Jack Daniels: "Should I Change my Running Technique?"

By Jack Daniels September 29, 2004

In recent months, and in fact dating back many years, there have been various articles referring to the benefits of using a particular style or technique of running; one that will make the task of running easier and more injury free.

First, it should be understood that there are two major issues relative to this matter – one is a mechanical issue and the other a physiological issue. It is important to eliminate poor mechanics, and for some runners this means wearing some corrective device, such as orthotics in the shoes. Other runners simply need to learn to minimize landing shock, so the hips, knees, and feet are subjected to the least impact stress possible. Typical approaches to accomplishing this latter goal are (1) wear quality shoes that absorb a good portion of the shock associated with each foot strike, (2) use a foot-strike technique that suits your strengths and possible weaknesses, (3) learn to use a light, quick turnover, which usually means taking shorter, quicker steps than you normally would. For years I have encouraged runners to learn to take about 180 steps each minute of running and that is a good goal to shoot for. Keep in mind that the slower the stride rate, the more timespent in the air, and more time in the air means displacing the center of mass higher, which means falling farther with each landing, which of course increases landing shock.

When you run a marathon you will take thousands of steps and landing shock adds up. Minimize landing shock with shorter, quicker steps; shoot for 180 per minute. In addition to the mechanical issue addressed above, there is the matter of energy expenditure, a physiological issue, and something I have studied extensively for over 30 years. To briefly summarize some of our findings, I offer the following.

(1) Using a slow turnover (150 – 170 foot-falls per minute) costs more energy than going 180 or a little faster

(2) Shoe mid-sole material influences the energy demand of running, with harder materials usually being more costly on hard running surfaces, such as a road

(3) Shoe weight influences the energy demand of running, but a very light shoe may actually increase the "cost" of running if it is too light to do an effective job of cushioning landing shock

(4) How your foot strikes the ground affects the energy demand of running. This is perhaps the point of greatest controversy, since some recent claims have been made that landing on your forefoot is the way to go. We have tested runners who ran forefoot all their lives and when we forced them to land heel first they used less energy – immediately (this has been the case in the majority of our tests). We tested at least one runner who ran rear-footed all his career, who used less energy when forced to run fore-footed. Others were most economical with a mid-foot landing. We tested a group of runners every 30 minutes, who ran for two hours at their marathon race pace and when forced to change foot strike, were less economical at 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes, when they switched to any different landing technique than the one they normally used.

The primary difference in how different foot-strike techniques affect a runner is that a rear-foot or mid-foot strike brings the quads and knee joint more into play and a fore-foot strike lessens quad and knee involvement and puts greater stress on the calves and Achilles tendons. When a runner has practiced one technique for a prolonged period of time, the muscles most involved will usually have adjusted to the stress and switching to a new technique may result in injury to areas not used to handling the shock. I cannot recommend changing your foot-strike from one that is comfortable for you, but I can certainly recommend working on a light, quick turnover and wearing quality shoes as you train for an upcoming endurance event. It is not possible to say there is a proper technique for striking the ground as you run, unless it is to say, "use the foot-strike that you feel comfortable with and that produces the least discomfort in the muscles and tendons being stressed." For most people that is a mid or rear-foot strike.