– Walking
You “land” on your heel and roll to the ball of the foot, with a load of just your body weight for every step.
– Running
You land on the ball of the foot first and then put down the heel. Because of the swifter movement, you’re now hitting the ground with two times your body weight. And because of this added weight on each footfall, you have to be careful and make sure you’re doing this right. (Or else)
– Sprinting
You land on the ball of the foot, and there is no heel touching the ground. Now it’s three times your body weight and because it is faster there is no time for the heel to come down and the elastic recoil takes care of the forward push.
All other combinations are just non-efficient mutations. Like the one where humans combine the heel to toe form (from walking) with two body weights (from running)… that’s what Ron Burgundy would call “yogging”. Don’t do it!
runningandthecity 
“There ARE”… :p
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ay
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made you look! HA
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Ha!! That was my first thought this morning when I got the email notification. Then I come here, and it’s “ARE” and I’m like– “Do I need my eyes checked?” I guess not!
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“to get” my eyes checked… well, maybe after all…..
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Do you really need “to get” there?
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Nothing hurts after I run when I get it right. Problem: I lose it during races–just about every race photo I’ve seen shows a straight legged heel-strike. One of these days I’ll get it…..
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Very good information. Lucky me I recently found your
blog by chance (stumbleupon). I have saved it for later!
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