Ya but running on balls of feet feels so unnatural especially for long runs

Of course it feels unnatural. We've been wearing shoes since we could walk and no one ever told you to do otherwise.

Go get coached by the same people that train professional athletes and they always tell you to run on the balls of your feet.

When you jump, proper landing mechanics to absorb impact is to drop your hips and land on the balls of your feet and your heel follows. You don't want to absorb impact through your heel.

Running is the same concept.

If you're not running on grass, sure get some minimalistic shoes that offer some protection, but never run on your heels.

I feel like running on balls of feet causes knees to flare out more though and wont be good for joint health long term. Heel toe strike puts more emphasis on glutes and hams no?

Can't comment on what muscles are used, but barefoot running enables you to reduce the impact of landing on your joints. When you land on your heel the impact is much greater and is absorbed into your joints (heel, knee, hip). If you land on the balls of your feet then the force is more evenly distributed throughout the body.

If you're worried about joint health, heel strike running has a much greater risk of that than barefoot running.

As for knees flaring out, that could indicate a muscular imbalance or just poor technique. You should be able to keep your knees tracking forward.

You need to make sure you are landing properly (e.g. Landing on both the base of your big toe and pinky toe, not on just one or the other as that could put you off balance and cause knee to flare in or out).

This post was edited by PartyInMyPants on May 14 2017 01:21pm