Heel Striking And Cushioned Running Shoes Is A Modern Invention

We've all been taught that landing with your foot in front of you on the heel is the right way to run. This is called heel striking because the heel strikes the ground first, followed by the rest of the foot as the body moves forward.

It turns out that this method of running, as well as cushioned heels in running shoes to make heel striking tolerable, is a modern invention. Before 1970, there were no cushioned heels and thus, no heel strikers. That means for thousands of years, man has run either barefoot or with shoes that have little to no drop. Drop is defined as the change in thickness of the sole from the heel to the forefoot.

Today's running shoes typically have a drop of 12mm, going from 24mm in the heel to 12mm in the forefoot. The Brooks Beast has an enormous 16mm drop.

It is interesting to note that injury rates haven't fallen one bit in the 40+ years since the introduction of a design that changes the way the foot lands, a change that takes it away from its natural movement. Try and find a company that asserts their running shoes actually reduce injury. A few may claim it may reduce injury, but none have been shown to do so.

Nicholas A Campitelli has written two articles that should be of interest to all runners. The first is Do Running Shoes Still Need Heels? The second is for runners that go one step further to modify how their feet naturally perform - Do Runners Need Orthotics?

Unfortunately, I know runners that are constantly battling injuries like plantar fasciitis, shin splints, knee pain, etc. Rather than peel away the level of shoe they wear, they bulk it up, getting shoes with even more motion control or support, and even going as far as getting orthotics.

Making matters worse, few runners get a new pair of shoes and then go put in a lot of mileage on the first run. They need to be broken in. As the mileage piles on, the shape of the sole changes, ultimately to a point where the shoe needs to be replaced with another pair you need to break in again. It doesn't make sense that you should run in shoes that are not only constantly changing the way you run, but the way they change it  morphs over time.

It is time for us to get back to how our bodies were designed to perform. Leonardo da Vinci said it best: "The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art." Why are we taking this marvelous creation and wrapping it up in a contraption that is often driven more by the marketing department than scientific research?