Overstriding — reaching your foot out in front of you and landing on a straight leg — is one of the most common, most injury-causing running form flaws. Fixing it (and understanding foot strike properly) protects your joints. The guide: the overstriding problem, how to fix it and why the forefoot-vs-heel debate misses the point.

The Overstriding Problem

Why overstriding hurts you: the the-what-it-is (the overstriding = foot-landing-too-far-in-front, on-a-straight-leg from the running-form-fix chapter — the the-what; the the-reaching-out; the the-straight-leg-landing), the the-common-flaw (the overstriding being a-common form-flaw — the the-common; the the-widespread), the the-braking-and-impact (the overstriding creating braking-forces-and-impact — the the-braking; the the-impact; the the-jarring), the the-injury-cause (the overstriding contributing-to-injuries from the running-form-fix chapter — the the-injury-cause; the the-joint-stress), the the-inefficient (the overstriding being inefficient — the the-inefficient; the the-wastes-energy), and the reframe (the overstriding as a common, injury-causing form-flaw worth-fixing — the fix-it; the the-land-under-you).

The Fix-Your-Footstrike Method

Fixing overstriding: the the-land-under-your-body (the land-with-foot-under-your-body/center-of-mass (the-fix) — the the-land-under-you; the the-center-of-mass; the the-the-key), the the-increase-cadence (the increase-cadence (shorter, quicker-steps) from the cadence-training chapter — the the-cadence; the the-shorter-steps; the the-quicker; the the-the-main-fix), the the-shorter-steps (the shorter-stride, not-reaching — the the-shorter-stride; the the-dont-reach), the the-slight-lean (the a-slight forward-lean from-the-ankles — the the-lean; the the-from-the-ankles), the the-relaxed-and-quick (the relaxed, quick-turnover — the the-relaxed; the the-quick-turnover), the the-dont-overthink-footstrike (the dont-obsess-over foot-part (see-below) — the the-dont-obsess; the the-not-the-foot-part), the the-let-it-happen-naturally (the good-cadence-fixing-overstriding naturally — the the-natural-fix; the the-cadence-fixes-it), and the the-practice-gradually (the practice-and-adjust-gradually from the running-form-fix chapter — the the-gradual; the the-practice).

The It’s-Not-About-Forefoot-vs-Heel Notes

The foot-strike debate, demystified: the the-debate-misses-the-point (the forefoot-vs-heel debate missing-the-point — the the-debate; the the-misses-the-point; the the-not-the-issue), the the-where-not-how-you-land (the WHERE-you-land (under-you) mattering-more-than the-foot-part — the the-where-not-how; the the-position-over-part; the the-the-real-issue), the the-heel-striking-can-be-fine (the heel-striking being-fine if-you-land-under-you — the the-heel-ok; the the-if-under-you; the the-not-the-enemy), the the-dont-force-forefoot (the dont-force forefoot-striking (can-cause-injury) — the the-dont-force; the the-forcing-hurts; the the-natural), the the-fix-overstriding-not-footstrike (the fix-overstriding, not-the-foot-part — the the-fix-overstriding; the the-not-footstrike; the the-the-real-fix), the the-cadence-is-the-lever (the cadence as the-real-lever from the cadence-training chapter — the the-cadence; the the-the-lever), the the-natural-is-usually-best (the your-natural-strike usually-fine if-landing-under-you — the the-natural; the the-usually-fine), and the frame (overstriding and foot strike through the overstriding-problem, the fix-your-footstrike-method and it’s-not-about-forefoot-vs-heel — the land-under-you and increase-cadence fix that prevents-injury, minus the forefoot-vs-heel obsession; the form, fixed). Overstriding — reaching your foot out in front and landing on a straight leg — is one of the most common, most injury-causing form flaws (it brakes, jars and stresses joints). Fix it by landing with your foot UNDER your body — mainly by increasing your cadence (shorter, quicker steps) with a slight ankle lean. And skip the forefoot-vs-heel debate — it’s about WHERE you land (under you), not which part of your foot; heel-striking is fine if you’re not overstriding, and forcing forefoot can cause injury: the running form, fixed.

Overstriding — reaching your foot out in front and landing on a straight leg — is one of the most common, most injury-causing running form flaws (it creates braking forces, impact and joint stress). Fix it by landing with your foot UNDER your body, mainly by increasing your cadence (shorter, quicker steps) with a slight lean from the ankles. And skip the forefoot-vs-heel debate — it misses the point: it’s about WHERE you land (under you), not which part of your foot. Heel-striking is fine if you’re not overstriding, and forcing a forefoot strike can cause injury. Fix overstriding via cadence, not foot strike.