Everybody has their own style and form when they run, and what works best for one person may not be ideal for another. How you land when you run plays an important role in your running ability and your injury likelihood, but do you know what foot strike pattern you have when you run? Moreover, is one foot strike pattern better than others when it comes to injury prevention? In today’s blog, we take a closer look at foot strike patterns in runners.
Foot Strike Running Patterns
Running foot strike patterns are essentially sorted into one of two groups. You have the heel-strike runners, whose heels are the first thing to hit the ground when striding and putting a foot on the ground, and you have forefoot-strike runners, whose midfoot hits the ground first with each stride. Is one better than the other for injury prevention?
To get an answer to this question, researchers conducted a study involving 710 runners. Runners were initially grouped based on their perceived foot strike patterns, which led to the formation of three groups.
- Rear foot strike
- Non-rear foot strike
- Unsure of their strike pattern
After being divided into groups, runners completed a 3D motion capture running analysis at a self-selected pace and answered a number of questions about their running habits, running shoe choices and injury history. After looking at the data, researchers came to some interesting conclusions:
- Confirmed heel strikers were least likely to accurately detect their foot strike patterns, especially if they wore a high heel-to-toe drop shoe (a shoe with a drop above 6 millimeters) or a heavier running shoe (a shoe weighing more than 8.8 ounces for women and 9 ounces for men).
- Only 67 of the nearly 198 runners who originally self-reported as heel strikers were actually heel strikers (~34%).
- 103 of the 141 runners who didn’t know their foot strike were confirmed as heel strikers (~73%).
- Confirmed non-heel-foot strikers had the lowest prevalence of running-related injuries in the six months prior to the survey.
- Runners who did not know their foot strike had the highest prevalence of running-related injuries compared to the other two self-reported groups.
So what should we make of all this? Heather K. Vincent, Ph. D., lead study author and director of the UF Health Sports Performance Center at the University of Florida, believes that it’s important for runners, especially those in a heavier or high-drop shoe, to work to improve their foot proprioception to better understand their own foot strike pattern.
“From the proprioceptive standpoint, it’s almost like putting big mittens on your hands and trying to type on a keyboard—you can’t feel it,” Vincent says. “It’s the same thing as the foot striking the ground.”
Being unaware of how your foot is landing or inherently compensating for overly cushioned or heavier shoes can lead to muscle weakness or muscular imbalances that lead to an increased injury risk. Moreover, different running styles can put you at risk for different types of injuries (heel strikers may be at an elevated risk for stress fracture or shin splints, while midfoot strikers tend to have higher rates of Achilles or calf injuries), and knowing your running style can allow you to work to reduce your risk of certain foot strike-related injuries.
Really pay attention to your foot strike pattern the next time you run, or talk with a trainer or physical therapist about your running form and see if any adjustments could be made to take stress off certain areas of your body. No matter your foot strike pattern, consider working to improve foot and ankle strength, flexibility and proprioception, as all these factors will help during your next run. And of course, for more tips on how to improve your foot health or prevent injuries, connect with Dr. Silverman and his team today.