Well goodness me, isn't it way way easier? For me, at least.. maybe that's where I've been going wrong all this time! On the treadmill just now, I found it much easier to bounce along on toes rather than heel first. My tendons probably wouldn't take much of it on the road tho, but I reckon with a bit of training it'll come good.

http://www.posetech.com/

michael johnson did well at it

Yeah – I'm gonna give this a go as I have foot problems which are mostly heel-related and running has always been out for me. It'd be nice to hear how you get on over the next few weeks/months.

Seen lots more tendon problems / plantar fasciitis in forefoot striker runners. HTH :wink:.

I'd hardly call myself a runner.. I'm talking 20 mins a week.. but I'd like to enjoy it more than the shambling mess I was previously doing. I seem to have strong calves from biking since they didn't ache at all (which is what some folk reported online when trying it) but I only gave it 10 mins in case I pulled something. My forefeet felt quite squashed too so I guess those muscles have some conditioning to do 🙂

These have been a revelation to me!

Fingers crossed, these will turn up at work later this week 🙂

Funny looking pair of gloves 😉

Thing is, I just bought some new shoes because they felt lovely and smooth as I smashed my heel into the tarmac.. not all that much padding under the toe tho.. maybe I need more new shoes 🙂

i have been threatning to buy some 5 fingers for months now… found some in Santa Cruz after searching all across San Francisco for them not finding them. Then i went and got my bank balance wrong and thought i had less money than i actually had so decided to leave them… doh.

Maybe get some soon…

When I was at Uni (1997) my mates lecturer was advocating that type of running then. I tried it and my calves ached like nothing before. I never tried it again, although I'm sure they're probably right.

Ron Hill spent alot of time runnin barefoot until he cut his foot on a piece of glass. Last photo I saw of him he was wearing regular running shoes

For me its:

…building up to going barefoot in the spring tho.

What's with all the self help crap?

Just get out and try it 🙂

For a moment I thought it was written by Danny Dyer 🙂

Very recent study found heel strike running to be much more efficient

what a load of rubbish, just stick your Hi Tech Silver Shadow on an go running you girls.

I find I can run on my toes uphill but I can't see how not to heel strike when running downhill…

run up the hill and go down on the escalator then?

i am/was a keen runner until sesamoiditis forced me to stop, anything more than a 5 minute jog left me in agony for days.

in the last few weeks i've been running pain free by relegating my expensive running shoes to diy duty and instead running on my toes wearing these:

they're very simple, i simply can't run in them with a heel strike, it IS hard work on my calves, but i've got no pain and can run again.

old school is best eh?

(yes, i've tried my new school shoes again; same painfull result)

I am seriously bemused by this trend. My boss is always banging on about forefoot strike and how hard it is, he got himself some of them monkey shoes^^. I think that if I was running 30-40 miles a week landing on my heels then I would have broken legs so it must be natural to try and avoid hitting the ground with your heel. Anyway, I'd not given it much thought till now.

I am seriously bemused by this trend.

Not really a trend. If anything running with a heel strike is a trend that has emerged over the last couple of decades.

Avoids the unnecessary impact on your joints, eliminates the braking effect caused by having the foot land in front of you, builds stronger feet, and is anatomically "correct". Why people run any differently I don't know…

watch you don't get a calf muscle (Soleus) strain like moi.

By toes do you mean forefoot?

It is most natural to do this as oppose to heel striking. The latter is a marketing gimmick. Many studies have shown that forefoot striking allows the natural shock absorbancy of the legs and back to counteract the force of hitting the ground.

Got some new Newtons coming in the post today, Warranty replacement and they were nearly a year old! Been running forefoot for 2 years now and it certainly feels better. When i force a heel strike now it feels so wrong.
However i havnt run for 2 weeks from shin pain! I am putting this down to upping speed and miles to soon aiming for a marathon pb. Either way i wont be returning to a heel strike ever again.

eliminates the braking effect caused by having the foot land in front of you

Yes! This is what I noticed.. Along with having to somehow roll my hips and body to bring my legs through.. there's a mirror in front of the treadmill, and my torso stays much more static and front on. In fact, I look like a sprinter.

This may have something to do with the fact that I am a natural sprinter anyway…

….and here are the bods from Harvard talking about:

Watched my missus get her gait tested the other day for new running shoes, guy doing it was pointing out the reasons we don't run on our toes as I was having this discussion with him after the last thread on the matter a few weeks ago. He seemed pretty convincing. That said, when just bouncing about up and down the beach I tend to run on the front of my foot, but long distance that's just too painful and tiring. The mechanics of your foot just dont seem to work front-first at a running pace. Jogging and toddling along maybe, but when running the extension of your leg just doesnt allow the toe area to come down first.

i don't know, i can run a 40min 10k on my toes…

(sounds like the dude at the running shoe shop is trying to sell you some expensive running shoes)

I think running on the toes is a misnomer. It is recommend that you should be landing on your forefoot/midfoot as opposed to the heel. The reason being the foot is designed that when it lands on the midfoot the arch collapses and gives you the shock absorption you need, when you land on the heel the knee is being used as the shock absorber. Something it ws never designed to do, and can only really do due to the design of running trainers.

Watch the video i linked to above for someone far more intelligent than me explaining it 😉

At the end of the day its whatever works for you i guess. I was running 40 miles+ a week with 30 mile runs every now and again just by going out and running. Got injured and as a result am having to learn to run more efficiently. If you can run fine as you are then keep doing it.

. The mechanics of your foot just dont seem to work front-first at a running pace

Try telling that to Zola Budd or Abebe Bikila 🙂

(sounds like the dude at the running shoe shop is trying to sell you some expensive running shoes)

Quite the contrary actually, he suggested the shoes she was in were fine and even tested her on 3 other brands to make sure they didn't adversely affect the way her foot hit the ground/rolled etc. He was employed by one major company launchnig new shoes, but was remarkably brand-unloyal considering. He obviously had more technical knowledge about the brand he was launching, but almost bent over backwards to help check the other brands out and even go down the price range.

But yes, it's interesting to see that many of the olympic teams use the pose technique which isnt really toe running but certainly is more that way.

run on the front of my foot, but long distance that's just too painful and tiring. The mechanics of your foot just dont seem to work front-first at a running pace. Jogging and toddling along maybe, but when running the extension of your leg just doesnt allow the toe area to come down first.

Pretty much rubbish I think.
Try running fast. What part of your foot hits the ground? It is always your forefoot, not your heel unless you are braking or descending a hill. When running at speed your torso leans forward meaning your weight and hips do so as well.
Of course running at speed over long distances is tiring but that is a function of distance over speed and not by the part of the body hitting the ground.
If the same distance/speed could be achieved by heel striking then he may have a point. What I suspect he is saying however is running fast is hard work so slow down and run on your heels. What he should be saying is running is hard work and you need to train the relevant muscles over a period of time to achieve this.
He is still selling traditional running shoes, the brand is immaterial.

Tell me which part of the great mans foot will hit the ground first?

coffeeking, I would add that most if not all sprinters run on their toes to your shop mans argument.
The main point to forefoot running is avoiding the long leg extension to gain speed and working at a shorter higher cadence. I suppose it like spinning the cranks of a bike rather than mashing a high gear.
I aint an expert on the matter though its just ime.

And in case you think its only specific to shorter distance runners, Ovett above in a 1500m.

Here is Haille winning a marathon. I suspect the heels of his shoes look brand new even after running 2:04!

but when running the extension of your leg just doesnt allow the toe area to come down first.

That's kind of the point I think. With heel running my foot was further out in front which meant that I was experiencing some braking as my foot hit the floor. Using my toes or flat foot I was forced to strike the ground closer to my body, which may have been the main reason I found it better.

I think the opposite of CK – that heel striking would work for slow gentle jogging, and toes for faster running. After all, in the 100m your heel probably never touches the floor. IIRC spikes for sprinters don't have spikes on the heel 🙂

Keva – Member

watch you don't get a calf muscle (Soleus) strain like moi.

+1. Had to re-learn to heel strike first. Or just give up running as it makes me zzzzzzzz…

IIRC spikes for sprinters don't have spikes on the heel

IIRC only high jumpers have spikes in the heel area, all running spikes regardless of distance only have spikes on the forefoot.

I dunno, I was just going off what he said and my own experience…

Try running fast. What part of your foot hits the ground?

Accelerating – my balls of my feet, I lean forward and push backward (i.e. 100 and first 1/2 of 200m). But longer distance and constant speed I can't lean forward as much (obviously or I'd fall over) which means my body straightens up closer to vertical and my foot land heel first and in front of me. When I slow right down I can land forefoot first but it feels very un-natural to move that to higher speeds (even fast jogging), it feels forced and painful.

With regards to spikes, that's just to ensure power deliver on the push-off, which has little to do with how you land.

I think we all underestimate the remarkable thing we have, called a body…with dem bones connected to dem muscles with dem tendons and dem ligaments and the likes. It even tends to adapt to whatever style you have. Just get out there and do it.

That said, I'm sorely tempted by the five finger things. They're a pricey experiment though…

That said, I'm sorely tempted by the five finger things. They're a pricey experiment though…

Ain't they just? Think i will just wait till its warmer and i am in a field where i am sure there will be no dog eggs or glass and go barefoot.

In the mean time using these for all my running: