The effects of foot strike on running economy in distance runners: a narrative review

摘要

Background: Successful distance runners usually demonstrate efficient running economy. Running economy iscomprised of many variables, including foot-strike pattern. It is unknown if foot strike pattern has any effect onrunning economy.Objective: The purpose of this narrative review is to examine recent evidence on the effect of foot strike onrunning economy in distance runners.Methods: This narrative review indexed the following databases: Medline, CINAHL, SportsDiscus, and PubMed.Articles were included if the study examined correlations or relationships between foot strike pattern and runningeconomy.Results: Five articles satisfied the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Results examining the effectof foot strike on running economy were varied. Two studies demonstrated a significant effect of foot strike onrunning economy: One study found that midfoot and forefoot strikers were found to have better running economycompared to rear foot strikers (p = 0.019). Another study showed that rear foot strikers demonstrated superiorrunning economy with 5.4% and 9.3% lower VO_2 (p < 0.05) at 11 km/h and 13 km/h, respectively. Three studiesshowed no significant effect of foot strike on running economy.Conclusion: The reviewed studies collectively suggest that foot strike pattern alone is not a determinant of runningeconomy. Further research is needed to discover what particular role or advantages individual foot strike patternsmay have on running economy and what other factors and characteristics correlate with running economy andperformance.