I've always wore "normal" joggers, been running, playing sport etc without a problem for decades.
Swapped to minimalist shoes, and bam, had shin splints for months, I assumed it was the amount I was running for a while before I realised it was just the shoes and their lack of support.
Went back to my normal shoes and got insole supports for my new shoes, the shin splints went away very quickly.
Turns out a lot of what works for you differs based on your foot shape. I happened to have a very high arch, and my foot couldn't handle the shoes with a low platform because it caused me to pronate. So either I go barefoot or I go decent support.
I'm a little heavier than the average runner and was getting shin splints in regular running shoes on the "back side" of my leg. Switched to barefoot shoes (and probably didn't build up slowly enough) and had Achilles tendon issues. It fixed the shin splint problem for a while, but then they reappeared, this time on the front side of the leg.
I'm now on insole supports and regular shoes, but still not able to run as much as I'd like without the tell tale signs of shin splints showing up.
I suspect my running gait is partly to blame, but it's surprisingly difficult to change this after years of one method.
Barefoot running feels a bit like pedaling a bicycle backwards, compared to the common running style.
It's imprecise language, to be sure. I think it's more about where you're concentrating the force. If you look at the .gif that 'WalterSear shared down-thread, you'll see that the greatest force is just before the heel lifts, not after.
That's the difference, I think, between "pushing off" with the heel or the forefoot: where, specifically, in the stride the maximum force is applied.
Oddly enough, I expected that running with that cadence would fatigue me much faster, but midway through my first run, I found myself being less fatigued than my previous technique.
Also, try to keep your head in the same virtual horizontal line. Head/torso going up and down can cost up to 40% more energy.
For extra points, your torso shouldn't be swaying, arms moving should be enough.
YouTube marathon runners for Olympics and look at some training videos for in depth info.
Just had to point out this delicious tautology.
Anyway, I don't think you can sum up correct running form in words, or if you can then it's not useful. My advice would be: keep your tempo (steps/minute) around 170-180, do ankle mobility work and hip/glute strengthening. A high tempo lessens time in air each stride and thus velocity when hitting the ground, lowering impact on joints. Ankle/hip/glute work will stave off most muscular imbalances, which are the root cause of many form problems.
Just had to point out this tasty contradiction. ;)
They process is entirely different.
I don't think treadmills are silly at all.
If you live somewhere flat and you want to train to run up mountains when you go on holiday a treadmill is a useful tool. You don't get the thinning of the air but they can give you access to long steep gradients you wouldn't otherwise be able to train against.
As a cyclist, I use a smart trainer and Zwift for much the same sort of training.
So what is going on in this picture?
https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-05-2014/hQcYHP.gif
I see the maximum force being applied just as the heel leaves the ground. Maybe the maxima is >just< slightly after, but the heel is still involved.
Pushing off refers to forwards, longitudinal force. Walking and running are commonly modeled by inverted pendulums, and the best time to increase the energy of the pendulum is at the extreme of the range of motion. The middle of the swing is the worst time to add energy to the system.
Or think of it physiologically. If you are adding energy mid-stride, the gluteus maximus is responsible for producing all forwards force. (Which might be a fair assessment, humans's are unusually large for mammals.) Adding energy at the end of the stride allow the gastrocnemius to provide thrust as well.
i think everybody agrees that the forward sprint is in the end of the step, from the ball of the foot
Having gone through a variety of shoes, I'd like to caution people about the minimalistic shoe trend, especially if you run mostly on pavement. It's true that overly cushioned shoes can cause heel strike and poor form. But switching to ultralight shoes can cause much worse problems. Ultralights provide little/no lateral/pronation support, increase exposure to rolling and road hazards due to the more flexible sole, more easily pinch nerves and ligaments on the top of the foot, and make it harder to relax your leg muscles (increasing the likelihood of irritated ligaments and cramped muscles).
If ultralight shoes work for you, that's great. But if you're a casual runner, I would urge you to visit a good running store that analyzes your gait, and try on a variety of models. Many shoe makers assume a particular shape of foot. You need to try a number of shoes to see which ones fit you best. Don't try to pick the most or least cushioned shoe based on some mantra you've heard.
Also, "pushing off with your heel" is not a thing. It's impossible to finish the liftoff from the heel while running. You can talk about the angle at which most of the liftoff force is delivered, or whether the heel descends to contact the ground at all (vs. running on your toes), but you don't push off with your heel while running.
P.S. The biggest improvements to my running (aside from switching from ultralight back to stability shoes) came from joining a running club, and from buying a Garmin GPS watch and tracking my workouts against my friends from the club on Strava. So the only premise in the article that I agree with is that treadmills are silly :)