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More efficient running style

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Canute Aug 2015 7:30pm, 8 Aug 2015 1,650 posts	Quote Pin Canute 100forRNIB Current thinking is that ITB problems are mainly due to the femur rotating outwards on the head of the tibia, compressing the lateral fat pad adjacent to the ITB. If your left leg is longer you might tend to pronate a bit more on the left so that the inwards roll of pronation effectively shortens your leg. Pronation will cause the tibia to rotate inward, so that in effect the femur is rotating externally on the tibia. Running with a higher knee action sometimes helps, but if it only happens very long runs, I would not be inclined to worry about it
100forRNIB Aug 2015 7:36pm, 8 Aug 2015 6,242 posts	Quote Pin 100forRNIB A personal observation, that may be complete rubbish, is that my left foot feels to take weight flat, but even for a heel striker, the right foot feels as though the weight is taken more forward??
Canute Aug 2015 7:59pm, 8 Aug 2015 1,651 posts	Quote Pin Canute 100forRNIB, I wonder whether you left foot is flatter in the latter part of stance. Normally a heel-striker lands on the outer side of the foot, pronates towards the inner side and then supinates in late stance, thereby cancelling the pronation and taking off from the outer side. If you are pronating a little more on the left that right, your left foot is likely to be flatter in late stance unless you produce a larger amount of supination prior to lift-off. SPR, I agree that there is every reason not to over-stride. I think that over-striding is one fault that is usually worth correcting. But defining what it is a bit difficult. In principle it is attempting to increase stride by reaching forward with the swinging leg. In fact this results in greater braking and a tendency for decreased cadence. In practice, probably the best way to identify it is from a forward and downward inclination of the lower leg at foot-strike. This is sometime associated with heel striking. But heel-striking can occur without over-striding; it merely requires slight dorsiflexion of the foot at impact. Many coaches regard dorsiflexion at foot strike is beneficial. Dorsiflexion during the first part of stance encourage a strong plantar flexion at lift-off.
SPR Aug 2015 8:12pm, 8 Aug 2015 20,689 posts	Quote Pin SPR Canute - I agree, that heel striking can occur without overstriding. Foot in front of knee at foot strike (I believe that's what you're describing?) is a good way of deciding whether it is due to over striding. I agree people got caught up in the symptom, but it there was usually talk of overstriding as well. Also it is undrstandable that people got caught up in heel striking vs forefoot, given conventional technical advice for the casual runner was a heel strike in front of body. Like: aaronswansonpt.com
100forRNIB Aug 2015 8:16pm, 8 Aug 2015 6,243 posts	Quote Pin 100forRNIB Canute, it makes perfect sense to me what you're saying, if I took a photo of say, DannyDreyer, and superimposed a foot with dorsiflexion, the foot is in EXACTLY the same place under the body!
SPR Aug 2015 8:33pm, 8 Aug 2015 20,690 posts	Quote Pin SPR The other thing that cause a heel strike without an overstride is the drop of your shoe. You heel will be closer to the ground than your forefoot when your ankle is neutral the more drop you have. Lieberman showed this in some of his research. It makes sense as an increased heel drop increases plantar flexion when your foot is flat on the ground and your shin is vertical.
Canute Aug 2015 10:44pm, 8 Aug 2015 1,652 posts	Quote Pin Canute SPR, As you say a large drop will tend to produce plantar flexion in mid-stance , but am not sure whether you a implying that is helpful or not. As I see it, it is desirable to have dorsiflexion at mid-stance to generate elastic recoil that promotes a stronger plantar flexion at toe off. So in the whole I think the move towards low or even zero drop has been beneficial. In summary, what I think has emerged from the debate and also the scientific evidence regarding foot-strike and shoes in the past few years is: 1) There is no systematic difference in efficiency between heel-strike and forefoot-strike, though heel-strike with over-striding is definitely inefficient because of increased braking. 2) Heel strike generates greater stress around the knee while forefoot strike generates greater stress around the ankle. 3) A moderate amount of padding increases efficiency, typically by around 2%) but the weight of the shoe decreases efficiency (1% per 100gm on each foot) 4) A large heel drop obstructs a potential beneficial dorsiflexion of the foot in mid-strike, thereby reducing the elastic recoil of the calf muscle at lift-off. 5) Microscopic trauma to leg muscles plays a significant role in fatigue during long races. Therefore, padding is desirable despite the energy cost of the weight of the padding. The practical conclusion is that for shorter distance races (typically up to HM) light weight shoes with little heel-to-toe drop are generally best. For long distance races (typically beyond HM) it depends on how well you have adapted your legs to the rigours of distance running. If not well adapted, it is probably best to use a more heavily padded shoe, though it is nonetheless best to avoid a large drop.
SPR Aug 2015 10:57pm, 8 Aug 2015 20,691 posts	Quote Pin SPR Canute - I wasn't saying it was beneficial, just that same foot position that would lead to a forefoot/midfoot landing in a flat shoe, could lead to a heel strike a shoe with a heel drop.
Rosehip Aug 2015 10:59pm, 8 Aug 2015 5,369 posts	Quote Pin Rosehip slight tangent to current topic, but does anyone know how accurate the tomtom stride counter is? it must be based on arm movement as there is not foot/shoe pod thingy, but when my watch uploads to the tomtom website I get a strides per minute figure. They always seem a little high -up to 199. wondering if, even with my short legs and shuffle, that's likely?
SPR Aug 2015 11:51pm, 8 Aug 2015 20,692 posts	Quote Pin SPR RH - No idea about the tomtom. Canute - Whether dorsiflexion on landing is beneficial is arguable, but I can't see how it would be beneficial with a heel strike as you'd lose the dorsiflexion on landing as the forefoot touches down as this video shows. https://youtu.be/SPP7jFiTocQ Dorsiflexion on landing is certainly something that is talked about by some sprint coaches, but they land on forefoot. I haven't done much reading sprints recently, but from my reading in the past, opinions of sprint coaches differed on this, and it isn't universally advised.