All the recent talk about barefoot running to change the way our foot should initially contact the ground to fix your running injuries has many runners confused. As a running coach and physical therapist, perplexed runners often turn to me and ask “How do I strike on my mid-foot?”  I simply reply, “You don’t!” The puzzled expression on my runners’ faces always warrants further explanation. First, the term “midfoot strike” is very misleading. As all healthcare providers should know, it is anatomically impossible to make initial contact with the ground solely on the midfoot, as the midfoot consists of a few bones high within the arch of the foot. Essentially we would have to have an inverted to foot to accomplish a true anatomical midfoot strike. Thus, the term “midfoot strike” is very deceiving as it cannot possibly refer to the actual physical midfoot. Shoe manufactures benefit from this confusion and further fuel the madness by making claims that their shoes will stimulate barefoot running by promoting mid-foot striking. They argue that heel striking is the primary cause of running injuries and mid-foot striking is the cure.

Often those who use the term “midfoot strike” actually mean “flat footed strike,” and they’ll use these words synonymously. Although the term “mid-foot striking” is trendy and new to running, the concept of flat foot striking has actually been around for quite some time. Strike zones depend upon the position of the foot and ankle when the foot first makes contact with the ground. A flat foot strike occurs when your foot hits the ground with the ankle in a neutral position- the foot is flexed neither up nor down. When the ankle is flexed upward, a runner will heel strike. With a downward flexed ankle, the runner strikes on their forefoot. One can strike on their heel, mid-foot or forefoot in any running shoe or no shoe at all. You are in control of how you position your ankle and what part of your foot initially contacts the ground.

Running coaches alter strike zones to help promote fitness and enhance performance. I teach flat-foot strike for warm ups and cool downs during workouts, for recovery, and for distance training. By having my runners concentrate on striking in a neutral position, I use it as a training technique to slow them down. Most runners naturally strike on the heel or forefoot so the shift to flat footed striking often requires more concentration. A flat-foot strike can also be useful during triathlons. When I first started participating in triathlons, my coach taught me to use a flat foot strike during the swim-to-bike transition. This made sense since the barefoot run during the transition was often a half mile run on hard asphalt, and twenty years ago, outdoor carpet runways were unheard of. A flat footed strike was easier on my foot, and awareness of my foot position and strike pattern helped me to avoid hazards while running.

The claim that heel striking is the primary cause of running injuries is unfounded. Running injuries are common, and heel striking is a common way runners strike. A 2007 study of elite runners during the halfway point of a half marathon found that 70 percent of the runners were heel striking at that moment, 29 percent mid-foot striking, and 1 percent forefoot striking. Since these were uninjured elite athletes competing in a road race, it is safe to assume that heel striking was working for them.  Their foot strike had no effect on finish on times. In fact, there are great distance runners who are heel striking wearing barefoot-stimulating shoes that are supposedly made to promote mid-foot striking.

Each of us has unique innate running capabilities that can be improved with proper training. Purposely changing your strike zone for training is part of normal training  and a very important part of postinjury running. In The Running Injury Recovery Program I teach you many different exercises with different strike pattern to strengthen your running impairments. These are done in a well-fitted, properly designed, manufactured running shoe that I teach for to test for.

This post is written by Bruce Wilk, author of the The Running Injury Recovery Program. Bruce is also a board certified physical therapist and the director of Orthopedic Rehabilitation Specialists, a private physical therapy practice located in Miami, FL, and the president of The Runner’s High, a specialty running store also located in Miami. He is also the RCAA certified head coach of the Miami Runners Club, and has completed multiple road races himself, including 26 full marathons and four Ironman races. For more information, please visit postinjuryrunning.com, and to purchase the Running Injury Recovery Program, please visit goneforarun.com