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More efficient running style

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Hills of Death (HOD) Jun 2016 6:47pm, 12 Jun 2016 32,305 posts	Quote Pin Hills of Death (HOD) What was he doing
FenlandRunner Jun 2016 7:58pm, 12 Jun 2016 9,018 posts	Quote Pin FenlandRunner MJB had several athletes competing, one may have been his daughter competing in the high jump.
SPR Jun 2016 8:08pm, 12 Jun 2016 21,827 posts	Quote Pin SPR Nice!
FenlandRunner Jul 2016 12:53pm, 19 Jul 2016 9,482 posts	Quote Pin FenlandRunner From the Guardian today: "First, sometimes they do heel strike and, second, when they don’t, it’s largely a result of the simple mechanics of running that fast. Try sprinting and heel striking at the same time: it just isn’t physically possible. However, if you run at a less godlike pace – as 99.9% of us do – it may actually be more efficient to heel strike: researchers at the University of Massachusetts demonstrated in a computer-simulated study that at a 7:36-minute-a-mile pace, heel striking was approximately 6% more efficient than mid or forefoot striking. Other research suggests that the “threshold” where the economy levels out between mid and heel strikers is 6:25 mile pace."
Hills of Death (HOD) Jul 2016 11:44am, 20 Jul 2016 32,423 posts	Quote Pin Hills of Death (HOD) Do you believe them ?
GlennR Jul 2016 11:51am, 20 Jul 2016 20,639 posts	Quote Pin GlennR It seems to miss the point that footstrike is an output of the process rather than an input.
tipsku Jul 2016 12:39am, 21 Jul 2016 512 posts	Quote Pin tipsku I have a higher heat rate when I'm running with a forefoot strike than heel strike for the same pace so it seems to be less efficient to try and run with forefoot strike at all cost. Only on the track when I'm going sub 6:40 I actually feel comfortable with forefoot striking. I guess I wouldn't be able to heel strike at that pace. So in short the guardian article makes sense to me.
tipsku Jul 2016 12:39am, 21 Jul 2016 513 posts	Quote Pin tipsku I have a higher heat rate when I'm running with a forefoot strike than heel strike for the same pace so it seems to be less efficient to try and run with forefoot strike at all cost. Only on the track when I'm going sub 6:40 I actually feel comfortable with forefoot striking. I guess I wouldn't be able to heel strike at that pace. So in short the guardian article makes sense to me.
tipsku Jul 2016 12:41am, 21 Jul 2016 514 posts	Quote Pin tipsku Sorry for the double post. My phone can be funny sometimes. 😇
Canute Jul 2016 5:38pm, 21 Jul 2016 1,750 posts	Quote Pin Canute The majority of studies of efficiency at sub-maximal speeds report either that heel-strike is more efficient than mid/forefoot strike, or that there is no significant difference between the two. A methodologically sound study by Algueta-Alday and colleagues ( ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ) compared a group of experienced habitual heel-strikers with a well matched group of experienced habitual mid/forefoot strikers and found that the heel-strikers were more efficient. As in virtually all other studies, Algueta-Aldhay found heel strikers spend a greater proportion of the gait cycle on stance at a given speed. This is consistent with the expectation of less tension in the calf muscles in heel strikers. Although greater tension in the calf muscles might promote good capture of impact energy as elastic energy, it requires greater energy expenditure prior to impact to produce the prior tensioning of the calf muscles, and this might account for the lower efficiency. The greater tensioning of calf muscles accounts for the greater risk of calf muscle injury in forefoot strikers. In contrast, in heel strikers, the more of the impact energy is likely to be absorbed around the knee. As I see it, a large amount of evidence indicates that for long distance runners, heel striking is a little mote efficient, but it is probably only worth considering a change if you suffer repeated injuries. If you are forefoot striker and suffer calf or ankle injures, it is worth considering change to heel-strike. If you are a heel striker and suffer repeated knee injuries, it is worth considering change to mid-foot or forefoot.