Foot Contact when Running: Splay when your foot lands…
INTRODUCTION
Your foot contact is a pivotal moment in your running gait. That’s an understatement, I know!
How your foot contacts the floor influences the forward propulsion you gain. Forward propulsion helps us move forward.
I have a simple coaching cue for you that will increase your foot contact efficiency. This will help you store and release more movement energy through your body.
You will Run Better as a result of this cue. So let’s dive deeper into foot contact and why ‘Splay’ is so important in this phase.
BRIEF EXPLANATION OF FOOT CONTACT WHEN RUNNING
There are 3 phases to foot contact. The moment that the foot contacts the floor in our running gait is 'Initial contact’. That's the very first point the foot touches the floor.
We then roll through to the point where the whole foot is contacting the floor which is ‘mid-stance’.
The final part of contact is 'toe-off'. This is where the big toe is about to leave the floor.
The optimal foot contact I will describe to you in more detail. Please bare in mind, like most things, what works for one person may not work for another.
We want to land on the 4th and 5th metatarsal (midfoot area). Then the big toe comes down, then the heel kisses the floor to allow the arch to pronate or soften into the floor. This stores movement energy and helps the arch spring. This is your body’s natural shock absorber.
If you heel strike your gait will look different to that description. Also, if you are a front foot runner that never brings their heel down, the above description won't fit how you run.
That means, as the foot hits the floor the toes will spread out to absorb the shock. They then work with the arch of the foot. Creating a spring to release the stored energy from the shock absorption to help you run.
More on this in a moment, let’s look at…
QUICK FUN FOOT FACTS
25% of the bones in your body are in the foot. 26 bones to be exact.
There are over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments in each foot.
If you’re a 65kg person, each foot step is absorbing roughly 250kg of weight.
Sweat glands in the feet excrete half a pint or 500ml of moisture daily.
The average person walks 115,000 miles in their lifetime.
Wearing high heels increases the pressure in the foot by 75%.
How amazing are your feet? Are you starting to think about your feet in a different way yet?
WHERE SHOULD YOUR FOOT BE WHEN IT LANDS?
The foot position should be under the hip which is closer to the centre of gravity. This will reduce the braking forces travelling through your leg. These braking forces are what you would see from a runner that is over-striding. This pushes the foot out in front of the hip when landing.
To influence where your foot lands relative to your hips, you would need to have a high cadence. I’ve done two previous podcasts on Cadence and Foot Landing. You can go back and get some more knowledge on this subject by listening to these episodes.
It’s important to remember that foot contact happens in under a quarter of a second. Trying to bring conscious awareness and effort to your foot contact may cause you to feel a bit clumsy. You could mess up or slow your foot contact down. This could lead to an issue with your form or worst case an injury.
I will give you a toe splay exercise and coaching cue towards the end of this episode.
INCREDIBLY FAST, CHECK THIS OUT: Your foot contact will be anywhere from 1 tenth of a second to 2.5 tenths of a second. The elite runners will average around 1.5 tenths of a second. So you can see how important it is to get this part of your running gait right. There is minimal room for error!
PLEASE don’t obsess with that description of optimal foot contact. This is not the cue I want you to focus on. Remember you don’t need to fix something that isn’t broken. We all have our own tendencies that are unique to our body. There isn’t an absolute perfect running form that fits everyone.
An important part of foot contact is what the toes do in that moment of ‘SPLAY’ or not to splay!
This affects the whole running gait. Get this right and you will receive strong stabilised lower legs in return. Great glute activation helps to stabilise the hips. Adding extra oomph to your stride, also reducing potential issues in your lower back.
The arches of the feet will be strong, supple, energy efficient springs. They also rely on the big toe to push into the floor to activate the muscles in the arch. Having strong, supple arches reduces your risk of plantar fasciitis.
WHAT IS ‘SPLAY’ WHEN MY FOOT CONTACTS THE GROUND
If you Google ‘Splay’ the verb definition states:
‘thrust or spread (things, especially limbs or fingers) out and apart'.’
So, when our toes spread out in our walking or running gait that is SPLAY!
Did you know that your toes spread or ‘Splay’ up to 15% their normal width when your foot comes into contact with the floor when running? Or at least they should be allowed to splay up to 15% wider.
Most modern running shoes don’t have wide enough toe boxes to allow your toes to splay. This results in a whole host of problems in the body.
Even if you choose the ‘wide’ option in your running shoes. You can only get an authentic wide toe box from a more minimal/barefoot style shoe.
If you have narrow feet and think that you don’t need to buy wide or minimal because you have enough space. You may want to check if your shoes do allow your toes to splay. Splay your toes whilst standing on top of your shoes. If your little toe hits the edge or goes over the edge of your shoe this indicates your shoe doesn't fit.
Remember your feet are your foundations. Build a house on rubbish foundations, you will get cracks appearing up the walls!!
I love this quote from Beacon Physical Therapy. It's a great anatomical description of what is happening in the foot, they say…
HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE YOUR SPLAY TO HELP IMPROVE YOUR FOOT CONTACT?
You've taken in all this information about foot contact and splay. I’m now going to give you a useful coaching cue that you can use to maximise your foot contact. Help reduce your injury risk and improve your running efficiency.
Start with this simple exercise then add in the cue to splay as your foot lands. Practicing this exercise is the exact motion you want to make when your foot contacts the floor.
SPLAY EXERCISE: Do this barefoot, anywhere, anytime. Spread your toes as wide away from each other as you can and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat this 6 times for a total of 60 seconds, this is one set. Do 3 sets of this exercise.
If you haven’t done any work on your feet or toes it can feel frustrating at first. Think about separating your big toe from the little toe as far away as you can. Create gaps in-between the toes and hold.
This activity of spreading the toes is the exact coaching cue I want you to focus on when running. When you are confident that you can control splaying your toes you can start doing this when running.
As your foot is about to come into contact with the floor, think about splaying your feet in this way. You should feel the extra stability and strength this motion gives you.
You should feel like your foot is more connected to the floor. A simple, effective cue that is going to help you run better.
You may notice the arches of your feet start to strengthen. With this strengthening comes aching muscles. If you find your feet ache, this is a normal response to strengthening muscles.
SUMMARY
Foot contact is important to help you run more efficiently, reduce your injury risk and to ensure you can run at high speeds.
Your feet are amazing! Choose your shoes a little more wisely.
Your foot should be able to splay up to 15% it’s own width.
Do this splay exercise to strengthen the feet.
Do the splay motion as your foot is coming into contact with the floor for more effective foot contact.
If you need a running coach, message me.
HOW TO CONTACT ME
Do you need help with your foot contact? Or you need help with your running in general? Contact me through the following ways:
Instagram: @runbetterwithash
Email: ashfoster1983@gmail.com
Online: runbetterwithash.com
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