Fuel For Your Run

Is heel striking bad for runners? What the research actually says

Welcome to Fuel for Your Run. Each month I break down one running topic — injury prevention, training, strength, fueling, form, or racing — and cut through the noise you see online. The goal is simple: help you train healthier, smarter, and stronger.

Heel striking is not inherently bad

If you’ve spent any time on running social media, you’ve probably heard that you shouldn’t heel strike — that it creates more force, slows you down, or raises your injury risk. But is that actually true? Not necessarily. Here are three things worth knowing.

1. Many fast runners heel strike
   Heel striking — a rearfoot strike — is very common. Studies estimate that roughly 89–94% of recreational runners land on their heel, and even among some of the fastest marathoners in the world, more than half are rearfoot strikers. Clearly it isn’t stopping them from running fast.
2. Changing your foot strike doesn’t remove the load
   Switching to a forefoot strike doesn’t make the forces of running disappear — it just moves them. Heel striking tends to load the knee and hip more; forefoot striking tends to load the ankle and calf. Neither is automatically better, and some research suggests a forefoot strike can actually increase load on the shin bone.  A change that eases one area can stress another.
3. Heel striking doesn’t mean you’re inefficient
   The claim that heel striking causes more braking and wastes energy doesn’t hold up either. Current research finds no clear difference in running economy — how much energy you burn at a given pace — between heel and forefoot strikers.

So should you change your foot strike?

Not just because someone online told you to. There’s no single “perfect” way to run — your foot strike is shaped by your body, speed, shoes, training, and more. If you’re running well and pain-free, there may be no reason to touch it. If you’re dealing with an injury, a form change can sometimes help — but that should come from your individual situation, not a blanket rule.

Want to learn more?

Have a running question you’d like me to cover in a future edition of Fuel for Your Run? Reach out any time. Until next month — keep running.

Noah Esbenshade, DPT, COMT, CSCS is a physical therapist, certified strength and conditioning coach, running coach, and running gait analyst at HARTZ Physical Therapy. A triathlete himself, he started Fuel for Your Run to share research-backed tips and help runners make sense of the advice they see online.  You may email him at nesbenshade@hartzpt.com.