If you spend a little time watching running influencers on social media, or look at articles in running magazines, you’ll quickly see people falsely claiming that overstriding is when runners land with their feet “in front of their hips”, or “in front of their centre of mass”. I don’t know how this nonsense misinformation started, but it has spread fast and now seems prevalent in running advice. So in this article, I’ll be answering the question “What is the meaning of overstriding?”, how to check if you are overstriding, why overstriding might create issues, and look at ways to avoid overstriding. I’ll also explain why the “under the hip / centre of mass” advice is misleading.
- What is overstriding?
- What does overstriding look like?
- How to check if you are overstriding
- Why might overstriding cause issues for runners?
- The myth of runners landing under the hips or centre of mass
- What does it look like when you aren’t overstriding?
- How do I avoid overstriding?
What is overstriding? Definition of Overstriding
What is the meaning of overstriding? Here’s the Runningversity definition of overstriding:
Overstriding occurs at the point of landing if the leg is almost static. It results in a runner’s heel landing with the ankle joint in front of the knee joint, with a sudden jolt up through the ankle, knee and hip. It is NOT defined by how far in front of the body the foot is landing.
“Overstriding” is a confusing word for this since it suggests that the issue comes from trying to make the stride too long – in reality Overstriding has nothing to do with how far in front of the body the foot is touching down. It’s actually about the overall leg motion type. Runners overstriding can have very similar stride lengths and landing points in relation to the body as a runner with great form. So instead we need to look at the full dynamic movement.
The dynamic aspect of note in overstriding is leg movement. During overstride, the thigh up till the point of landing is only moving backwards because the calf is being kicked forwards – the thigh flicks back a bit only as a reaction – not because the thigh is being actively pulled back. As soon as the thigh and calf reach equilibrium (almost straight), leg movement stops again. Therefore when the foot eventually touches down, the whole leg starts moving backwards really suddenly, because the ground is speeding past underneath the runner. If the ankle was in dorsiflexion, the foot slaps down to flat against the ground very quickly. The body then pivots up and over the outstretched leg / calf, with a backwards braking vector.
If the ankle is landing significantly in front of the knee, this can be a “point in time” indicator that overstriding might be happening, but good runners can land with their ankles a little in front of the knee too, especially when running fast. When runners are not overstriding, they are already moving the thigh backwards quickly (and thus the rest of the leg too) before the foot touches down, so that when the foot does touch down, the foot is already getting close to matching the speed of the ground. Runners using this good technique, while running very fast, might look like they are landing with ankle a little in front of the knee, but often it’s due to shoe cushion disguising what’s happening. In videos of elite runners, it might look like the heel of the shoe touches down while the knee is still behind the ankle, but when you wait a couple of frames for the foam to stop compressing and become a more solid object, you’ll see the knee is almost directly above the ankle. What really matters is that they are always trying to match the speed of the ground to the backwards movement of the foot, before the foot touches down.
What does overstriding look like?
Here’s a picture below of a runner overstriding. Critically, the foot was not already moving backwards trying to match the speed of the ground, but you can’t see that in a static image. The foot / heel has already touched down. Looking at the white line showing angle of the calf (in relation to the ground), you will notice the calf is leaning backwards, with the ankle noticeably in front of the the knee. This is an indicator that overstriding might be happening.
Their foot has already touched down with force, evidenced in the original video by associated sudden overwhelming change in the angle of the foot in relation to the calf, as the foot has no option but to slap down fast to flat position. In the pic above, the foot has already had one video frame of moving from dorsiflexion (toes up) to plantar flexion (foot flat on the floor, but calf still leaning back).
How to check if you are overstriding
To check if you are overstriding, take a slow motion video of yourself running, from the side, and look at the leg movement and position of the knee relative to the ankle when the heel has touched down. Then compare to the definition above. If the the leg looks like it’s fairly static when the foot touches down, not moving backwards beforehand, you are overstriding.
Why might overstriding cause issues for runners?
Running should be a bit like falling forwards and using steps to keep you upright. If the leg is static when landing and the calf is leaning backwards (overstriding), there’s a short moment during every step while the runner experiences a backwards force vector on the leg – a sudden jolt back up through the ankle, knee and hip while the body has to pivot up and over that ankle, and the leg suddenly starts moving backwards.
Landing with leg moving backwards properly and the calf more upright instead will allow the ankle to bend forwards immediately towards the next step without having to wait for that jolt because the upwards arc movement is eliminated.
The myth of runners landing under the hips or centre of mass
To make forwards progress as a runner at constant pace, your foot has to land in front of you and leave the ground behind you, allowing the body to move forwards over the top. At a constant speed, runners have a very slight forwards lean from the ankle – whether they are running slowly or sprinting, that slight lean is pretty similar.
If you were to actually land your feet under your hips or centre of mass with every step during constant pace running, you’d quickly fall on your face because nothing would be stopping the body leaning forwards more. It’s a literally impossible myth.
The only main time runners land with their feet under or behind the hips / centre of mass is during acceleration, during which we allow the whole body to lean forwards far more than usual, so naturally the feet land further back in relation to the body. The feet also have to step much more quickly and more powerfully to stop the body falling over. Here’s a picture below of a sprinter accelerating out of the blocks, with feet landing behind the hips / centre of mass.
However, as acceleration decreases and the runner nears target pace, the body moves towards being more upright and the feet land further forwards until eventually landing back under the knee again. Here’s a picture of a sprinter that has achieved constant target pace, at the first point of contact. Note the foot is under the knee and both of those are way in front of the hips and centre of mass:
Other times your foot might touch down under your centre of mass are:
– during steep uphill running
– while falling over and trying to catch it!
What does it look like when you aren’t overstriding?
If you are running without overstriding, dynamically, it will look like the leg and foot are travelling backwards at speed before touchdown. In a still image it will likely look like the foot is landing with the knee joint above the ankle joint, as in the image of the sprinter at constant speed above. But what about for endurance runners? Or slow running? Here’s a picture of the complete opposite of elite sprint speed – it’s me jogging slowly (11min/mile pace) without overstriding, at first foot touch:
As you can see, the foot and knee are quite a long way in front of the hips, but I’m not overstriding because the foot is coming backwards quickly before touching down and the ankle is under the knee.
Here’s Kipchoge at marathon pace (4:34min/mile), at first frame of foot touch, with heel under the knee:
Here’s Kipchoge at 9min/mile pace (for him a super-slow jog) at first foot touch:
Here’s Jim Walmsley, one of the most efficient runners in the world, an elite ultra runner, at first foot touch during a 100K race (just under 6min/mile pace). Note that his cadence is 165spm during racing:
Here’s Mutai and Kosei doing some really fast laps. The faster you are running, the more the foot might land in front of the knee, but you’ll note the heels haven’t touched down yet. Their heels aren’t going to touch down in front of them due to an overstriding straight leg – they will be almost directly under the knee once they heel touches down:
It doesn’t matter what speed you are going at – fast or slow, if you are travelling at a constant speed, your foot should not be landing much out in front of the knee. If it is, then it’s a good indicator you are overstriding and need to look at your dynamic movement.
How do I avoid overstriding?
If you take your shoes off and run barefoot on a rough surface like a pavement or quiet road, you’ll have to quickly stop overstriding because otherwise the excess backwards force vector will be trying to shear the skin off your feet with every step and cause blisters / pain. However, that doesn’t teach you what to actually do with your limbs when wearing shoes. So to avoid overstriding, let’s think about the movement required:
Given the definition of overstriding above, to avoid overstriding we need to ensure that the leg / foot is already moving backwards trying to get close to matching the speed of the ground, resulting in an ankle that lands nicely under the knee.
I hope you find the Runningversity definition of overstriding useful. As a coach, I’m always looking to improve, so if you think the definition needs tweaking to improve it, please let me know in the comments below.
