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Foot Strike During Running

As physios, we get a lot of patients who loves jogging and running (as well as marathoning) and many of them get runners injuries and pains. One of the best things about running and jogging is that it doesnt need much gear and costs: just

  • running gears such as shoes and light clothings
  • roads, treadmills or outdoor surfaces

Hey, you dont even need a team of runners to run too, you can literally go by yourself, come rain or shine. That’s why jogging and running is so popular.

But let’s talk about this: misinformed runners when it comes to running performance as well as running injuries. Yes, we’re very aware that professional and elite runners get injured…and everyone and anyone is at risk to get some form of running injury at some point of their running game.

It’s part of the game: to run, and run somemore, toeing the line and pushing our limits and then letting our running bodies heal.

We get it. It’s not only fun, but it’s a natural process of how our bodies get stronger and performance get better too. There is one very, very important thing to pay attention to, is that if there’s an injury or pain, to NOT let it worsen by going upwards and creating

This particular article will cover mainly on foot strike.

Foot Strike

It’s not that every single runner will only have ONE kind of foot strike throughout their entire run.

The reason for this is because a run is dynamic, not linear. There’s

  • weather
  • fatigue
  • speed
  • incline
  • footwear
  • etc

that can and will impact foot strikes.

Research is showing that rear foot strike is the most common form of foot strike in runners, and this says a lot. Runners shouldn’t try to switch to a front or middle foot strike when a rear one suits them. Research also shows that changing from rear foot strike to front/mid foot strike does not improve running performance, and neither does it reduce running-related injuries (2017).

This is likely because running isn’t just about foot strike, and neither is it about a single factor that can improve performance or prevent running injuries. Most of the factors take into consideration consistent

  • proper training
  • adequate rest
  • strengthening
  • efficient running mechanics and muscle factors
  • etc

Running physiotherapy

If you’re thinking of starting to jog regularly, it’d be helpful to visit your physiotherapist for assessment of your running patterns as well as running-specific strengthening (we call this prehab) which can help to prevent running injuries.

That being said, if you’re already a regular jogger or runner with a constant ache or pain

  • that appears each time you run
  • that is taking longer time to recover from a run

then you may need to visit a sports or running physiotherapist near you to get assessed and treated to prevent the injury from getting worse. Most of the time, these conditions can be treated fairly quickly.

Where To Next?

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