Your Running Style Definitely Changes When You're Tired

Picture by richseow from Flickr

"I'm a fore/ mid foot runner, I don't land on my heels etc". I often get responses like this from my patients who are runners when I ask them if they have changed their running style recently.

To which I will reply, "How about when you're tired?"

I remember when I was still racing triathlons the official race photographer will email pictures of the race and I'll be quite amazed by the transformation. Often the smooth stride at the start of the run is often reduced to a not so pretty shuffle near the end of the race - (exception is when I'm sprinting or trying to out sprint another competitor at the end).

Is that the same for you as well? Well, I looked through pictures of my school boy track races I used to run, my stride looked pretty good all the way, but that's for track races (which are much shorter) and many moons ago (I was much younger then).

Most research so far has focused on fresh (and not fatigued) runners usually on a treadmill. Not much use then when your running style tend to fall to pieces when you get tired.

Well, I'm not the only person wondering if you running stride changes when you're tired. A small group of 14 habitual forefoot runners who typically ran about 30 miles (48 km) a week were studied. They ran to exhaustion (average of 15 minutes) while researchers took detailed measurements of their stride at both the start and end of the run.

There were significant changes even after only 15 minutes. Eight out of the 14 runners studied were landing farther back toward their heels by the end of the run. The ankles and knees were more flexed during the gait cycle suggesting that this may give a little more shock absorption when the ankle and calf muscles get too tired to provide sufficient shock absorption.

This shows that our running stride gradually changes as we fatigue, regardless of whether you start off heel striking, mid foot or forefoot striking.

Hence the authors suggest this can be a problem running in minimalist/ barefoot inspired type running shoes as your muscles fatigue during a long race and your land on your heels without sufficient cushioning. I've previously written that will reduce overall impact forces

You can of course gradually increase your mileage in your minimalist/ barefoot inspired type running shoes to increase your strength and build up fatigue resistance as I've previously written that your own muscles and tendons and a good running technique will reduce overall impact forces.


Reference

Jewell C, Boyer KA and Hamil J (2016). Do Footfall Patterns In Forefoot Runners Change Over An Exhaustive Run? J Sports Sciences. 22: 1-7. DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1156726.

Running Injuries Linked To Your Footstrike

Photo by Jordan Shakeshaft from flickr

I wrote earlier that the minimalist/ barefoot inspired type running shoes sales were declining, however researchers seem to be very keen on finding how they affect running still. To put it simply, researchers are very interested to find out if barefoot running, minimalist shoes or how you land (forefoot, mid or rear) can reduce injuries.

A group of South African researchers specifically studied how barefoot running (or forefoot striking) affects five common running injuries.

Bear in mind that many researchers and runners alike tend to assume "barefoot running" and running with forefoot/ midfoot strike as similar although some studies have shown differences.

Well, here are the main points on the five common running injuries. Regarding shin splints/ tibial stress fractures injuries are decreased by barefoot running although runners have to be extra careful with transition time from their previous more cushioned shoes.

Increased incidences of metatarsal (or your foot) stress fractures with barefoot running. I've seen some of our patients with metatarsal fractures after switching to Vibram Five Fingers.

As I've written earlier before, good news if you have knee pain as it may be reduced by barefoot running, but not so good news if you have Achilles tendon injuries as it may be increased with barefoot running.

For those of you with plantar fasciitis, barefoot running can reduce this if you gradually and correctly transition from your cushioned running shoes.

Well, as you can see, nothing is foolproof yet with barefoot running. What the researchers were sure was that bad training practices like training too much too soon, running too fast and hard are the major causes of running injuries. And my favourite, they mentioned that good (i.e. correct) running technique may be more important than shoe selection.

Reference
Tam N, Wilson JLA, Noakes TD and Tucker R. (2013). Barefoot Running: An Evaluation Of Current Hypothesis, Future Research And Clinical Applications. BJSM. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2013-092404.