11/12/2025
General foot strike differences and why they may, or may not matter.
Forefoot striking is essentially, landing closer to the ball of the foot.
Pros: it can reduce the pounding into the knees and low back and helps tap into the windlass mechanism, using stored energy in the plantar fascia and Achilles for propulsion.
Cons: it creates much more eccentric loading onto the Achilles, plantar fascia, and calf, increasing the risk of overuse injuries like calf strains, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendinitis.
Midfoot striking is landing within the “middle” of the foot. Considered the optimal foot strike pattern by today’s standards.
Pros: Helps to keep forward momentum and reduces the load into the joints, compared to a heel strike pattern.
Cons: doesn’t tap into as much stored energy in the Achilles tendon.
Heel striking/Rearfoot striking is when the heel lands, first.
Pros: Less load on the calf and Achilles.
Cons: More force into the joints and eccentric loading of the tibialis anterior (shin muscle). Also loses some forward momentum.
There is a variability of foot strike differences in the runners I see in the office. Some of them midfoot strike, which is considered ideal, but may still be dealing with pain. Some of them forefoot strike and have had zero calf or Achilles issues. Some of them heel strike and their knees are fine.
The thing is, changing the foot strike pattern may not solve all of the issues. We can’t blame running mechanics on everything. A running analysis is something I do quite often, but the mechanics are not always causing the issues.
It’s an unpopular truth, but sometimes we are doing too much volume and/or intensity too soon and too often. We haven’t given the body enough time to adapt to the training and when we continue pushing into the red zone, it has no choice but to break down.
I probably lost some followers with this post, but my job is to help people reach their potential, and we can never reach our potential if we keep on beating ourselves, up.
Hope this helps!
