Forums >General Running>Heel Striking Leads to Injury?
Dave
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/why-runners-get-injured/?src=me&ref=general
I ran a mile and I liked it, liked it, liked it. dgb2n@yahoo.com
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2012 Jan 3.
Foot Strike and Injury Rates in Endurance Runners: a retrospective study.
Daoud AI, Geissler GJ, Wang F, Saretsky J, Daoud YA, Lieberman DE.
PURPOSE
This retrospective study tests if runners who habitually forefoot strike have different rates of injury than runners who habitually rearfoot strike.
METHODS:
We measured the strike characteristics of middle and long distance runners from a collegiate cross country team and quantified their history of injury, including the incidence and rate of specific injuries, the severity of each injury, and the rate of mild, moderate and severe injuries per mile run.
RESULTS:
Of the 52 runners studied, 36 (59%) primarily used a rearfoot strike and 16 (31%) primarily used a forefoot strike. Approximately 74% of runners experienced a moderate or severe injury each year, but those who habitually rearfoot strike had approximately twice the rate of repetitive stress injuries than individuals who habitually forefoot strike. Traumatic injury rates were not significantly different between the two groups. A generalized linear model showed that strike type, sex, race distance, and average miles per week each correlate significantly (p<0.01) with repetitive injury rates.
CONCLUSIONS:
Competitive cross country runners on a college team incur high injury rates, but runners who habitually rearfoot strike have significantly higher rates of repetitive stress injury than those who mostly forefoot strike. This study does not test the causal bases for this general difference. One hypothesis, which requires further research, is that the absence of a marked impact peak in the ground reaction force during a forefoot strike compared to a rearfoot strike may contribute to lower rates of injuries in habitual forefoot strikers.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
Why is it sideways?
Biomimeticist
Heel strike doesn't cause any injuries. Your heel hitting concrete does.
Heel strike is our optimum running form. However that requires a soft surface for the heel to integrate with properly. Concrete and other hard surfaces have destroyed that natural relationship
The ability to run with minimal impact on hard surfaces with heel strike is a skill to learn, yet few want to.
Experts said the world is flat
Experts said that man would never fly
Experts said we'd never go to the moon
Name me one of those "experts"...
History never remembers the name of experts; just the innovators who had the guts to challenge and prove the "experts" wrong
Looks like he will land on the forefoot. Great form!
I think that ostrich is going to wallop him first, and the first thing to hit the ground won't be his foot.
I think Dave was referring to the ostrich. They guys form is horrible. That's why he can't outrun the bird. Darwin was right.
"He conquers who endures" - Persius "Every workout should have a purpose. Every purpose should link back to achieving a training objective." - Spaniel
http://ncstake.blogspot.com/
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2012 Jan 3. Foot Strike and Injury Rates in Endurance Runners: a retrospective study. Daoud AI, Geissler GJ, Wang F, Saretsky J, Daoud YA, Lieberman DE. PURPOSE This retrospective study tests if runners who habitually forefoot strike have different rates of injury than runners who habitually rearfoot strike.
Lieberman's studies are sponsered by Vibram:http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/barefoot/"..., while Lieberman’s research is sponsored by Vibram."
That's the joke of Leiberman.... He created the studies to fit his pathetic running skills. If early humans had truly learned to run his way, you and I wouldn't be here....
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22092253
I'd respect Liverman more if he put his force plates at the end of a race in Africa, rather than 20 ft in front of the runner allowing them to sprint...
The question is not whether any person, in the abstract, should "footstrike." The question is whether a particular runner should. I say runners should run comfortably and let the feet fall where they may.
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
I've been complimented by many on my perfect running form as they blow by me. Nice people who have nothing else to say and could not bring themselves to say "you are doing great". The tragedy is the alleged perfect form has not helped me get any faster.
I fully agree with you.
to refine your statement, that if you're running with optimum efficiency, that your proper landing mechanics will fall (no pun intended) into place naturally.
For sprinting or acceleration, its running on your toes, not your forefoot.
For optimum economy, that a heel strike will be the natural landing process, if the surface is soft. To land with optimum economy on concrete, requires learning how to place your heel on the ground.
"Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain."
Jack Kerouac
Its biology; a mid or forefoot landing requires the calf muscle to be integrated into landing mechanics. Then it has to fire to slow heel impact.
Then after firing twice and fatigued, the calves have to fire to push off.
In contrast, a heel strike landing requires no calf muscle integration in the landing mechanics, and only fires once in push off.
Let me see six calf muscle firings per step or two firings per step, that's not a statistic, that's a fact....