FOOT INCLINATION ANGLE

HEEL STRIKE

Generally, a heel strike is correlated with overstriding and low cadence.

Excessive heel striking causes increased ground reaction forces (GRF) that the body must dissipate. These increased GRFs often lead to common overuse injuries such as patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner’s knee), tibial stress fractures, and increased loading through the hip and low back due to the foot landing in a “stiffer” position in front of the body.

A heel strike is not necessarily a bad thing; it is the combination of a heel strike along with a large heel-to-COM distance that can create a “perfect storm” for injuries.

COMMON CAUSES OF HEEL STRIKING:

• Low cadence/overstriding

EXERCISES

See “Heel-to-COM” page for information on cadence work.

FOREFOOT

With a forefoot foot inclination-angle, the ball of the foot makes contact with the ground before the heel.

A forefoot strike can be very helpful for runners with knee pain but can lead to other issues such as increased potential for achilles tendonitis, plantar fascia pain, metatarsal stress fractures, and turf toe-type irritations.

COMMON CAUSES OF FOREFOOT STRIKING:

• Tight calves

• Low/zero drop shoes

EXERCISES

In general, if you have a forefoot striking pattern, you want to make sure you maintain mobile calf muscles and strong intrinsic muscles of the feet to prevent plantar fascia pain and counteract any excessive tightness of the calf muscles.

Knee-to-Wall Ankle Mobilizations/Calf Stretching

• Start with your foot about ½ a foot away from the wall and lean forward to tap your knee to the wall 

• Pull your foot back/push your foot forward to find the right distance from the wall where you can just barely tap the wall without your heel coming up off the ground

• You should feel a stretch in the back of your calf/ankle 

• Hold your knee to the wall for 2-3 seconds and then back off 

• The goal of this exercise/mobilization is to increase your ankle mobility/achilles flexibility so you can pull your foot further back from the wall but still tap your knee 

• Best to do this exercise with your shoes OFF

Soleus Stretch

• Put your affected leg back and lean your front knee forward and drive your back knee down while keeping your back heel on the ground

• Back knee is BENT

TOE YOGA

• Standing on both feet, lift both of your big toes up off the floor while pushing the four smaller toes down into the floor, and then switch. Push your big toes down into the floor and lift the other four toes up.