Heel Striking for Walking?

[Mattrocks]

Hey,

Matt here. I'm kinda new to the BirthdayShoes Forums, but I've been lurking around on the main website and looking through all sorts of articles.

Now, this might be a bit of a newbie/daft question, but I've been wearing toeshoes for a little while now, and got me a pair of KSO Treks last month. Both of my friends have noticed my change in foot strike and they both say it's weird as hell, and one of them says that heel striking is supposed to be better, as her sister used to walk with a forefoot strike and ended up in casts for it because she was in pain from doing so.

Now, before anyone start raising objections to this, I know the forefoot strike is better for running. However, the thing is that she also said that she does use a forefoot strike while running, and all of the videos and guides I've seen on the main website have only covered running, not walking.

The question I'm asking here; is heel striking for walking only fine? I tried a little bit of it and for walking the heel strike seems fine, whereas trying it for running I could definitely feel more clunky and not so natural.

What are your guys' thoughts?

[JustinB]

This has been beat to death, but long story short.... when it comes to walking, do whatever feels natural.  You are not exerting extra stress when walking becuase it is slow going.  The heel is designed for balance which means it is good for standing and slow movement.

Stay focused on your running form and do whatever is comfortable when walking.  if you polled the site you would see a split between heel-midfoot-forefoot strike.   

[nowster]

Walking barefoot around the house, I forefoot strike. Walking outside in VFFs, I have a more flat landing, possibly touching the heel fractionally ahead of the rest of the foot, but with the foot fully landed before weight goes on it. I haven't done this particularly consciously -- it just seems to be the most comfortable way of walking. I suspect this will change subtly as I walk more in VFFs.

As JustinB has said: do what feels comfortable. That said, any scuffing or dragging is going to wear out the soles very quickly.

[JustinB]

Walking barefoot around the house, I forefoot strike. Walking outside in VFFs, I have a more flat landing, possibly touching the heel fractionally ahead of the rest of the foot, but with the foot fully landed before weight goes on it. I haven't done this particularly consciously -- it just seems to be the most comfortable way of walking. I suspect this will change subtly as I walk more in VFFs.

As JustinB has said: do what feels comfortable. That said, any scuffing or dragging is going to wear out the soles very quickly.

See now inside around the house I heel strike,  outside I transition based on teh surface.  if smooth and debris free I am between a heel and midfoot leaning midfoot, on a street or something rougher I am more forefoot.  Like you, not consciously, I think it's the body saving me from steping on a sharp stone with my heel.

[nowster]

See now inside around the house I heel strike...

But in VFFs in the house, I'm more likely to be walking the same way as I am outside. It would be interesting to see what strike I'd have if I got something with the Classic sole that fit me. The Classic (eBay, and will probably end up back on there) and KSO (Amazon, now returned and refunded) I got over Easter, both in M47, were too big, so I didn't get the right feel from them.

[Sablewings]

I was walking mostly on the front part of my foot for the first 6 months in barefoot shoes, until someone told me this wasn't a good idea. (Plus it felt totally unnatural)  Shorten your stride and don't worry about putting your heel down first - it's fine to use your heel when walking, just not when running.  You can tell how short a stride you can take by paying attention to how your heel feels - if they hurt, just shorten your pace more.

I used to take big steps when walking in regular shoes.  It took me months to shorten my stride in barefoot shoes to the point where I didn't have to think about it, but I got there.

I think the trick is, if you need to go faster than a short striding walk, it's probably better to jog.

[Mattrocks]

This has been beat to death, but long story short.... when it comes to walking, do whatever feels natural.  You are not exerting extra stress when walking becuase it is slow going.  The heel is designed for balance which means it is good for standing and slow movement.

Stay focused on your running form and do whatever is comfortable when walking.  if you polled the site you would see a split between heel-midfoot-forefoot strike.   

Ah, thanks for the info, everyone

It's more or less also the fact that my friends reckon I'm like a T-Rex when I walk with a forefoot strike and am unconsciously trying to make myself look taller, since I apparently have a tendency to bob up and down more while doing so. I don't really see a difference, but there it is.

Now, the next problem is to figure out which feels more comfortable for walking, 'cause both styles feel about the same amount of comfort... *ponders*

[nowster]

I used to take big steps when walking in regular shoes.  It took me months to shorten my stride in barefoot shoes to the point where I didn't have to think about it, but I got there.

Ditto, and very slowly getting there. It's less than a month since I came stepped out.

[toh-shu]

can we find a couple of good threads that cover this topic and have the mods sticky it?

[BarefootLifeguard]

There is no substantial research being done on walking, whereas Harvard is doing some on running. I did hear somewhere in the world of barefooting that what little observations have been made on walking, that heel-striking does seem to be beneficial. This could be due to the lack of pounding during walking.

[AngieBee]

There are three distinct gaits to human locomotion.
Walk, run, and sprint.
Walk is heel to toe.
Run is ball of the foot then the heel kisses the ground.
Sprinting is on the toes and the heel does not touch.

For walking, take shorter strides, relax and let the foot roll from heel to toe and then lift off gently and easily.  Most people over stride when walking too and can bruise the heel.
Cheers!!
Angie

[klanger]

There is no substantial research being done on walking.

Say it to the authors of over 700 scientific articles that are available in only ONE (there are dozens of them) online scientific search engine (keyword walking+barefoot).

What is much more funny, is that the same search engine shows only 320 (!!!) results for keyword running+barefoot.

Please stick to the facts next time :-)

 Here is little about one of the most resent articles about barefoot walking, from The Knee http://birthdayshoes.com/forum/new-members-say-hello!/barefoot-walking-resources/msg62044/#msg62044

There is some (scientific) world outside Harvard & "Nature" you  know