What’s the best way to run? Should you land on your heel, your midfoot, or your forefoot? After much study of some the the fastest long-distance runners in the country, Iain Hunter, a biomechanics researcher at Brigham Young University, has an answer: whatev. Gina Kolata, a long-time runner and a health columnist for the New York Times, reports that Hunter photographed the feet of runners in the Olympic tryouts for the 10,000 meter race with a camera that records 240 images a second. What did he find? Nothing and everything. The results, writes Kolata, “for both the male and female athletes, were all over the place. Some landed heel first. Some landed on the midfoot. A few landed on the forefoot. Some twisted their feet inward as they struck the ground, while others kept their feet straight.” No one running style had any advantage over another, in either performance of economy. The moral of the research: run the way that feels best. Watch a very fast time-lapse series (looks like a slow video) of Hunter’s research below.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Saturday, May 31, 2025
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