If you're a runner, chances are good that you're concerned with your form. Whether you're a sprinter, a marathoner or an athlete with a focus somewhere in between, you may be convinced that tweaking your technique can yield that extra edge that will carry you to the finish line that much faster. The part of the foot that hits the ground first is a very common concern among runners, and the exact location depends on both your speed and your natural running form.
Mechanics of the Stride Cycle
As described on Ultrarunning Online, the running stride cycle consists of two phases. The support phase is the part of the cycle in which one foot is planted on the ground and the recovery phase is the part in which both feet are off the ground and the trail leg is moving forward in anticipation of the next footstrike. The foot is in contact with the ground for about a quarter of a second and the total time between one footstrike and the next is about 0.7 seconds at a stride rate of 180 per second.
Forefoot Strike
Distance runners are frequently told that landing on the ball of the foot is the best way to run. But as exercise physiologist Ross Tucker points out on his website Sports Science, "best" is a subjective term and there is no scientific evidence to suggest that landing in this manner is in any way preferable for distance runners. In fact, Tucker cites a study of elite Japanese half-marathoners in which 75 percent were found to land on their heels, 24 percent on the midfoot and only 1 percent on the forefoot. Therefore, at least among world-class runners, the forefoot-is-better idea is demonstrably mythical.
Heel Strike
Writing for the Running Planet website, running coach and author Rick Morris echoes a common refrain when he states that heel-striking is tantamount to braking the body and is indicative of overstriding. Morris says the ideal foot plant occurs on the midfoot and when the landing leg is directly under the runner's center of mass. While this may be true in extreme cases of willful overstriding, the data on Sports Science, which demonstrate that three-fourths of elite runners are heel strikers, contradict this theory.
The Big Picture
Determining where on your feet you supposedly should land is probably less important than simply training hard, adhering to your natural form, and, if you desire, having a video gait analysis to determine where your foot lands under such conditions. Dr. Tucker states that the modest fraction of elite runners who are midfoot rather than heel strikers may be a basic function of their running speed. That is, they don't run fast because they land farther forward; they land farther forward because they run fast. As a result, conscious tinkering with this aspect of your stride is probably ill-advised, and may even lead to sore or injured calf muscles.
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