Mechanics and energetics of footfall patterns in running

Abstract

The forefoot (FF) running pattern has been advocated to improve running economy compared to the rearfoot (RF) pattern although no empirical evidence currently exists to support these claims. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to determine if there were differences in running economy between footfall patterns in habitual RF and FF runners and if running economy was improved when habitual RF and FF runners ran with the alternate footfall pattern. Nineteen habitual RF and 18 habitual FF runners ran with the RF and FF patterns on a treadmill at 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 m•s. Oxygen consumption was measured until two minutes of steady state were recorded for which rate of oxygen consumption (VO2), cost of transport (COT), and absolute (gCHO) and relative (%CHO) carbohydrate oxidation were calculated. Mixed model ANOVA with participant nested within group was used to assess the differences in each variable between footfall patterns (α=0.05). Significant group by pattern interactions revealed the RF pattern resulted in decreased VO2, gCHO, and %CHO compared to the FF pattern at the slow and medium speeds in the RF group (p 0.05). At the fast speed, a significant pattern main effect revealed the FF pattern resulted in greater VO2 and gCHO, but not %CHO compared to the RF pattern (p 0.05). The results suggest that the FF pattern does not result in an improvement in running economy.