Not necessarily. Heel strikers have a greater injury risk to the knees, according to a 2013 study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. But running with a midfoot or forefoot strike increases the load on the Achilles tendon, which makes injury of the tendon more likely, a 2017 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found. And while a small 2012 study from Harvard University found that heel strikers were more likely to sustain repetitive-stress injuries, there hasn't been enough research to indicate a significant difference in injury rates between rearfoot strikers and non-heel strikers—they are just potentially prone to different types of injuries.