Running stride length is something that most people will recommend you try to INCREASE if you want to run quicker or improve your long distance times. It seems like a no-brainer that if you take really long strides, you’ll probably get to your destination sooner and having taken less steps, maybe more efficiently.
I’m going to propose some ideas that show why this is not only an incorrect thought process, but also why it will lead to more injuries, getting tired quicker, and will ultimately be less efficient.
So my theory is that your stride length should be shorter than you think and this applies to distance runners and sprinters alike.
Ideally when you are running, your feet will be landing directly under your torso (center of mass). This is because we want to minimize the impact of the force from the ground as much as we can. If you are aiming for very long strides, you will end up reaching far ahead of your center of mass with your feet so when they land, they will be ahead of your body.
This is detrimental for several reasons. First, when we reach out ahead of ourselves, we can’t help but point our toes out to get them as far ahead as possible so what ends up happening is we have our toes reaching forward while our heel is bracing for the landing its about to take. More to the point: this is cause for guaranteed heel-striking which is a rabbit’s hole of problems.
Notice how the boy in the picture is about to strike the ground heel-first whether he intends to or not. Because he is reaching so far out in front of his body with each stride, he cannot help but brace for the impact by using his heel.
With that in mind, the second point is that this heel-striking kills a lot of the momentum we are generating by default. When we need to suddenly stop running, we would dig our heels into the ground because they cannot propel us forward. So if we wanted to keep the momentum moving, we would strike with the midfoot or forefoot and spring off the forefoot for maximum efficiency.
The third point is that heel-striking causes aches, pains, and injuries right away whether you know it or not. If you have any joint pain (ankles, knees, hips, lower back, neck, etc.) and don’t know why, I’d say look no further than your ground strike.
When heel-striking, your knees and hips are going to be in a straight, braced position (horrible for taking impact), when they should in an athletic, slightly bent position (takes the impact off the joints and absorbs it in the muscles instead).
Heel-striking is also a notorious cause for shin splints, plantar fasciitis, overpronation, and most likely more. This is mainly because when we heel-strike, we increase the duration of time that our foot spends in the pronated position.
All of the above mentioned issues stem from too much pronation. So when we decide to heel-strike and guarantee that we will overpronate to some extent, we are opening ourselves up to a lot of potential injuries.
Overall, a longer stride length causes heel-striking and a lower step rate (because the strides are covering more distance) to occur. These habits cause more brake force (killing your momentum) and longer ground contact time. Longer time in contact with the ground encourages more pronation from the foot and will encourage more excessive movements from the ankle, knee, and hip.
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