1. | Dec 16, 2013

Well since I put my story on here before, I tgohuht I would come back and give an update. I have recently in the last month switched back to heel first in walking. However, I don't heel strike anymore. What I mean is that in the several months I spent walking forefoot first, I learned how to put my heel down without slamming it or shearing it sideways. I figured out I can now do this before putting my forefoot down. I touch my heel down without transferring my weight, feel how hard the ground is, and then land on my forefoot which really means I am spreading the weight across my arch. To keep the weight from going into my heel, I keep it on my back leg as long as possible. The other thing I realized was that when I used to heel strike, I wasn't just putting my heel down, I was also pushing it back at the same time, resulting in a sideways force in my heel, which I think was the real cause of the bruises. Now I just put my foot down and lift it up (stepping), instead of trying to roll through it like a wheel, which is the habit I think I learned in shoes. I switched back to heel first touching because forefoot first walking was causing me tendinitis in my achilles tendon, which has gone away now. I also find this is easier than walking forefoot first (feels more efficient and I can walk faster this way) and I am also using more muscles in the backs of my legs and glutes in walking. I find that for this to work for me, I have to be able to feel how hard the ground is so that means walking barefoot or in very thin flexible shoes with no cushion (I have vivobarefoot with the insole removed). I still land forefoot first when running, but I don't have to try to do it and it is very close to flat footed (mid foot?). I feel that I am basically walking very similar to how I learned from forefoot first which means not overstriding, I just am touching my heel first without striking and this has been much better for my achilles. I feel that I couldn't have got to this point without walking forefoot first for a while.