Using Footstrike Trainer to adapt your footstrike

Do you know how your feet land when you run? Which part of your foot would you say hits the ground first, the rear- mid- or forefoot?

Many of us may think we know our footstrike pattern, but studies have shown that lots of us are wrong. Often runners who stated they were midfoot or even forefoot strikers were then shown via analysis to be rearfoot strikers.

Interesting, but why does it matter?

The importance of footstrike and whether there’s a preferred way for your feet to land is a hotly debated issue on the running scene. It’s often said that a rear footstrike is less desirable, and that transitioning to a mid- or forefoot strike could help reduce or shift the load being put through your body, reducing your risk of injury and boosting your running economy (the amount of energy it takes to run at a certain pace).

While many coaches and biomechanists dispute the efficacy of one footstrike over another, learning about any differences in behaviour between your feet and spotting trends in how your footstrike changes over the course of a run could help to improve your running. Monitoring your footstrike can also provide some insights into your running as a whole … which is where Footstrike Trainer comes in.

What is Footstrike Trainer?

Footstrike Trainer is a new NURVV Run feature available as part of a NURVV Indoor Run workout. As you run, Footstrike Trainer provides a real-time visualisation of your footstrike on both the left and right foot – so you can see exactly how your feet land each and every step.

This data lets you make the connection between how your foot landing feels and the type of footstrike you’re using – so you’ll know how a forefoot landing feels compared to rearfoot for example. You can also see if your footstrike is the same on the left and right foot or whether there’s a mismatch. A mismatch could suggest imbalances higher up the chain, and may be an indicator of injury risk.

Using Footstrike Trainer

Footstrike Trainer is invaluable for correctly identifying your individual footstrike pattern, and it’s also a key tool if you want to make any modifications or transition your footstrike.

Designed to be viewed in real-time, with your device placed on the treadmill, Footstrike Trainer can help you follow a footstrike retraining programme. If you want to transition from rear to midfoot striking, for example, you can identify how that midfoot landing feels and then run short intervals on the treadmill using your new footstrike. Gradually building up the length of these intervals over time will help train your motor patterns so the new footstrike becomes habitual.

Want to see how your footstrike pattern translates to your outdoor runs? You can do this using NURVV’s Footstrike Profile graphs.

Where to find Footstrike Trainer

To access Footstrike Trainer, simply begin an Indoor Run. Once the run has begun, swipe the screen to the right to get to the Footstrike Trainer screen.

As well as seeing real-time footstrike for each foot, you’ll find percentage values at the bottom of the screen. These show a 10-second rolling window of the most common footstrike type being used on each foot.

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