A new study reveals a critical flaw in the way runners choose their shoes — which could literally be their Achilles heel.
Imagine yourself running on a trail or a treadmill. Land first with the heel (back stride) or with the middle or front of the foot (not back stride)?
If you’re like most of the runners analyzed in a new study, which looked at the running patterns of 710 participants, you may be mistaken about your answer — and this mistake may be causing set him up for an injury.
O , recently published in the magazine Frontiers in Sports and Active Livingconcludes that most runners are not aware of how their feet hit the ground when they run.
This lack of awareness, particularly among those who wear thick-heeled shoes, may be contributing to running-related injuries and hindering efforts to improve running form.
Conducted by researchers at the University of Florida, this investigation revealed that only 42.7% of runners could identify accurately match your footfall pattern.
Of all the participants, 28.3% declared to use rear stridewhile 47% land with the front of the foot first, and 24.6% admitted not knowing their pattern.
However, biomechanical analyzes showed that, among those who did not know their walking pattern, 81% effectively use heel firstand 19% have a non-back stride.
“The shoe is between the foot and the ground — and characteristics such as a large difference in height between heel and toe make it more difficult for runners to identify how they are hitting the ground,” he explains. Heather Vincentdirector of the UF Health Sports Performance Center and lead author of the study, in a statement.
“This changes the way we train people or determine whether someone is at risk of future injuries,” adds the researcher.
What makes this discovery particularly significant is the fact that foot tapping patterns have received considerable attention over the past 15 years as potential contributors to injuries related to running.
Data from several studies suggest that the prevalence of running-related injuries varies between 49% and 92%, notes the .
According to the results of the new study, heel-heel runners have the double the prevalence of repetitive injuries related to running, in addition to less variability in the foot contact angle, which can amplify the localized load on tissues and the risk of injury.
As footwear features proved to be particularly important. Runners who do not use the heel and who have correctly identified their pattern usually wore lighter footwear and with less height difference from heel to toe.
These runners also recorded the lower injury rates across all groups — a finding that suggests that minimalist sneakers they can improve the feel of the ground and promote better running awareness.
Among the study’s most intriguing findings: runners who admitted they “didn’t know” their footfall pattern had the highest prevalence of injuries running-related – 73% compared to 56% and 58% for runners who reported no back foot and back foot, respectively.
This fact suggests that body awareness May Play Crucial Role in Injury Prevention, Study Authors Conclude
