Do We Need Gait Analysis?

[mrrun]

I was driving for hours, then sat on a plane with barely any legroom for some more and the knee didn't like it, felt like a distant dull pain but hey-ho, all was fine soon after. I forgot about it, running felt ok but then the discomfort hit back a week later.

Being a former injury magnet I never hesitate to seek help hence I googled the best local sports physio (thank you so much Vitalis center in Zadar, Croatia). Their doc spotted that my right knee 'caved in' by a very small margin which threw me off balance and created tension which presented me with a minor inflammation, which led to discomfort that finally ended up as pain. My shoes had passed their best, my custom cut insoles, well....I should've changed them......three years ago....and the physio advised me to visit a gait analysis guys back home, have it all checked out, possibly get new insoles & shoes.

And so I did straight after my return. They looked at me and filmed me running, measured all sorts of stuff, cut my new insoles, found some great shoes for my tender feet (after years of loyalty to ASICS, I defected to Brooks..) and I felt an immediate and positive change there and then. I 'felt' taller, more in control, felt as if my hips were facing forward in an even line, the movements felt easier and natural. Steve, the tech maestro, thinks the new insoles would last approx 2000 miles (or three pairs of shoes), and I got myself another period of fun ahead of me. 

Then again, I read on this forum that some runners didn't feel much of an impact after gait analysis. Has anyone had a bad one where they thought that not much happened in terms of any improvement?

(btw, that ceiling was a good meter away from my head, it's just a camera angle) 😉

[CBDB]

I have to admit I think a gait analysis didn’t work quite as well for me as it did for others. It was a great shop. We came away with three pairs of shoes for three people in my family.

I bought a pair of New Balance Hierros, which felt great but I did develop Morton’s Neuroma from these shoes, and only switching to wide toebox Altras did the trick long term.

I still wear the Hierros, but make sure I don’t wear them for longer than a week or two. They feel great when my calves are tight, as they have a heel drop of 11mm.

But I kind of had that feeling that in terms of different brands, they did not have much choice and suggested a shoe fitting to the gait analysis from a very limited choice of brands.

So we did not get much options, and only afterwards when I did my own research did the whole breadth of choice of shoes become clear to me.

What struck me particularly that they did not talk to us about heel drops and toe boxes or cushioning or stack or specific features of the shoes.

So huh… kind of … meh… but still ok experience.

(We were of course excited getting new pairs of shoes)

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to CBDB]

Yeah, l can see the difference. I found this place through recommendation, they are staffed with runners and the tech chief talked me through the proceedings, explained the footage of my running as well as shots of impact on my feet, explaining what was happening. I could see the difference between the feet, and details were discussed. Plus, they had a large selection of shoes to wrap it all up. My local gait analysis place is poor in comparison and they initially put me off gait analysis completely (l could tell they were not really trying hard and their shoe selection was limited). I got lucky later on!

[Jools2020 Half Marathon]

I bought my original trail running shoes online without a gait analysis. They were Salomon shoes with an 8 mm drop. I liked the colour. They were fine, but after graduating C25K I wanted to run on the roads so I bought another pair of Salomon shoes. They were fine, too!

They lasted for a few years. Except of course they didn’t and my the time I actuality checked the treads they were almost flat in parts on the road shoes! I suppose I was lucky not to have injured myself.

I finally had a gait analysis in about October last year, and as I suspected my gait was ‘normal’ (I did a ‘wet foot’ test) so bought a couple more pairs of running shoes. Both pairs are fine. The gait analysis seemed thorough and the assistant went into a lot of explanation. I didn’t try on many shoes. They all felt comfortable!

I guess it’s easier to buy running shoes if your gait is ‘normal’. I think the drop in my new trail shoes is 11mm but to be honest I don’t notice anything other than they’re comfortable. The trail shoes feel a little more…’bouncy’.

I now monitor (through Strava) how far I’ve run in my shoes. It’s already time to think about replacing my road shoes! I’ll probably just buy the same shoes again.

So although it was good to have a gait analysis to check, I didn’t really notice any improvement from the shoes I had before.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Jools2020]

With me it all started with injuries. My shoes were ok but not ok for my feet. I didn’t have a clue. Injuries hit my knee, then my ankle. I didn’t wear insoles. Then l started a lucrative (for her) relationship with my physio. God knows how much l spent on getting fixed. It was her who asked me to go and a check a proper gait analysis center, probably feeling sorry for me and my glass body.

Then l learned that my feet were different and very flat, that my hips were out of sync and my gait was the stuff of comedy. My weight ‘distribution’ meant that l was putting pressure on one knee which then sent more pressure onto the opposite ankle. A miracle that l could run at all. But then, they fixed me.

Customised insoles fitted inside my perfect new shoes hugged my thin flat feet. The difference was enormous, l could run without effort and without discomfort, l completed C25K and went to cover marathon and ultra distances supported by my new gear. Without that proper gait analysis and correct footwear l would have probably quit running there and then. 🤷‍♂️

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to mrrun]

I think you’ve done incredibly well to have persevered! I have heard horror stories about gait analysis being misread and making things worse. I think if I’d had problems with pain while running I’d have given up.

Coincidentally I had an email from Strava this morning asking me to think about replacing my road shoes!

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Jools2020]

Thank you! Giving up in my case was not an option. My lifestyle (for decades) was, well, quite untidy, and cardio exercise was a must. Running was the only choice out of three, the other two being swimming (I love swimming in the sea but not sharing chloride laced pools with many others, and swimming has to be regular to have any effect on cardio) and cycling (what? In London? hahaha, I love my life) hence persevering with running (I even repeated C25K due to injuries). I simply got lucky with all the support that I managed to find.

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to mrrun]

I agree with you wholeheartedly about swimming. I don’t like swimming pools and adore swimming in the sea (but I’m spooked if there are jellyfish around!) I was swimming earlier this year on the Welsh coast when I spotted a jellyfish. Never swam so fast in the opposite direction and out of the water! And like you say it has to be regular exercise anyway.

I’d love to ride and I live near Swinley Forest which is perfect for bike riding, they have trails! But I haven’t got the confidence to do that by myself. So for me it had to be running, too!

Yes perhaps you got lucky, but in any case you’re reaping the benefits now. 😊

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

I have never had a formal gait analysis. The local running shop worked out that I needed a bit of stability just by watching me walk from behind. My physio picked up my high arches, gave me a strengthening regime and I moved on to Brooks Adrenaline because of the stability and 12mm heel drop. Worked a treat! I use them for everything. I think much depends on the knowledge and experience of the person doing the analysis.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

My body stability was an issue at first but the gait analysis helped me enormously on that front. And recently they also moved me to Brooks Adrenaline to improve and tweak my shortcomings. I'm a late bloomer, so I guess when I enter December in my final trimester I will be an absolutely formidable machine. 😂

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

My knees (and back) don't like sitting for long either, everything just closes up and I can feel all bunched up. That’s one reason I doubt I’ll ever do a long-haul flight again as my body would just be crushed.

You raise an interesting subject. I think there are two different types of gait analysis. The first one is the bog standard you'd probably find in a decent running shoe shop or sports shop and it’s usually free. Their intention is to sell you a pair of shoes so I wouldn’t expect too much from the analysis. Having said that, it was the owner from such a shop who told me years ago that he thought I was “over protected” in my shoes and suggested a neutral to go with my orthotics. I’ve never looked back and have worn neutral shoes ever since and I have only him to thank for that observation.

The second type of gait analysis is a more specialist encounter and one that you pay for. I had my very first one a year ago from a sports podiatrist who had all the equipment and machines and he talked me through all the photos and graphs so that I understood the impact of that little turn of foot or whatever. He was very thorough and he has kept me right since. He can also suggest the right custom made orthotics which can change things dramatically. Will see him once a year for a review so that I am on top of things.

Despite all of my positive experience with gait analysis I don’t depend on that alone for keeping me pain-free. I still think it’s a combination of lots of factors, but primarily strength training. And that is a different post altogether!

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Absolutely - strength training, stretching, even diet and hydration (rich on electrolytes). Hang on, these are several different posts!

And no, I couldn't go through a long-haul flight again without pacing the aisles repeatedly but then, imagine other innocent passengers seeing that weird old bloke hovering about for hours? Doesn't help if you're a nervous flier.

[nowster Metric Marathon]

Just a glimpse at your photo tells me you very slightly overpronate.

There are two approaches to fixing:

* Insoles, as you have. This works for most people.

* The totally insane route of trying to fix your feet by building up their strength. This only works if the reason you're overpronating is because the foot is too floppy. This is what I did by wearing toed barefoot shoes.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to nowster]

Thank you but I think the second approach is not insane at all, on the contrary. I am looking at exercises for foot strengthening and I'm already doing some by practising martial arts where standing on one foot while doing other fidgety stuff with the rest of the body coordinates and improves one's balance and strengthens the foot. It's a process!

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to mrrun]

Some would say it's mad, including some medical professionals (certainly in years gone by).

I have noticed that wearing zero drop has improved my posture a bit and also my ability to stand around waiting, something that would usually lead to much foot discomfort.

There are no instant results. It took me about six months before I noticed that my damp footprint showed an arch for the first time in my life.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to nowster]

How did you come to that decision?

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to mrrun]

It's a long story. Grab a brew…

Many years ago I was in an amateur production of a farce called Wild Goose Chase (which originally starred Leslie Phillips in the West End). I was in the main role, which meant I was on stage from about page 8 until the end of the play. The character was hiding from some hoodlums and as part of that he assumed several disguises.

One of these was as a Miss Gribble, which required a quick change into lady's garb (and out of it), for which I was glad of some backstage assistance. (One of the lines included, "I'm a Lady!" which went down well as Little Britain had recently been on TV.)

Anyway, for this I needed some very long plain socks as the disguise had a skirt. To speed up the costume change I'd wear them throughout the play even when I was in trousers. Could I find any that were appropriately sized? After much searching the only ones that had a hope of fitting my shoe size were ones that had toes in them. But they worked.

Afterwards I actually got to like the uncramped feeling of socks with separate toes and ordered some more.

A year or so later I was trying to get new insoles as the ones I had were about ten years old by that point. The old ones had been EVA rubber but new ones were hard plastic with minimal cushioning. The podiatrist had put in a bump feature to correct the lean of one of my heels which actually gave me a blister on a short walk.

Whilst I was getting that fixed a chance exchange in an online forum went something like this:

- Oh, you like toed socks. Have you tried these toe shoes that are out nowadays?

- I couldn't wear them. I've got flat feet due to hypermobility and wear orthotic insoles.

- Ah, but they're good for that. They build up your feet.

If I had the chance of getting away from those uncomfortable insoles I thought maybe I should try it. I got a pair and wore them round the house like slippers for a few months, wearing "normal" shoes outside.

Eventually I got the confidence to be seen in public wearing them, and even got a second pair. That took about four months. Then I gradually expanded how long I wore them, going to full time after about six months. The sweaty footprint was in the heatwave of May 2012, about ten months after I started wearing them.

It would be another eight years before I thought about running in them.

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

That is one fascinating story!

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to nowster]

Brilliant story 👍😀

[Magellan Marathon]

Putting insoles in my shoes has changed my life, literally. There's nowhere in my country that does gait analysis, I might get one done next time I go to England which will be in about a year. But in the absence of gait analysis I went to a doctor who told me my problem would be solved by arch support. A variety of insoles which do what the doctor suggested, and a PT newly-arrived on the island who has given me amazing strengthening exercises, have made all my knee pain just disappear. I also ordered some running shoes from England which have built-in arch support, and they took the standard two months to arrive, but they're like running on clouds.

I suspect that if I'd had gait analysis done, I might have known earlier what sort of shoe I should be wearing.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Magellan]

I had literary no idea what shoes were right for me, and that money had nothing to do with comfort. Never thought that l needed any insoles and never connected my discomfort and subsequent injury pain with any of the three. For months l would be running clueless until the fine day when somebody said, hang on mate, you should check that out, here’s the place. A literal game changer for me.

[drl212]

I recently did a gait analysis at Runner's Need - Kensington. I had had the correct shoe type for over-pronating but it didn't have the extra space (upsizing by a half-size). That really has changed the comfort of my running and added a bounce to my runs (kissing the ground someone says...).

I'm wearing Hoka Asahi 7's. Love them...

Great post and replies! Thanks everyone.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to drl212]

It seems we visited two great places in the same neighbourhood 😀

[drl212 in reply to mrrun]

Where did you go? I'd love to have a second opinion when these shoes wear out...and I'll ask for Steve...

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to drl212]

Profeet, Fulham rd 😀

[drl212 in reply to mrrun]

Thanks, I'll have a look!!!

[Zev1963 10 Miles]

I had gait analysis when I began to run (C25K) back in 2014. It was at Runners Need in Birmingham, which has since closed. They simply told me that I needed neutral shoes, and so that is what I've used ever since. Began with Brooks Ghost, then Adidas Glide Boost, then Asics Gel Cumulus, and currently Nike Pegassus, which I like best now.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Zev1963]

Shoes were my problem although not as serious as insoles - those l needed badly. Once they paired them with proper shoes, l ran like a deer. 😀