Comments on: Slow Motion Video: Barefoot and Shod Running Form from the NYC Barefoot Run

By: nextgenlibrarian

nextgenlibrarian — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Question I had this morning upon emerging from the shower: does shoe/foot size have any impact on prevalence of forefoot/midfoot/heel strike? Do you have any data showing a correlation? In other words, does the size of the lever (the length between the forefoot to the heel) play a factor in whether a person is inclined to strike differently while running? Extended further, does length of tibia and length of femur have anything to do with foot strike preference? Or, perhaps its a ratio thing: femur length:torso length (comparing running biomechanics of someone with short legs & long torso vs. long legs & short torso, etc.)?

By: Ivan olarte

Ivan olarte — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hey thanks, I'm one of the last ones in the 2nd video, and happy to say not a heel striker!

By: Ivan Olarte

Ivan Olarte — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Pete Larson.

Hey Pete to answer your question, it's been About 18 months. In fact I did a marathon on my own today around New England Country roads. hills and all. it was slow going 4:14 but it was great. My feet are no more tender than a long run, and I have NOT aches or pains anywhere.

When I ran with running shows I would be sore after 4 miles.

I would love to get the higher quality copy of the bottom video, any chance you can put it on dropbox for me to pickup?

By: Ryan Chapman

Ryan Chapman — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pete: Thanks for posting video. I was hoping you would after I saw the pictures from the last post. The thing you can't tell from the pictures is when they are "loading" after impact. In the videos, what I see is that not a single person (unless I missed one) is loading while only their heel is in contact. I believe this is what can be called a "proprioceptive heel strike"...not sure if that is a technical term. Basically, the foot finds the ground lightly with the heel but doesn't load until the foot is under the center of gravity. Others find the ground with the forefoot and still don't load until the foot is under the center of gravity. Neither one of these should be detrimental as far as injuries go...both should be just fine. The problem is when you load on heel contact like heavy heel strikers do. I still believe this is only possible in shoes with large cushioned heels that keep the body from sensing the impact force on the heel. When barefoot, the body simply will not let you load on your heel on a consistent basis...at least I have never seen it in a video or picture.

I do, however, have a suspicion that, while proprioceptive heel striking may not cause any injuries or problems, performance may be increased by getting rid of the proprioceptive heel strike and moving to a mid/forefoot strike.

JFrio: I think this is what you are doing in your video....a "proprioceptive heel strike".

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Alex Beecher.

I totally agree. Obsession about foot strike can be counterproductive, and it seems clear that lots of people have a mild heel strike in minimal shoes and do just fine. Other factors are probably more important.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Ryan Chapman.

Yes, I would agree. But would still love to see ground reaction force profiles for those heel strikes!

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I tend to think there are 3 main factors involved in efficiency of stride: foot strike, up and down motion and stride length. A hard heel landing is clearly inefficient since it alters a smooth forward motion. Bouncing up and down is wastes energy that could be directed toward moving forward. Stride length seems to be a function of the first two. Shorter striders tend to be mid or fore-foot strikers with very little up and down motion. Longer striders tend to be heel strikers with pronounced up and down motion. Somewhere in the middle I suspect is the most efficient running form.

I have a mid-foot strike and very little up and down motion. But I have a very short stride, so I'm taking far more steps than another runner in order to cross the same distance in the same amount of time. On the other hand, being 55 years old, and having only started running about 2 years ago, I'm concerned about my knees and ankles. I notice many runners with longer strides have very high up and down motion and also tend to hit the ground harder. I hit the ground very lightly making almost no noise which I'm convinced is going to keep me running pain-free for a good long time.

By: jfrio

jfrio — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Your post resonates strongly with my recent experience… I’ve been running barefoot and in V5Fs for the last year and a half or so. I have some lower back problems from an almost herniated disk, so I haven’t logged as many miles as I wish I had. But there’s close to 1000 Km in my log, probably 70% barefoot, the rest in V5Fs. So I was convinced that I had well established mechanics… until last week I took my high speed camera and filmed myself. And I happen to be one of those barefoot heel strikers. Not by much, I’m kind of close to midfoot, but there really is no discussion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

By: Marcus Forman

Marcus Forman — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I've noticed some crazy foot strikes amongst the runners here in Monterey. Specifically the military officers I work with. Many of them have gone to VFFs and other minimal footwear, but think I'm nuts for occasionally running barefoot. Long story short, their form is just awful and they continually bang their heels into the ground. My question is "How long can one do this?" It looks absolutely horrible, painful and damaging. Sort of curious how long that could possibly last.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Ivan olarte.

no problem! Curious, how long have you been running minimalist/barefoot?
Sent from my iPad

By: Daniel Treto

Daniel Treto — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Aaron.

not necessarily, I ran barefoot a couple of times and loved it but didn’t want to hurt my feet so I invested in some Merrell Trail Gloves…I had a hard time transitioning because I expected it to be very similar and it wasn’t…it also takes time to transition into ‘ultra-minimalistic’ shoes (I can’t call them barefoot because even though it’s very similar, it’s still not barefoot)…I went from Nike Free’s to the Merrell’s and had to do it slowly…actually, I can run barefoot whenever I want without a problem…but I can only do it on certain paths at the moment and I don’t really think I am going to go full barefoot ever, but you never know…

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Brad.

When it comes down to a tradeoff between performance and injury risk, I'll opt to minimize injury risk every time - except maybe on race day. For those of us who aren't making money off the sport and simply want to run for health and relaxation, this seems like a no brainer. I think shorter stride (to an extent), lower vertical oscillation are probably both very good things when it comes to minimizing injury risk.