How Loud Do You Run?

by | Apr 3, 2017

How Loud Do You Run?

If you’ve read last week’s blog on how running cadence can help you reduce loading and injury risk when you run, you will be familiar with the idea that cadence and ground contact time are very strongly correlated. Longer ground contact time leads to more load through your body. A quicker cadence leads to lower ground contact time and therefore less load.

If you are struggling to modify cadence but feel that your running style could be improved, another method to reduce ground contact time has been shown in a recent research paper. This paper compared the difference between people running with their normal sound and the same people running with this instruction “perform the task as before but this time make a quieter sound when you land”.

What happens when you run quieter?

When running “quieter”, the peak vertical ground reaction force and loading time was lower. They also found that 75% of those running quietly used a non-rearfoot strike compared with 15% running normally. So, the shift to a softer running style led to, or was achieved by, shifting towards and mid or forefoot strike. We have previously looked at the benefits of barefoot running and various types of foot-strike (here and here), and have discussed how a heel-strike loads the knee/hip, and a forefoot strike loads the Achilles. This study would suggest that it may be beneficial for someone with knee/hip pain to try and run quietly as it will a) reduce overall loading, and b) will shift them away from a rear-foot strike which will unload the knee and hip. We should, however, bear in mind that a shift to a forefoot strike would load the calf more and the athlete may need to work on strengthening this area to ensure the change doesn’t lead to injury! The fact that it shifts people away from the rearfoot and causes increased load at the foot/ankle does not necessarily mean it is inappropriate for people with injuries in that part of the body as the overall loading to the legs will be less than before. On its own, running quieter/softer appears to be effective, but will likely be more effective when paired with good warm-up/cool-down and strength/plyometric training habits.

If you decide to give this technique a try, I’d love to hear whether you felt it helped you! Let me know if you have any questions, or need my help!

Reference:

Phan X, Grisbrook TL, Wernli K, Stearne SM, Davey P, Ng L. Running quietly reduces ground reaction force and vertical loading rate and alters foot strike technique. J Sports Sci. 2016;:1-7.

Photo Credit:

Photo credit: kyleboy668 via Foter.com / CC BY

Physical Therapists get injured sometimes. An image of PT Andrew Walker with tears due to injury!

Your Running PT got Injured!

PhysioWorks, physical therapist, in Huntsville Alabama, Andrew Walker suffered a calf strain while running 😢 Learn from this video why ...
Read More
What will the headlines say? Does strength training help runners or not?

Runners Need Strength Training! Or Do They?!

Table of Contents Sometimes the blogs I write take quite a lot of research to do… hence, there can sometimes ...
Read More
The female athlete triad a diagnosis that we need to look for in our female athletes

The Female Athlete Triad

Table of Contents Female Specific Research - The Gap Is Narrowing Right to work, right to vote, and in many ...
Read More
No all stress fractures need an expensive boot

Boots For Stress Fractures and What Exercises Help The Most?

Table of Contents Have you noticed how many people are given a boot to treat stress fractures? If you’ve had ...
Read More

Blood Flow Restriction Training

Table of Contents Why should we lift? Living an active life requires certain levels of strength. For example, when we ...
Read More
Tendon Compression an important thing to consider for some tendons

Tendon Compression – Important to Consider For Some Tendons!

Not all tendons and tendon pain should be treated the same. For example, we tend to consider Achilles tendon pain ...
Read More

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

- Want to be treated without surgery or medication? -

Claim your FREE consultation with the PT who has the most

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Google reviews in Huntsville Alabama!