Grounded runners experience less severe ground reaction forces compared to runners who run with a flight phase

Grounded running is slow running without a flight phase. When young, athletic men changed their spontaneous running pattern – containing a flight phase – to grounded running, musculoskeletal and impact loading decreased. However, no information is available for runners who spontaneously perform grounded running. This study compared natural grounded runners with natural aerial runners and showed that measures for musculoskeletal and impact loading are respectively 10 to 16% lower for the grounded running group, which might have implications regarding the occurrence of running-related injuries.