It's not just the impact. Another problem is that the M. tibialis anterior, the muscle that lifts your forefoot, is not really made for decelerating the forefoot while running with a heel strike. The muscle is strong enough to decelerate properly while walking, but not for running.
I'm glad for this explanation. I was always confused as to why we don't heel strike when running. I thought "Our heel is the hardest and most stable part of our foot, why don't we use it?"
For me it helped out a ton to move away from heel striking. I had knee discomfort and lower back pain all the way from middle school that’s now almost entirely nonexistent.
It's also not very pleasant to hit hard ground with bone Just like falling on your behind when you're very skinny, impact straight to the bone is a much much higher risk than when it's cushioned/ absorbed by a flexible tissue like tendons, fat or muscle
My physical education teacher always tried to teach me that running on my toes was wrong, but running on my heels hurt my hips and legs so I kept doing it anyway, glad to learn I had been doing it right to begin with.
@Tribuneoftheplebs I know, and that's how I run I just say toes because it's closer to the toes and that's how I know the difference to me. But you are right.
A lot of it has to do with your arm swing speed. walk normal and feel your heels strike, then walk again but swing your arms faster than natural. you’ll start to walk closer to the front of your foot.
I sorta naturally bounce off my forefoot when I run, barefoot or not. Idk, maybe it's because of my asthma? If I run more flat-footed and don't sorta use my foot like a spring, my lungs tire out much more quickly idk. That's just what I've noticed w me tho
I wonder if that's from energy displacement between the two methods of running. Don't have asthma, so I can't compare, but I wonder if the impact on the heel causes more of a shock that causes a trigger for you than from your forefoot. There has to be some research on this somewhere.
Well it’s not unhealthy, I generally prefer to walk with the forefoot first. Helps if you have zero drop shoes, it’s far too awkward otherwise. It especially helps me when my terrain is uneven. Edit: it is however generally less efficient and will use more energy, but still otherwise harmless.
It's not unhealthy, it's just inefficient. On long distances you'll realize that heel striking is more efficient. The stride is longer and there's less muscular involvement. You'll be faster and don't tire as quickly
Here's my take, Forefoot striking when walking is only for stealth purposes the steps are extremely silent, don't keep forefoot striking as majority of your walking though your calves will tire out, a gradual heel to mid roll strike is ideal for walking, remember it should be slow. While jogging and running you should always land either on forefoot or combination of forefoot and midfoot never land on heel when going moderate to high impact.
How much heel striking you should do is inversely proportional to your speed/strides per minute. That's it. So slowly jogging on your toes is equally as wrong as sprinting on your heels. When you have higher speed and lower contact time with the ground, naturally you move up on the forefoot. If youre moving slow and have higher contact time you move towards the backfoot/heel.
@@jhondoe3735 Terrible for you? How about the people that jog 50k a day, or do two 100 mile races or more every month? They seem to be doing fine? Over 70% of ultra long distance runners heel strike and none of them seem to have issues with it. If it were terrible, surely they would stop?
I notice i transition between heel striking and fore foot striking when walking depending on the terrain. If going down a hill, fore foot. Flat ground, heel strike, but no over extension of the leg and i feel no pounding force going to my knees. You can heel strike while walking, yoy just cant walk like a bafoon and stomp your heel down.
The speed at which this guy talks give us a hint as to maybe why we heel strike when we walk - stressful modern living causes some of us to not only talk fast (even without caffeine or cocaine!) but possibly to overextend our stride when compared to the gait of our ancestors. So it may be that heel strike when walking is not natural and that forefoot strike is actually correct. With an extended gait, heel strike walking the body is not maintaining a balanced centre of gravity over the space between the feet. Spinal specialists suggest forefoot walking for people with lower back problems and I suggest that the same for plantar fasciitis issues will contribute to arresting that condition and that heel strike walking only contributes to the problem.
It took me a while but I got to a point where I could sprint full speed in my really thin barefoot shoes on concrete or asphalt with no issues. I actually preferred running on concrete with barefoot shoes as opposed to normal running shoes, sooo much easier on my knees and lower back. Edit: good question
Running on hard surfaces with barefoot shoes is totally safe and actually a good teacher for good form. You're forced to optimize your landing phase on hard ground. Just stop when something hurts.
Dude, do some research before critisizing others. While it is true that many people heel strike when running - especially on long distances - it's not advisable to do so. If you meant to say "Some people heel strike when they run" then guess who should be more specific. Thank you.
When you sprint you want to land on your forefoot and rather don't let the heel touch the floor ("toe strike") When you jog or run you land on your forefoot and immediately afterwards let the heel touch the ground ("forefoot strike") - or you land on forefoot and heel simultaneously ("midfoot strike")
This is why you see cats sometimes do that "jog walk" thing. Imagine if you had to walk on your toes all day. Might as well go a little faster, because at this point you'd rather just waste less energy.
I have literally never been a heel strike walker. I don't know if it has to do with ADHD or something else, but heel strike walking makes me feel like I'm intentionally stomping around.
Same. It's always just felt better to walk on the pads of my feet. I'm a really tall, big guy and people are often startled by me because I walk so quietly.
When trying to keep a consistent speed/pace while at a high speed, I find myself heel striking , sort of like how I jog, but at sprinting speed. I only feel myself running on my forefoot when accelerating.
Hey you do you man, but forefoot striking in zero drop shoes got rid of knee discomfort and lower back pain I’ve had since middle school. It took less than half a year to fully transition and see all the benefits. My arches have never been healthier as well.
Bro I've been running on my tippy toes for year and it's insanely hard to decelerate
I usually lean back to decelerate gradually, but plant and pivot on the balls of my feet to stop quickly.
start doing tibialis raises
Type hyper arch training and do the basic 3 hft exercises should help you
Well, heel strikes are for jogging and walking, running mainly on your midfoot, and toe strikes for sprinting. The real problem is over striding.
It's not just the impact. Another problem is that the M. tibialis anterior, the muscle that lifts your forefoot, is not really made for decelerating the forefoot while running with a heel strike. The muscle is strong enough to decelerate properly while walking, but not for running.
You can place the forefoot down first when walking too. This is what I am developing now, and it's very useful at night.
This is how color guard members are taught to march in most marching bands. Difficult but graceful. 😊
I'm glad for this explanation. I was always confused as to why we don't heel strike when running. I thought "Our heel is the hardest and most stable part of our foot, why don't we use it?"
For me it helped out a ton to move away from heel striking. I had knee discomfort and lower back pain all the way from middle school that’s now almost entirely nonexistent.
It's also not very pleasant to hit hard ground with bone
Just like falling on your behind when you're very skinny, impact straight to the bone is a much much higher risk than when it's cushioned/ absorbed by a flexible tissue like tendons, fat or muscle
As Others said. To much impact that will lead to knee replacement. It helps if you dont run on concrate but on ground too.
Heel Striking destroyed my left knee.
you said it yourself. "hardest" part gives the most impact shock
My physical education teacher always tried to teach me that running on my toes was wrong, but running on my heels hurt my hips and legs so I kept doing it anyway, glad to learn I had been doing it right to begin with.
Toes is still wrong. Its more mid-foot/ball of the foot then on your literal toes
@Tribuneoftheplebs I know, and that's how I run I just say toes because it's closer to the toes and that's how I know the difference to me. But you are right.
I heel strike when I walk up a steep surface, forefoot strike when I go down a steep surface, and midfoot strike on flat ground.
You got it all backwards mate
A lot of it has to do with your arm swing speed. walk normal and feel your heels strike, then walk again but swing your arms faster than natural. you’ll start to walk closer to the front of your foot.
I sorta naturally bounce off my forefoot when I run, barefoot or not. Idk, maybe it's because of my asthma? If I run more flat-footed and don't sorta use my foot like a spring, my lungs tire out much more quickly idk. That's just what I've noticed w me tho
I wonder if that's from energy displacement between the two methods of running. Don't have asthma, so I can't compare, but I wonder if the impact on the heel causes more of a shock that causes a trigger for you than from your forefoot. There has to be some research on this somewhere.
There are some that advocate walking with a fore foot strike. Perhaps to alleviate back pain or over stride?
I have to say:" GYAAATT!!"
mission accomplished.
So is forefoot walking healthy or should it be avoided?
Well it’s not unhealthy, I generally prefer to walk with the forefoot first. Helps if you have zero drop shoes, it’s far too awkward otherwise. It especially helps me when my terrain is uneven.
Edit: it is however generally less efficient and will use more energy, but still otherwise harmless.
It's not unhealthy, it's just inefficient. On long distances you'll realize that heel striking is more efficient. The stride is longer and there's less muscular involvement. You'll be faster and don't tire as quickly
Here's my take, Forefoot striking when walking is only for stealth purposes the steps are extremely silent, don't keep forefoot striking as majority of your walking though your calves will tire out, a gradual heel to mid roll strike is ideal for walking, remember it should be slow. While jogging and running you should always land either on forefoot or combination of forefoot and midfoot never land on heel when going moderate to high impact.
We have to consider that we evolved heels not for such hard surfaces like our streets. So mid foot walking was never going to build up damage
How much heel striking you should do is inversely proportional to your speed/strides per minute. That's it. So slowly jogging on your toes is equally as wrong as sprinting on your heels. When you have higher speed and lower contact time with the ground, naturally you move up on the forefoot. If youre moving slow and have higher contact time you move towards the backfoot/heel.
@@jhondoe3735 Terrible for you? How about the people that jog 50k a day, or do two 100 mile races or more every month? They seem to be doing fine? Over 70% of ultra long distance runners heel strike and none of them seem to have issues with it. If it were terrible, surely they would stop?
I notice i transition between heel striking and fore foot striking when walking depending on the terrain. If going down a hill, fore foot. Flat ground, heel strike, but no over extension of the leg and i feel no pounding force going to my knees. You can heel strike while walking, yoy just cant walk like a bafoon and stomp your heel down.
The speed at which this guy talks give us a hint as to maybe why we heel strike when we walk - stressful modern living causes some of us to not only talk fast (even without caffeine or cocaine!) but possibly to overextend our stride when compared to the gait of our ancestors. So it may be that heel strike when walking is not natural and that forefoot strike is actually correct. With an extended gait, heel strike walking the body is not maintaining a balanced centre of gravity over the space between the feet. Spinal specialists suggest forefoot walking for people with lower back problems and I suggest that the same for plantar fasciitis issues will contribute to arresting that condition and that heel strike walking only contributes to the problem.
But should you avoid walking on hard artificial surfaces barefoot or in barefoot shoes? Is it safe?
It's safe. Been doing it for years. The change was significant.
Just try it out slowly and see how it feels
Maybe not barefoot because you will step on stuff, but barefoot shoes are fine
It took me a while but I got to a point where I could sprint full speed in my really thin barefoot shoes on concrete or asphalt with no issues. I actually preferred running on concrete with barefoot shoes as opposed to normal running shoes, sooo much easier on my knees and lower back.
Edit: good question
Running on hard surfaces with barefoot shoes is totally safe and actually a good teacher for good form. You're forced to optimize your landing phase on hard ground. Just stop when something hurts.
good info
We do heel strike when we run just not when we sprint. Please be more specific with your advice. Thank you
Dude, do some research before critisizing others. While it is true that many people heel strike when running - especially on long distances - it's not advisable to do so. If you meant to say "Some people heel strike when they run" then guess who should be more specific. Thank you.
So instead we should run on our toes or the balls of our feet?
The Difference Between Jogging & Running
ua-cam.com/users/shortsqUMWZnt3KeY?feature=share
When you sprint you want to land on your forefoot and rather don't let the heel touch the floor ("toe strike")
When you jog or run you land on your forefoot and immediately afterwards let the heel touch the ground ("forefoot strike")
- or you land on forefoot and heel simultaneously ("midfoot strike")
How do i fix drop toe
This is why you see cats sometimes do that "jog walk" thing. Imagine if you had to walk on your toes all day. Might as well go a little faster, because at this point you'd rather just waste less energy.
What about jogging. Many define jogging uses heel striking while running does not.
That’s what I say too. I made a reel about it.
I try to run without heelstriking but i can only touch the ground with my toes and not the heel, i don't know if that's what you're supposed to do.
When you run (not sprint) your heel lands immediately after the forefoot. Relax your calves then you'll get there.
Data does not prove that either forefoot or heel strike is superior in running.
You aren’t supposed to fall forward when you run your supposed to lead from your hips and control ur run!
What is this guys best 5km time
What about jogging or slow running ?
I have been having trouble jogging on my toes .
you dont run/jog on your toes but on your forefoot, which is the outer side of your feet below the pinky toes.
@GrownandHealthy Forefoot vs Heal strike walking pls response...
I have literally never been a heel strike walker. I don't know if it has to do with ADHD or something else, but heel strike walking makes me feel like I'm intentionally stomping around.
Same. It's always just felt better to walk on the pads of my feet. I'm a really tall, big guy and people are often startled by me because I walk so quietly.
When trying to keep a consistent speed/pace while at a high speed, I find myself heel striking , sort of like how I jog, but at sprinting speed. I only feel myself running on my forefoot when accelerating.
We're really badly designed
Bro walks like an NPC😅
Do people really not know this? As an 15 year old from Denmark, everyone i know knows this.
I live in the US, it’s much more common for people to NOT know this.
I’ve done this naturally but didn’t know it was “correct”. (I’m from Sweden).
It's a known fact by runners
You talk to fast can't understand many of your content, sorry just a feedback from someone has English his second language 😢
And all of that with only our feet, and some people think that came from a big explosion in the sky 😂
SO???
Hey you do you man, but forefoot striking in zero drop shoes got rid of knee discomfort and lower back pain I’ve had since middle school. It took less than half a year to fully transition and see all the benefits. My arches have never been healthier as well.