Running on heels or toes

If we have received professional sports training, we will know that there are some special ways to reduce the burden on the body or bones when running, walking or competing. For example, race walking. So, in daily life, should we land on our heels or toes when running? In fact, generally speaking, our exercise volume is not very large, so it doesn’t matter which part touches the ground first.

Benefits of landing on the forefoot:

Protective effect on the knee

① Landing on the forefoot means that the foot tendons and Achilles tendon participate in the cushioning process, which cannot be provided by heel landing.

②At the same time, landing on the forefoot can also prevent the impact force from being directly transferred to the knee when the heel lands.

The reason why forefoot landing is not popular

In fact, many running coaches will emphasize the running posture of landing on the forefoot, but many times we are unable to do it. There is a crucial reason why it is not popularized!

The need for speed

Secondly, landing on the tiptoes will form a structure similar to the recurved foot of birds, which is very conducive to the preservation of speed energy. (But this has a prerequisite, that is, you must have a certain step length and speed each time you take a step to ensure that your landing point is behind the vertical projection of your center of gravity.)

Of course, faster speeds and bigger strides are definitely not suitable for beginners. That means shorter, harder-to-manage runs, with a greater chance of injury. In addition, because of the small ground contact area, forefoot running has higher requirements on terrain, which is difficult for ordinary people to achieve in daily exercise.

in conclusion

Therefore, if you are a beginner, the traditional heel running method is still very practical as long as you protect yourself.