First, let me introduce myself. I’m 25 and I’
Nike Air Max 270 Hombre ve been running ultramarathons for 9 years. I’ve raced 12 mountain 100 milers, won a couple of them, and run a 2:39 marathon. I usually run around 90 miles per week. I’m currently in podiatric medical school seeking my doctorate in podiatric medicine (DPM). I’ve been running exclusively
www.domoreso.frin minimalist shoes (Brooks Mach 11 mostly) since Summer 2010, and generally I’ve benefitted from the change. Obviously, there is some personal motivation in my interest in running biomechanics.One of the most frequent claims of barefoot and minimalist running advocates is that a forefoot strike reduces impact forces. I’d like to examine how those impact forces are attenuated in a forefoot vs. heel strike, and what it might mean for overuse injuries. Instead of focusing on impact force magnitude, which may or may not be implicated in overuse injuries,
Nike Air Max 2017 Mujer let’s look instead at pronation. Excessive pronation is associated with multiple overuse injuries including those awful nemeses plantar fasciitis, medial tibial stress syndrome (aka shin splints) and patellofemoral syndrome (aka runner’s knee). From our review of barefoot running,
Nike Air Max 95 Hombre> we found a pattern suggesting that a forefoot strike may reduce pronation compared to a heelstrike.Six studies explicitly compared rearfoot motion in subjects running barefoot and shod. Of those six studies, three found a significant reduction in rearfoot pronation in barefoot runners,1,8,11 two studies found no difference between the conditions,4,12, and only one study found greater pronation when subjects ran barefoot.9 This is hardly an strong trend, but when we looked more closely, we found that all but two of the studies required participants
Nike Air Max 1 Hombre to be heel-strikers (Runblogger’s note – unfortunately, this requirement is quite common in the scientific literature on running mechanics). Of those two studies that allowed forefoot striking, both found a significant reduction in rearfoot pronation when barefoot.1,11 Additionally, Morley
Nike Air Max 90 Femme Rose et al. 2010 found a reduction in pronation when heel-strikers ran barefoot. Interestingly, individuals with the greatest pronation saw the most reduction in rearfoot eversion. Of the two studies that found no difference between conditions and the single study finding more rearfoot eversion in barefoot runners, all required participants to heel strike. Additionally, all studies agreed that rearfoot eversion velocity was slower in barefoot runners, suggesting that the pronatory motion is more controlled when barefoot.What do these results imply?
Nike Air Max 90 Femme Not much, until we look at one more finding. Of seven studies that investigated sagittal plane motion at the ankle (I.e. dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, or pointing the front of the foot up and down in side view), all agreed that barefoot runners strike the ground with a significantly more
Nike Air Max 270 Femmeplantarflexed foot (front of foot angled more downward).1-3,5-7,10 Even in studies that required subjects to be heel strikers, subjects struck the ground significantly more plantarflexed. Furthermore, the longer the accommodation period to barefoot running, the more
Nike Air Max 270 Mujer the runners plantarflexed at contact. In other words, with more time running barefoot, runners are more likely to land with a midfoot or forefoot strike. This is most evident when subjects are “habitually barefoot runners,” meaning they’ve run barefoot or in minimal shoes for at least
Nike Air Max 90 Hombre six months, but the trend is evident after just 4 minutes on a treadmill in runners who never train barefoot. Avoiding a heel strike is clearly an adaptation mechanism when the foot has minimal cushioning available.We know that barefoot/minimal running is associated with a significantly more plantarflexed foot at contact. We also see data suggesting reduced pronation when runners shift toward a forefoot strike. We concluded that a forefoot strike may therefore reduce rearfoot pronation. Why might this be?
