The Dreyer’s ChiRunning method has got me completely off of my heels with dramatic positive benefits! Absolutely no ankle problems anymore from a nasty military parachuting injury. I’m still working out hip issues from a even nastier Mt. Bike injury. Danny’s method has actually been healing injuries; mindfulness overcoming youthful madness, eh?

Now my shoe-wear shows some of the ‘Toe-Off’ described above. I have been watching and filming my running since the new shoe-wear pattern appeared 18 months ago. It appears to be due mostly to moments of acceleration. When I accelerate while maintaining the mid-foot strike it is more gentle but not as fast or not yet as fast as a toe-off sprint forward.

I have noticed a safety issue in running with a mid-foot strike: sudden changes in direction while running are much faster when I have great posture and a mid-foot strike. For example, I was running at a local school’s gravel track which borders where school buses offload. A teenage kid did a running jump off of the bus and directly into my path while I was intensely focusing on posture, mid-foot strike, and quickly accelerating. I was able to unconsciously spin on my mid-foot around the airborne teenager. I have since tried the spin with both toe and heel strike and only the mid-foot allows the spontaneous spin necessary to avoid collision while running. I am a long time student of Tai Chi Chuan, and this result is similar but not exactly the same as my training. In Tai Chi we spin our turns that are under 180degrees on the heel and over 180 on the forward foot (’eternal spring’). But it occurred to me that this result is different due to the fact that I am running. So I tried the spins while practicing the ChiWalking method and the best spins while walking match the method used in Tai Chi.

The ChiWalking studies have also greatly improved our frequent epic hikes. Being mindful of maintaining a slightly rear of mid-foot strike also helps agility while hiking.

I have been keeping my runs between 7 & 10k while sorting out my hip injury. I’d like to run farther, but persistent and mild stiffness occurs with the longer faster flying of feet. I am considering Rolfing for the hip injury scar tissue. But I have first set aside even more time for a Yoga revival in my already busy life. Whoosh me luck!

Danny, thank you so much for saving my love of running.
Hal,
Albuquerque

Danny… great information, keep up the good work and enjoy your running.
Mitchell Phillips, Strideuk.com, England

Thanks for this informative post. I was always a heel striker but after I started having pain I did some research and changed my running form. However, it seems that I somehow ended up as a forefoot striker now. I think I’ll try the midfoot thing and see if it does me any good.

Danny, great post. Linked to it in support of a blog post I wrote today on http://www.barefootrunner.com. Cheers!

informative post!!!!

[...] new information, but it is fabulous to finally have some scientific backup for our claims that a midfoot strike and minimal shoes can help you reduce or avoid many common running injuries. That’s [...]

[...] is gradual progress and this applies to shoes also.  ChiRunning teaches you how to land on your midfoot and to work on your form first and foremost.  As your technique improves over time, you can [...]

Hi,

Why is a midfoot strike given that name when expalined as “having your heel and the ball of your foot touching the ground simultaneously with each foot strike”. That sounds very much like a “flat foot” landing to me. The midfoot is the arch, so it never actually touches the ground - ever. Also, I think you’ve described a very rare and extreme version of “forefoot strike” - defining it as “If your heels don’t touch the ground when you run, you’re a forefoot striker.” I’ve hardly seen anyone run like that (especially not the Africans you say who do). It ust be such a small group of runners, it’s probably hardly worth giving a name to. And you didn’t give a name to the footstrike style of all those runners who do let their heels strike the ground AFTER the ball of the foot? I’ve seen lots of those. Maybe we’ve just got to come up with some much clearer names to give to these different footstrike types so that it’s universally clear what action each refers to. I’d be really interested in your thoughts.
Many thanks
Andy

Hi Andy,
The question of proper footstrike has been written and talked about ad nauseum, so here’s another take on the question. In my mind, there are two phases of one’s stride… the type of landing (heel strike, midfoot strike, and forefoot strike) and the type of loading (meaning, the position the foot is in, relative to the ground, when the majority of the impact or weight-bearing is happening).

Forefoot running:
A forefoot runner will strike with the forefoot and not allow their heel to touch the ground during any phase of the stride. He or she will strike with their forefoot and carry their weight (through the support phase) on their forefoot. This leads to many lower leg injuries because it means that the lower leg muscles (the smallest muscles of the leg) are carrying too much of the responsibility for shock absorption, loading and propulsion. This form of running works for very short distances and for sprint speeds, but not for long distances…for obvious reasons.

Midfoot Running:
A midfoot runner will strike with their full foot. I’d like it much better if people just referred to midfoot running as full-foot running, which is a more accurate description. In this type of running, the runner lands on their full foot (equal pressure and contact over the entire base of the foot with no undue pressure on the forefoot or the heel). The best way to land on your full foot is to land with your foot either directly under or slightly behind your center of mass. To do this requires that your entire posture line be aligned from head to toe (a straight line running through your shoulders, hips and ankles), that you lean forward from your ankles, not your waist… and that your lower legs be relaxed during all phases of your stride (as we teach in Chi Running). This allows gravity to assist you in your forward propulsion because you become, essentially, a falling object) Since you’re striking the ground either directly under (or slightly behind) your center of mass, it means that your foot is already traveling in a rearward direction when it comes in contact with the ground. This reduces impact because it lowers the amount of deceleration or braking done as the foot hits the ground. The full-foot landing allows the body to have a full-foot loading which allows the structural alignment of the runner to support his or her body weight during the support phase of the stride (thus directing much of the support and impact absorption work away from the leg muscles). This is the most economical way to run (for longer distances) because of the lower muscle usage…no push-off or braking is necessary.

Heel strike running:
This form of running is the least efficient and the most costly in terms of muscles usage and injuries. Running in this way is usually caused by running upright (without a forward lean of the body) because the runner has to rely on the push of the leg for propulsion. And, because the runner is upright, he or she has to “catch” themselves with their forward leg because of the fact that they’re body is in a vertical position. This creates a braking effect and puts an incredible amount of stress on the legs. Because of this braking effect, a heel strike creates more of a “load” on the legs than would normally be experienced during the support phase. That’s why many heel strikers complain of sore quads after a long distance running event. And, because they then have to push off for their propulsion, they generally experience increased workload to the lower legs as well. It’s like driving with one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake, which makes this form of running the least efficient and the most injury-prone.

I hope this explanation of the difference between “landing” and “loading” helps everyone in understanding the deeper question of which method is the most efficient while also being the most injury-free.

All the best,
Danny