I just read an interesting article in running.competitor.com about heel striking vs mid and forefoot strike. They are saying studies show that unless you have knee issues you may want to stick with a heel strike if that's your natural form.
From the article "Research evaluating the metabolic cost of running also shows no clear advantage for a more forward contact point. In fact, most studies suggest the vast majority of recreational runners are significantly more efficient with a heel-first strike pattern. In a detailed paper published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, scientists calculated joint torque, mechanical work performed, and muscle activity associated with altering initial contact points at various speeds of walking and running (6). The results of this study confirmed that walking with a heel-first strike pattern reduced the metabolic cost of walking by a surprising 53 percent."
So for those of us that will never be super fast and have a 6 min mile it may be more efficient to stay with the heel strike providing you don't have any knee problems, but I'm no authority on the matter. I have no opinions on this myself other than I did seem to be a little faster with a heel strike vs my updated midfoot strike but I did also have some IT band issues. Something to think about.......
Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/02/injury-prevention/is-it-harmful-to-heel-strike-when-running_95678#mQ1d0lrl2qhq3A95.99
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