Running is a popular athletic activity. At first glance, it is an exciting scenario to see the runners on the field. We barely know that there’s a secret to their endurance and strength that sustains them from start to finish, running gait.
If you want to become an efficient runner, this post will walk you through it. You’ll be introduced to important things about the running gait and how you can benefit from gait analysis. The physiotherapists in Singapore have valuable insights into them. Find out what they say.
What Is a Running Gait and Why Does It Need Gait Analysis?
Running gait is simply your style of running on foot which comes with five phases: stance, loading, mid-stance, toe off, and swing. Each cycle starts when the foot touches the ground and ends with the same foot touching the ground.
“Your running gait, comprising five phases, is the way your foot strikes and leaves the floor with each stride,” says Gordon Crawford, a British triathlon champion and former coach for the Scottish national team.
- Stance – the first strikes of the foot to the ground.
- Loading – when the heel hits the ground to the moment the forefoot touches down.
- Mid-stance – when the heel starts to lift, and the forefoot flexes.
- Toe-off – when the foot leaves the ground.
- Swing – the time between your foot leaving the ground and touching it again.
To check your running gait, it is essential to have a treadmill at home. An indoor running gait analysis helps you to get initial understanding of your running gait and core control. The physiotherapists in Singapore may help you to understand better this crucial factor of efficient running.
Three Types of Running Gait
- Under-pronation – when arches are higher, placing the body weight on the outside foot and smaller toes. It creates pain in the heels, Achilles tendon pain, and shin splints.
- Over-pronation – when the arches of your foot land flat on the ground that is different from the usual. It causes strains on your muscles, tendons, and ligaments that support arches leading to foot and leg injury.
- Neutral – the normal pronator that lets you wear any footwear designs that support the arches.
Is it Possible to Have a Running Gait Problem?
A gait problem can occur without complete awareness of your running mechanics. The foot interface with the ground and posture are the most common contributory factors.
“It’s really common for runners to not actually know how their body is moving and where their body is landing,” says Claire Wood, who specialises in global performance running footwear at New Balance.
If you have a treadmill at home, you can initially do indoor running gait analysis. Take a video footage of yourself while running on a treadmill. Then, study your body movements carefully. Or, face in front of the mirror. Then, observe yourself as you perform an activity.
Four Informal Ways To Check Running Gait
- Recruit a friend to watch you running and ask for feedback if your knees are coming in or slightly turning out.
- Track your running activities and write down things about your running experience.
- Monitor your soles for any wear pattern.
- Wet-foot Method – is used to determine the shape of the arch of your foot to gain estimates of pronation (the way your foot rolls inward for impact distribution upon landing).
Why Use Gait Analysis?
Running has different forms and patterns. Gait analysis will assess if there are irregularities in them that can give you future physical injuries. It checks how your foot rolls and body moves with each stride. It takes 2 to 4 hours in the laboratory, of which you are initially asked to take ten steps without assistance.
In extreme cases, gait analysis helps to find the right treatments, interventions, and rehabilitation programs. That’s why this procedure became indispensable to many people. It gives them a range of insights from minor to major flaws of their gaits.
Who benefits from this procedure?
- People with a history of falling incidents.
- Those who underwent a knee replacement.
- Patients of arthroplasty (a surgical procedure to restore the function of a joint)
- Athletes
- Amputees
9 Biggest Advantages of Using Gait Analysis
- Addresses complex conditions that constitute impairments in the muscles, joints, nerves, and bones.
- Findings can be used to recommend suitable interventions such as braces, medication, physical therapy, and surgery.
- Helps to get the best possible techniques to improve running speed and endurance.
- Tells the right footwear designs that prevent injury.
- Findings are a collaboration by health specialists and highly trained teams making the assessment completely reliable. It involves orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, kinesiologists, engineers, and technicians.
- Provides a valuable assessment of the efficacy of the treatment previously administered to those with issues with gait patterns.
- Shows the extent of damage and recommends the best type of rehabilitation program.
- The quantification of movement is supported by technology to provide quality documentation of data and analysis with a high level of accuracy.
- It detects the potential problems that prevent the progress of bigger health issues.
Takeaways
- Running gait is an individual’s unique manner or style of moving the body with each stride and contact of feet on the ground.
- Gait analysis is an important procedure facilitated by a team of experts with the aid of advanced tools and methods.
- Gait problems can range from minor to serious flaws.
- Gait analysis doesn’t have to be expensive. You can do indoor running gait analysis using your treadmill, mirror, and smartphone camera..
Conclusion
Gait analysis provides a wide array of benefits that impact the quality of life. Keeping it as a part of your healthy lifestyle gives a huge advantage. It helps you to identify running gait problems and how to fix them to become an efficient runner. The cost of taking it up saves you from the nightmares of suffering pains and injuries.
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