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Should you change your foot strike pattern? Hamill & Gruber, 2017.
Description
On this episode, Brodie summarizes a paper by Hamill & Gruber titled: Is changing footstrike pattern beneficial to runners?
This is a hot topic for a lot of runners, coaches and health professionals alike, and while this paper may not come to a conclusive statement, it does help bring us up-to-date with the current literature. The verdict might surprise you.
Changing from a heel striker to a forefoot striker has been proposed for decades. The arguments for such a change follows several theories including:
- Changing to a forefoot strike help running economy.
- Changing to a forefoot strike reduces ground reaction forces.
- Changing to a forefoot strike lowers your risk of injuries.
This paper read by Brodie systematically covers all of these theories and highlights the available evidence to see if their claims hold true.
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