Gait is the way we move our body from one place to another, whether it’s walking, running, hopping or skipping. Efficient gait becomes important when running as the impact throughout the body increases to the equivalent of three times your body weight. Our Run/Swim/Tri store on Grove Street, Wilmslow offers video gait analysis free of charge to help you to help you find the correct footwear, thus helping you to run more efficiently.

What does it involve?
You will be asked to run at a comfortable speed for up to 1 minute on the treadmill while you’re being videoed.

The video is then played back in slow motion and you’ll be able to view the footage of the gait analysis. Based on the nature of your gait, we can then determine which category of shoe is the most appropriate.

You can wear your normal clothes and there’s no need to book in advance. It’s often useful to see a customer’s current running shoes so please bring them with you if possible.

What are we looking for?
It’s normal for a foot to make contact with the ground in a supinated position and then pronate (i.e. roll in) as the foot adapts to the ground.  People pronate to varying degrees and there is no specific amount of pronation which is suitable for everyone.

However, we look to achieve an amount of pronation which allows the foot to absorb impact from the foot strike and maintain alignment of the weightbearing leg.

What categories of shoe are there?
There are two main categories of running shoe: neutral and stability. Neutral shoes provide an equal amount of cushioning throughout the shoe and are used by people who have a moderate amount of pronation. Stability shoes are firmer on the medial side and stiffer in the midfoot, and these shoes are used by people who pronate to a greater extent, often referred to as ‘over pronators’.

There are also more specialist categories, including competition, natural running and trail. If you’re interested in whether one of these categories would also be suitable, please ask instore.

Do I need gait analysis?
Not necessarily. If you’ve used a certain category of shoe for a long period without injury you might be better continuing with it, regardless of what a gait analysis might suggest. As the saying goes: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’!

We also work closely with several healthcare professionals, so if you’ve been prescribed a certain category of running shoe we will help you follow the advice you’ve received.

Visit our store to have your gait analysis measured in our Gaitlab.