When I was a kid a ran alot. But I haven’t done it in years. Last year I started running on a treadmill and noticed I didn’t seem to be doing it right. After 6 months I never got much above 2 miles, and I couldn’t run very far at all off of the treadmill. After 6 months I stopped.
I just restarted; I tend to want to run such that my heels hit the treadmill first; then I roll on to the balls of my feet and toes. Is that the correct way to do it? I seem to remember running more on the balls of my feet and toes when I was a kid. I tried it and seemed to work well; but my ankles and muscles around them are sore…as if I haven’t used them in a while (duh!). I also found it hard to support my weight on the balls of my feet while I was running; again probably due to un-used muscles.
Dammit where was I. Oh yeah; How am I supposed to run…on the balls of my feet springing forward, or hitting the ground with my heels first then rolling onto my toes?
I hate getting old.
Im not a doctor or exercise expert but when I run outdoors I tend to do so on the forward part of the foot rarely touching the ground with my heel. However on the treadmill I hit the heel first and then roll to the front. I think its more a matter of the reason for running, speed your going and method your using than a single proper way. Hopefully an expert can join in and give us an answer to proper form.
When jogging, I think your heel should strike first.
When sprinting, up on the balls of your feet.
Your shoe has more shock-absorption in the heel. Your heel, is sort of a natural shock absorber, and dang. . .ain’t it just natural?
Your heel is the bottom of the line through your leg. Think amount the amount of muscles involved in standing with your weight on your heels versus standing on the balls of your feet. When sprinting, you want the extra elastic force from those muscles, but jogging should be more efficient.
Google-image “marathon” or “jogging” and look at people’s form. Some will land on ball of foot, but I really think that proper technique is to hit heel first and then roll. Look at the tall thin guy in this picture, and even the squatter fellow. They’re just about to land, and it’s heel first.
Different shoes are made differently depending on how you run. Your best bet is to get a nice pair of “all around” running shoes, and run outside until you feel like those shoes are worn out. Then take the worn out pair to a dedicated running store, show them to the guy who works there, and take his advice on a pair to buy.
Sometimes you do need to alter the way you run, but you also need the proper shoe to accommodate your running style.
Shoes will make a huge difference in your comfort and, therefore, your distance when running. And don’t use a treadmill… it does bad things to your outside running. Stick to the outdoors!
First, justification for my subjective whatnot: I’ve been running competitively to various degrees since middle school and am currently in my late 20s. I’m currently running 15-20 miles weekly. That said, “running style” is super-subjective and ultimately you have to decide what works for you personally.
I took a year or so off post-college and had to get back into it. Like you, I found I had somewhat “forgotten” how to run. Mostly I think it was a case of various supporting muscle groups atrophying enough to make the act of running seem less-than-natural.
Anyway, the thing about running is that there are really two schools of thought: those who feel that we run the way our bodies are built (our “natural form”) and those who feel there are biomechanically correct principles that can be learned and applied by everyone. While there are great runners in both camps, I fall in the latter and I suspect that the great runners in the first group got lucky in that their natural style just happened to be the “good one” that the rest of us schlubs have to learn by trial and error.
That said, I’m going to have to completely contradict Trunk (sorry! ) and say that you don’t want to be a “heel-striker” as this phenomena is usually associated “over-striding” (thrusting your leg too far ahead of your body) and frequently leads to knee and shin injuries if you’re putting on a lot of miles.
Some things I like to keep in mind while running:[ul][li]Land on the ball of your foot. Heel-striking tends to encourage bad form and leads to injury.[]Focus on picking up the foot that is on the ground. Don’t worry about the foot that is in the air-- it’ll find its way back to earth. The less you think about foot in the air, the less you’ll tend to beat it into the ground.[]Never straighten your knee. It is stressful to the joint and, once again, encourages bad form.[]Try to keep the foot that is on the ground there for as short a time as you can while striding comfortably. In general, the faster the runner, the less time their foot spends on the ground during one “stride”. Watch full motion video of a competitive runner or just go to the local 5k “fun run” and watch the lead group after about the first quarter mile. (the initial sprint is not a good place to learn about form unless you’re interested in sprinting form)[]Lean forward slightly, almost to the point you feel like you might fall-forwards.[]Keep your shoulders and arms relaxed[]Most importantly, stretch before and after you run. …and start slow! I know, the temptation is to run just as hard as you did before you took some time off-- but you can’t and you’ll hurt yourself if you try.[/ul][/li]
IMHO, there are only two guys in that picture who look like they might have decent form: #3846 (the guy in blue) and the guy in the far-left foreground wearing red (we can only see the back half of him). It’s hard to tell from a still, but both seem to have their knees-bent and are on the ball of their foot with a slight forward lean.
…just my two cents.
(OK, I guess it was more like a buck-fifty. Sorry for dragging-on.)
Yeah, but those guys are both about to leave their feet, so naturally they’re on the ball of their foot.
I didn’t want to go into it too deeply, but there’s a kind of a heel-striking stride that I don’t like. It’s almost stopping yourself with a deep heel strike. . .like the feeling of running down a steep hill.
I personally have my foot almost directly under my torso when it hits, and in that case, it’s more of a “landing” on my heel, than a real strong heel-strike. My center of mass is over my foot rather than behind it.
This is difficult to talk about without video and demonstration.
I guess I don’t really get how someone can land on their midsole without actually hitting their heel first. Either your toe is pointed up, down, or horizontal. If it’s horizontal, at least your heel is hitting simultaneously with your midsole – your foot isn’t shaped like a “U”.
I couldn’t agree more. It’s really quite hard to describe these things to someone without proper physical demonstration. I’ve been told that trying to tell someone “how to run” is like trying to tell them “how to flyfish.” You really kinda have to learn by doing.
Of course, it is normal to contact your heel when placing your foot on the ground. When I use the term “heel-striker”, I’m really talking about the people who fling their foot way out in front of them, land on their heal, slowly roll all the way from heel-to-toe (straightening their knee in the process) and then let their foot trail behind them significantly before they even consider picking the foot up again-- pushing off from their toe when they eventually do. The notion of “landing” on the heel as you describe it seems reasonable.
Personally, I find that as my foot falls (I try not to shove it down) back to the ground, my toe naturally goes from being roughly horizontal to a slight downward angle. This leads me to land midsole’ish. But once again, that’s just me.
Spending a lot of time running on your toes will stress your ankles and calves, that’s pretty normal.
You’re probably being too ambitious with time and speed for someone who hasn’t run in a while. I’d suggest working slowly up in speed and time, and running in a way that feels natural at the slower speed. You are probably involving your heels at a slow speed, and if you make the change gradually enough, this will carry over at higher speeds. It seems like you’ve sensed this already, a true jog will involve a comfortable rolling from one full foot to the other, with the entire shoe hitting the ground over the course of a pace.
I tend to want to run on my toes too, so I know what you’re talking about. Finally, if you’re running to work out, some people will tell you that alternating “ball of foot” sprinting at a high heart rate with a slow jog or even speed-walking will give you a more efficient workout.
I am just starting out, so no expert here. I will say that I took “Learn to Run” course at the local Running Room store and found it a good start - if a little easy. They start off with intervals and build slowly.
Thanks for all your help. I see there is no real complete consensus; but I’m leaning toward trying to run on the balls of my feet versus the heel-foot-toe approach. However, like I had said my muscles are having some difficulty approaching this stride.
What kind of excercises can I do to strengthen the proper muscles so that I can easily do the ball of foot type stride?
Also, I think I would like to try running off of the tread mill. However, when I did this last year, I hurt my knees and/or shins and I had difficulty walking for a few weeks. What can I do to keep this from happening again?
Dammit; Remember in grade school when I was the fastest kid in class?
Start out very, very slowly. Seriously. If you think you could start out jogging for 15 minutes; start out jogging for 2 minutes. I mean it. Do two minutes for 3 days. Then 3 minutes for 3 days. Then 4 minutes for 3 days. At the end of a month, you’ll be getting a good workout, AND YOU WON’T HAVE HURT YOURSELF.
Determine what your workout will be before you start. Don’t do more just because you feel good. You will overdo it and hurt yourself.
After a month or two of getting back into shape you can start increasing the intensity of the workouts. The key is not to get impatient and hurt yourself.
About 6 months ago I decided I needed to strengthen my legs. I decided to try knee bends while at work. I started out with 5 a day for a couple of days. Then I went to 10. Every couple of days I would add another 5. I’m now doing 150 at a time. I can’t hide it from my co-workers anymore, but I don’t have to. They all think it’s great. If I’m in the middle doing my knee bends and get a phone call, they say I’m busy and take messages.
I can’t emphasize enough. Start very slow and have patience. You can work back to being the fastest kid in your class again.
I just want to second this. I started running in my mid-thirties after having been completely inactive for more than a decade. I started off by running a few hundred yards, and within 8-10 days worked my way up to being able to run around the block, which is about half a mile. Over time, I gradually increased my distance without being too aggressive. I’ve never read a book on running or worked with a trainer, but this approach seems to make the most sense to me. After all, the point is to get the heart pumping, and you ought do that without stressing your feet, knees, and legs.
I think the worst approach you can take is what my friend did. He bought a treadmill and ran three miles the first time he used it. He was sore and exhausted, and was discouraged from running again. Every six months or so he repeats this effort.
I would honestly look into hiring a physical therapist who has experience in this to help you, for at least 1 session, if nothing else.
I shredded my knee almost 3 years ago(torn ACL, MCL, both meniscus, patellar tendon sprain, and LCL sprain)…was on crutches for over 3 months, and had to learn to rewalk basically when I got off the crutches…obviously running was an afterthough until this winter when I tried to play flag football again in a league here. I used to always play FS, and was one of the fastest players in the league, and now when I run it just feels all wrong. I basically need to learn to run again, and I don’t think reading a book or a website will give me the feedback I would get from a professional watching my movements and doing instant corrections like they did when I was learning to walk.
Really? I don’t have the option of running outside (pollution, traffic, potholes, no sidewalks and other hazards) but I love my treadmill and try to run 20-30 minutes with the incline set high 5-6 times a week. What horrible fate awaits me?
) and say that you don’t want to be a “heel-striker” as this phenomena is usually associated “over-striding” (thrusting your leg too far ahead of your body) and frequently leads to knee and shin injuries if you’re putting on a lot of miles.