather than folding your leg under your hip. Don’t move you leg like a pendulum unless you are walking.
Be careful. Whenever you think you know how it works your wrong. It’s always a combination of things and some of those things are quite elusive because they dont fit into the criteria you have decided is the format. At the end of it all, just move with no agenda except to go from a to b. Whats the most efficient way and how has my previous 10, 20, 30, 40 years, made this more complicated than it needs to be. Goals, agendas, and personalities get in the way. You want to know about running? Then run with awareness and no agenda and when you dont feel right, walk. It might take your whole life.
Very good. I have been taken many wrong detours in running over the years…
I’ve thought about this too. That desire is definitely stronger when younger. Maybe it’s a young hunter/old hunter type of thing.
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/train_like_a_m
an_5_the_real_paleo_exercise
For years I suffered from shin splints until I developed a stress fracture in my tibia which put me out of action for a couple of months. The more I read about how to properly stride the more it became obvious to me I was overstriding and had a horrendous heel strike. I tried to run on my full or more fore foot but nothing seemed to work until I bought my first pair of Xtra zero drop running shoes. Wow! What a difference. I’m pain free, running faster than ever and who would have thought something as simple as a pair of shoes could fix such a complex problem? http://altrazerodrop.com
I’ve been thinking about the effect shoes might be having on runners for a while also. I think part of the problem is the elevated heel in running shoes. Having a large cushion in the shoe might make it easier to heel strike, but the raised heel also puts the ankle into a plantar flexed position. Over time this could restrict dorsiflexion, which then could lead to other adaptations higher up, like a limitation in hip extension.
To increase speed a runner needs to increase their cadence and/or lengthen their stride. If the hip is limited in extension then the runner might reach forward with the leg as a way to compensate for the lack of range of motion they’re not getting from extension.
So overstriding could be related to the changes in the body as a result of shoe wearing and maybe that’s why it’s difficult for some runners to alter their form even when they go barefoot. I recently wrote a little about this as well: http://www.somastruct.com/hip-extension-running-and-quad-flexibility/
Seems possible to me…
I actually have a pair of the altras.
Too simplistic. You need to maximize force exerted on the ground in relation to contact time with the ground.
Good luck winning a race long jumping every step, but also when taking tiny steps that don’t take you anywhere.
Sorry about the bad link above. It was supposed to link to an article about sprinting.