Toe-Running

I think what you are talking about is Nicholas Romanov’s Pose Method. This comes up periodically.

Long and the short of it. Pose is easier on the knees because it lessens vertical impact on the joints. The downside is that it puts far more stress on the ankles and Achilles.

There is no reason not to try Pose or Chi or anything else that comes down the pipe to find what fits you best. I am a heel-toe runner and don't see any reason to change that approach especially with my weak ankles.

I hope you enjoyed your marathon and your break. Now get back on the hoof!

Running with the heel unweighted is unquestionably the most efficient technique. Your heel is made of bone, which has no shock absorbing capability. The elastic tissues in your plantar fascia, achilles tendon, and soleus and gastrocnemius muscles provide far more shock absorption than your shoes can. Imagine running barefoot on pavement ... I bet you wouldn't run on your heels.

Weak ankles are an additional reason for you to learn to run with the heel unweighted. Almost all lateral motion problems stem from a calcaneous (heel bone) that is not flat across the bottom. When an overpronator learns to run correctly, he/she rarely needs orthoptics or motion control shoes. Good runners only weight their heels after they cross the finish line. Use your heels for what they were made for, walking.

I coach some of the fastest runners in the sport, including a 17 year old who outran the US National Team by 26 seconds per mile last year to win Nationals, averaging 4:39 per mile off the bike. We work as hard on running technique as swimming or cycling technique.

More information is available in my book The Triathlete's Guide to Run Training and the video that Joe Friel and I produced: Evolution Running: Run Faster with Fewer Injuries. Both are available, along with my credentials, on my websites at www.EvolutionRunning.com or www.Fitness-Concepts.com I hope you take adjusting your running technique seriously. It will be worth the effort! Good luck, Ken

I toe run, it helps a lot in longer distance racing. Look at track spikes, they only have spikes on the front, because if you run correctly then you dont need them on the heel. But yea, it will decrease your time in a run if you toe run while training, if you do it right off in a race it feels akward and you tend to go lower in the beginning, so let yourself get used to it while training.

OK a few words from the biomechanics/sports medicine prespective... The heel strike method actually provides a more shock absorbing impact than mid- or fore- foot stike. 80 percent of runners fall into this category. The reason being the latter two the foot still is acting as rigid lever. This rigid lever system does not provide for good shock absorption. The ground reaction forces are much higher. The misconception about running on the front of the foot is that the heel doesn't come down. It still does. It has to in order for the natural motion with in the ankle to happen. The shoe makers maybe be moving toward designing shoes for this type of runner due to the fact there currently are few that effectively cushion mid- to fore-foot runners.

Anyway, running style is very individualistic. The body figures out it's own way to runner efficently. Trying to force it to do something it is not prepared for or physically able to tolerate, may set you up for injury potential. Toe running is best suited for sprinting. The fatigue factor over long distances will come into ply. If you look at what distance runners wear, they are in racing flats; not spikes. I am a mid-foot striker. I never wore spikes in anything over the 1500 when I ran in college. I was either in smooth racing flats or waffle racers depending upon surface conditions. Unless you are world class, it is not going to make a huge difference and will lessen the likelihood at injury risk.

OK. Questions? Quiz tomorrow...class dismished.

I completely disagree. I'm not sure what the basis of your argument is. This is not a misnomer at all. I have researched this topic full time for four years, teaching, measuring, and analyzing video of hundreds of runners. Watch video of efficient runners and their heels never touch the ground. That is an absolute. Dr. Kathy Coutinho wrote the foreward for my book, spoke on my video and she studied the techniques I developed, and analyzed video with my runners and I. She agrees that a forefoot landing is much safer. She studied the video of the runners I trained.

The foot is not a rigid lever at all, but is composed of scores of bones with scores of articultions, it is spanned by somewhat elastic connective tissue ... and it is hinged from the ankle by extremely elastic tissues.

Look at readings of forefoot runners versus heel runners running on treadmills equipped with force plates. They hit the treadmill more softly. Objectively and absolutely. Look at any barefoot runner on pavement. I promoise you they won't be on their heels.

Think about the anatomy of a runner. There is almost no shock absorbing material from the Calcaneous, Tibia, knee, Femur, hip, low back... The elastic tissues are in the Plantar Facia, the Achilles tendon, the Gastrocnemius, and the Soleus. Weighting the heel completely bypasses this shock absorption system.

Try this drill...

Two-Legged Hop: Stand in the running posture with your arms at your sides and begin to “bounce”, hopping just a half-inch in the air, very, vrey quickly. Make sure that the knee angle stays constant and that all vertical movement comes from the elastic recoil action in the feet and calves.

Now try the same drill with your weight on your heels. Whish way do you want to run? Is the softness of the forefoot landing really a misnomer?

Read more in my book or watch the video www.EvolutionRunning.com

Ken

Another thought ... Forefoot running is not only for sprrinters at all. Watch any efficient runner who competes at any distance. Are the Kenyans only good at sprinting? 26.2 is a very long sprint. The only time their heels tough the ground is when they step up on the podium to receive their award.

The Soleus and Gastrocnemius muscles of the calf, in fact, have the highest percentage of slow twitch muscle fibers of any of the skeletal muscles ... and are therefore the MOST endurance oriented muscle that we can use in athletics.

Ken

Well I am not sure what to make of the back and forth and ins and outs but using my toes is not comfortable for me at all. I am a mid foot striker and I cannot seem to train myself out of it. When I try toe running the pain I get in my gastro's is not fun.

research it and do what is right for you.

I have no feet, so I am a mid-nub runner

I am so happy to read this and thank you to Mr Rice for the topic. I have been running for the past 12 years on my toes 15km 4 times a week. Besides getting made fun of by the proffesional runners, I have been told that I can never run a marathon this way (and personally I rather not). Apparently this method builds huge hamstrings muscle also (not to attractive on 120 pound gal:-)). I have also had pain on the side of the knees recently, not outside; again this is blamed on my Toe Running! I am hoping it is the overtraining or my age.

I suggest you go to a park and run barefoot for some time and try to replicate that style of running with shoes on. Since I started to incorporate barefoot running into my training along with running with shoes on I have been injury free this year. My times still suck because I'm twenty pounds heavier than I would like to be but my technique is efficient and like I said I am injury free. The Kenyans never had shoes to run in so if a person would like to replicate they're technique take the shoes off and have a good time.

Mike

I think we need to make a distinction between toe running and landing on the ball of the foot. I would be surprised if anybody advocates actually landing on any part of the foot ahead of the ball.

The other points that I think are crucial, no matter what part of your foot strikes first, is that your foot strikes underneath your body, rather than in front and that you do not push off behind the body.

I apply the Pose technique and it works for me, and if my heel touches the ground (which I think it does), it does so only lightly. My experience, being a relative novice, is that you need to start slowly, because your calf muscles will hurt for awhile.

Yet another addition to this thread - have a look at this from the Pose site - the research they point out that there are advantages and disadvantages to the Pose method http://www.posetech.com/library/pp-damienhowellpt.html

I like nothing more than a good debate! Ken, I will have to continue to disagree with you. No offense but I don’t need to read a coaching technique to understand how the human body works and reacts under loading. I will stick to the literature of Cavanuagh, Nigg, Munro, Perry, Hay, and McGinnis to mention a few. I work with runners as well. Right now, I am looking at GRF of female steeplechase athletes.

The point I was making is that athletes should not force there bodies to move in ways that they did not naturally develop into. Africans have developed their running style from very young. Any mid- to fore-foot style runner developed that style as the matured. They are not trying to force change. Suggesting an athlete change the style will set them up for injury. Only 20% of the running population runs with a fore-foot style of landing. The individual has developed the most efficient way to run based upon the anthropometrics of the individual. Watching video as a means to determine safety of style is an error prone method. The scientific research backs that one up. Video is not clear enough to exactly determine the actual time of foot-strike and toe-off. Also, the amount noise coming from the treadmill belt, treadmill motor and the athlete will affect the readings the force plate gathers. Unless you use adequate filtering, the numbers will be not accurate but filtering too much will also skew results.

I did not mean the athlete comes back into heel strike as a fore-foot striker. I meant the heel does lower. Cavanuagh in his book the Biomechanics of Distance Running states, “the foot is, in fact, almost flat at foot-strike.” I should have been more complete in my statement. The heel comes down it may not touch. It is a misconception more fore-foot running does not have the flattening of the heel towards the surface.

I do not need an anatomy lesson or a tissue biomechanics lesson either. I am very familiar with the anatomy of the human body. I have taken many classes in cadaver anatomy, gait mechanics, orthotics, gait pathology. The foot is rigid as it comes into contact with the ground. The bones and muscles form this rigid lever just prior to foot strike. If it wasn’t the system would collapse due to the inability to support the weight being loaded on it. The structures of the body all have various viscoelastic qualities. The determining factor of viscoelastic properties is in the amount of collagen and the manner in which it forms under load. Bone is rigid but does conform under load. Hence, pathologies like madlung syndrome, genu recurvatum, genu valgus, and genu varus can form. Studies have been done showing that shock absorption moves from the foot to the head using accelerometers and a bite stick. The heel pad has evolved to help disapate impact forces. The muscles are not the only shock absorbing material in the body. Bones compress under load. The result of excessive loading on bone is joint degeneration. The elastic tissues act as springs and store ½ the energy for use in the swing phase. But, like I said in the beginning, I like nothing but a good debate and we will have to agree to disagree.


Edited by Dr Hammer 2005-07-15 10:42 AM

I changed my running style because my natural style resulted in shinsplints. Similarly, those who seek out advice on technique are usually doing so due to some sort of discomfort or injury. So, isn't it disingenuous to state, "The individual has developed the most efficient way to run based upon the anthropometrics of the individual"?

Everyone learns from a good debate. I'm sure you are quite knowledgable about anatomy, but many readers of this post aren't, so please don't take that as patronizing.

In no other sport are techniques that are "natural" considered correct. I'm not sure why that argument holds water in the culture of running, but it does. 80% of golfers hit a huge slice, but that is not evidence that they should swing that way.

Also, the way 80% of runners run on their heels is not natural at all. Watch a 5 year old run and you will not see a heelstrike. Watch animals in nature and you won't find a heelstriker either. The only animls who heelstrike are slow, injured humans : ) Take a human who naturally runs on their forefeet and put a running shoe with a huge slab of ruber under the heel and you make a heelstriker.

I have coached hundreds of triathlete runners, from beginners who strive to sustain 12 minute pace to a 17 year old who ran 4:39 per mile to win Nationals. I have coached 13 national champions and 28 Team USA members, most of whomn are best in the run segment of triathlon. Not a single time has their natural technique been optimal. I have found 4.5 to 8 percent improvements in running economy in athletes of all levels.

Tissues need to be retrained for correct running technique. I absaolutely agree. I make that point profusely in my books and on my video. When working with a new client, I generally cut mileage to about 50% of current mileage and gradually bring it back up. I don't believe that incorrect movements should be maintained just because that is what the tissues are acustomed to.

I agree with your estimate that only 20% of the running population are forefoot strikers. They happen to be the most ewconomical 20% and the 20% who can run more miles without injury. Yes, the Kenyans have each taken several decades to be able to run 220 mile weekds without injury - I agree with you 100% that any change should be approached conservatively - but the fact remains that every succssful high-mileage runner keeps his/her heel unweighted throughout the stride cycle. These techniques can be taught, they dramatically improve running economy, and they reduce injuries.

I also agree that the heel does lower and flatten toward the surface when the forefoot becomes weight bearing, just like your car's shock absorbers give when you hit a speed bump. To me that is clearly a sign that the elastic tissues in the arch and the calf ARE absorbing shock. There is a range where the tissues become weight bearing. Weight the Calcaneous and there is no range for shock absorption. The bone is not weight bearing and then it is immediately ... completely unlike any kind of shock absobing mechanism.

More about my methods and my credentials can be found at www.EvolutionRunning.com and www.Fitness-Concepts.com Thanks for your posts, Ken

I believe you have hit the nail on the head here Ken! The "everyone has their own natural style" theory holds water because if it didn't, then coaches in the running community would have to be open to change and learning and I can tell you from experience, the majority of them are NOT interested. They are into the status quo, always coached this way, will continue to coach this way. This is exactly why Nicholas Romanov and others like him have encountered so much resistance in the running community. I am a swim coach and I have seen many changes over the years, but there are still many caoches out there that are still teaching what they were taught 30 and 40 years ago, if it was good enough for them, it's good enough for todays kids. And I can't imagine coaching someone to swim the stroke that comes "naturally"!

You second comment is absolutely spot on also! The shoe industry will be very slow to change because they have spent the past few decades marketing "fixes" to people's running issues, the majority of which have nothing to do with shoes and everything to do with training and conditioning.

As the parent of a young athlete, I am so glad there are people out there like you who are doing the research and teaching our young athletes rather than just sending them out to run 30 minutes a day, 3-4x a week(the advice I got from several well respected running coaches in my area when my then 11 year old daughter started to train for triathlon). As a coach myself, I couldn't help but see the absurdity of that advice!

Great discussion!

First I think you should create a sig and plug your book and site there rather than having to type it in middle and/or at the end of each post. It gives it a nice consistency to posts and as someone who appreciates economy.....

I can think of a host of hockey players who developed their own techniques naturally including the immortal Maurice "The Rocket" Richard who was told time and again by coaches that he would never be able to play the game. The number of professional hockey players who have been told they were uncoachable is legion yet some how they made it to the pros and had careers. Do you really think Don Cherry had something of value to offer Bobby Orr in the realm of how to skate or play defense?

The claim that a particular running technique is best for EVERYONE strikes me as untenable as the claim that there is a perfect cadence for ALL cyclists and it is XXX RPM. You suggest that we watch animals in nature run and we won't see a heel strike - but how many animals are running on two legs and doing anything but sprints? How many of them have the body anatomy to even allow for a heel strike? If I had to bet on the winner of a 100 mile race between a heel or mid foot striking human and a horse my money would be on the human. Next time I see a 5 year old running a marathon I will check out their foot technique over the last 5K and see how they are running.

If we try to style ourselves based on the success of others then shouldn't we all start rolling our heads all over the place like Paula Radcliffe does when she is racing? Should we flap our arms like Emil Zatopek used to with our tongues lolling out the side of our mouths as we cross the finish line? Paul Tergat completely dismisses tinkering with ones natural gait. I've never heard of Dr. Gabriele Rosa even comment on "toe" running though I have read comments on cadence and stretching from him though being the coach of the Kenyan national team he might be protecting trade secrets.

With 20% of the population being forefoot strikers (your numbers not mine) that should mean that 20% of runners are forefoot strikers which should translate into a minimum of 20% of all distance races being won by forefoot strikers. Has anyone crunched the numbers on this?

If 20% of the running population is defacto better at running because of a natural trait and others are training to mimic this trait should it not also follow that more than 20% of all distance races should be won by forefoot strikers. I don't count sprints because all sprints are forefoot runs no one puts spikes in their heels.

I've never coached anything but soccer and badminton and don't have a host of national champions or Team Canada members to build a pulpit for me. I just doubt the idea that ONE technique is best for everyone.

"toe-running" is very misleading. Essentially, Pose and Chirunning, advocate a forward lean which causes one to land on the midfoot rather than the heel.

Try running on your "toes" for just 3 miles. =) Report back.

I find it surprising that runners have not always ran with this method ... but that these are just the 2 latest, greatest programs discussing it and putting labels on everything.

How did runners used to run? On their hands? Stomping on their heels? Leaping high in the air gazelle-style?

They are the running equivalent of TotalImmersion for swimming. A nice starting point to learn technique. Nothing more, nothing less.

Great pictures! Now that is voting with your feet :D

Great pictures! Now that is voting with your feet :D

I'm not disagreeing with most of what you said, cause I think there's a lot of good information there, but there is a difference between "forcing" and "correcting technique"

I am not a natural athlete.  I know some of them, my sister is one.  Anything that she does, her body mechanics are usually correct for that sport.  Her brain and body seem to connect in such a way that she just naturally does it the "right" way, and then all she needs to do is to make a few tweaks and she is good to go.

I am not this way.  In fact, anything that I just "do" is certain to be the completely wrong way to do it.  Snowboarding, swimming, cycling, roller-blading, running.  Name the sport, and whatever way feels the most "natural" to me is the wrong way.  I have to work really hard to "get" the right body position and feel, look at how others do it, take lessons, etc. 

I have changed my foot strike in running from heel to more towards mid/forefoot strike, and it took care of some really big issues with shin splints.  Was it easy?  No.  It took a lot of time, and I still have to practice, practice, practice.

Now, I'm not saying that one way to run is the right way for everyone, but changing the mechanics of your running can have some really important benefits.

PS - This is what worked for me, your mileage may vary.

Hi Wookie,

"The claim that a particular running technique is best for EVERYONE strikes me as untenable as the claim that there is a perfect cadence for ALL cyclists and it is XXX RPM."

I have tested hundreds of cyclists for optimal cadence and found that it varies widely - between 82 and 110. That said, there are still findamentals to the pedal stroke that will not vary. Efficient cyclists unload the pedal on the up[stroke py pulling up ewith the hip flexors. All of them do so; that is an absolute.

Running turnover is different because efficient running relies on elastic recoil for power production, and contact time between feet and ground needs to be very precise to optmize energy return from the previous stride. There will absolutely be individual differences in running style, but that does not devalue the findamentals of economical running.

It is hard to argue with the combination of objctive test data and real world results. Certainly ebery athlete will have his/her own style, but there are fundamentally correct movements in every sport. I have improved the running economy of the athletes I have worked with by 4.5 to 8%. That amounts to over 2 minutes per hour. These techniques have wirked for every atlete I have taught them to.

We should style ourselves using running techniques that demand the least oxygen, I own a metabolic analyzer and have conducted over 6,700 tests. This machine objectively determines economy. If I change a runner's technique and he/she uses less oxygen at 5:30 pace, economy has improved. There are fundamentally correct movement patterns that produce more economical running.

Style differences, such as Paula rolling her head, are not fundamentals, but you cannot change the laws of physics. I don't look for differences among efficient runners, but for similarities. I analyze how economical runners move, teach those techniques to an athlete, and test to see how it alters economy. There are similarities between technique of almost every great athlete. You won't dfind a professional tennis player who does not hit with topspin, but you will find widely varying degrees of topspin. You won't find a single professional golfer opening up the shoulders before the hips, but you will find different grips, some who fade and some who draw, upright swings and flat swings. Still, there are fundamentals to singing a golf club efficiently.

The Kenyan runners dismiss technique because they grew up running barefoot and were never taught how to run this way. However, careful analysis will show that they all run with precisely the findamentals I teach. In fact, it was analyzing the Kenyan runners that led to most of what I teach. Those of us who grew up running differently need to relearn correct technique, or not. Those who do will do better. Check out the results of my athletes, all of whom fare best in the run. Dan MacKenzie had the fastest run split at Wilkes Barre last year, including pros, by 3:43. Steven Duplinsky, age 17, averaged 4:39 per mile at USAT Nationals, outrunning the US National Under-20 team by 26 seconds per mile. That is 9.3%. He is very talented and hard working, but I promise youy he can't sustain an energy expenditure 9.3% higher than #2. He is more economical. Margie Shapiro, an amateur in her second full season of triathlon, placed second to Olympic medalist Sue Williams, being outrun by 1 second at Columbia. Lisa Thomas outran her age group at Blackwater by 4:08 to win her age group and a Hawaii slot.

Ryan Bolton appears on my video, along with his coach Joe Friel. Ryan has had some success running in triathlon ... the Olympics, victory at Ironman USA.

Almost every race is won by a forefoot striker. That number is not 20%, but well over 90%. Analyze a runner's position at foot-strike, when the foot is weight-bearing, and you will see very, very few weigted heels among top runners. Many elite runners have the heel pointed down before footstrike, but pull the foot back underneath them and into a different orientation before it becomes weighted. Ryan runs this way. Make sure you look at weight-bearing phase of the stride cycle.

The bottom line, though, is that I can't prove anything to you. I have test data, I have credentials, my athletes dominate races after they get off their bikes. Runners who use the techniques I teach improve their economy consistently and dramatically. They run faster and win races. Look to my website for my credentials. Look at the race results of the athletes I coach. You can buy in or not; your call. I gaurantee that you will run faster if you do.

Ken

So I took my two and a half-year-old out to the park today and pulled off our shoes and started running around the grass. He was up on his tows whenever he was running. Natural instinct? We then pulled out the soccer ball to play around a bit before we left. I remember my coach having a really hard time with us when we were kids to get us to stop kicking with our tows. Now I think he should have just gotten us to play without shoes. So two point for tows. Then as we were getting set to go the little guy starts to get away from me. I start to run to catch up. I’m still barefoot at this time. I quickly realized I was heal striking in my pursuit. I picked myself up onto my tows and it was like a gust of wind had come to my back for a push. So phase one of practical test complete. Toes 3 heals 0. Tomorrow morning, phase two, short distance run.

Cheers.

Rice.