The Point
What a Gait Analysis Actually Shows
A running gait analysis looks at how you move at speed, then works backwards to why. Filming the run is the easy half. The useful half is assessing the joints and tissues off the treadmill, because what shows up in your stride is usually a symptom of a restriction or weakness somewhere else.
Running is roughly one thousand five hundred repetitions of the same movement per mile. Small inefficiencies do not stay small. A hip that does not extend fully, or a glute that switches on a fraction late, gets multiplied several thousand times per run and eventually something further down the chain complains about it.
That is why the same injuries keep recurring in the same runners. The tissue that hurts is often not the tissue causing the problem.
The Difference
How This Differs From a Shoe Fitting
Plenty of running stores offer a free gait analysis, and they are good at what it is for, which is matching you to a shoe. This is a different service with a different purpose, and it is worth knowing which one you actually need.
| Here | Running store | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Find why you keep getting injured | Match you to a shoe |
| Includes physical assessment | Yes, joint by joint | No |
| Run by | A Doctor of Chiropractic | Trained retail staff |
| Can treat what it finds | Yes | No |
| Best for | Recurring injuries, increasing mileage | Buying your next pair |
On the Treadmill
What We Look At
- Cadence and stride length. Landing well in front of your body sends braking force straight up through the knee and hip. Cadence is usually the single most productive thing to adjust.
- Pelvic drop. How far the hip falls on the unsupported side each step. A strong predictor of IT band syndrome and runner's knee.
- Knee position under load. Whether it tracks over the foot or collapses inward as you take weight.
- Foot strike and ground contact time. Less about which part lands first, more about where it lands relative to you and how long it stays down.
- Trunk and arms. Rotation through the upper body often reveals a stiff mid back rather than a running fault.
Off the Treadmill
The Movement Screen
Video shows what you do. It does not show whether you could do otherwise. That is what the movement screen is for: a structured look at whether each joint has the range, strength, and control the running stride is asking of it.
Ankle dorsiflexion, hip extension and rotation, single leg control, thoracic rotation, and the balance between the glutes and the muscles that keep trying to cover for them. If your hip cannot extend on the table, no amount of thinking about your stride will make it extend at seven minutes a mile.
This is the step that turns observation into a plan, and it is the difference between being told what your running looks like and being told what to do about it.
Who It Is For
Who Should Get One
- Runners with a recurring injury that settles with rest and returns with mileage.
- Anyone increasing distance, moving up to a half or full marathon, or coming back after a layoff.
- Triathletes, where running off the bike loads the body differently. See triathlete care.
- New runners who want to start with the pattern right rather than fix it later.
- Runners who have been told to fix their form without being told which part or why.
The Visit
What Happens on the Day
We start with your history, which for a runner means mileage, recent changes, shoes, surfaces, and where and when things hurt. Then treadmill running, filmed from several angles, at a pace representative of your normal running rather than a sprint.
After that comes the physical assessment, joint by joint, testing range and control. Then we sit down and go through the footage with the assessment findings alongside it, so you can see the pattern rather than take our word for it.
Afterwards
What You Leave With
A short list of what is actually driving the problem, in order of what matters. Specific work to address it, which is usually a small number of exercises done consistently rather than a long programme done once. Any hands on treatment the assessment justified, whether that is Active Release Technique for restricted tissue or joint work where movement is limited.
Where a stride change is warranted, it comes with a way to introduce it gradually. Changing how you run overnight is a good way to trade one injury for another.
Runners dealing with a specific problem may find the pages on runner's knee, IT band syndrome, and plantar fasciitis useful alongside this, and there is a broader overview on the running page.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
It overlaps but the purpose is different. A running store films you to recommend a shoe, which they do well. This is a clinical assessment of how you move and what that is doing to your joints and tissues, run by someone who can then treat what it finds. If the answer genuinely is different shoes, we will tell you that too.
No, and arguably the best time is when you are not. Most running injuries build over weeks before they hurt, so finding the pattern while everything still feels fine is more useful than finding it after you have had to stop. Runners adding mileage or moving up in distance are good candidates.
Cadence, stride length and whether you are landing well in front of your body, how much the pelvis drops on each stance phase, knee position under load, foot strike and how long the foot stays on the ground, and what the trunk and arms are doing. Then the same joints get assessed off the treadmill, because what you see when running is often a symptom of restriction or weakness somewhere else.
Probably not. Deliberately changing foot strike is one of the more overprescribed pieces of advice in running, and it moves load rather than removing it, from the knee to the calf and Achilles or the other way. Cadence and stride length are usually safer and more effective levers. Any change we do suggest gets introduced gradually.
The screening included with a sports physical is a shorter look for major injury risk factors across any sport. This is a deeper assessment specific to running, including time on the treadmill. If you are a runner who wants the detail, this is the one.
The shoes you actually run in, including older pairs if you have them, since the wear pattern is informative. Normal running kit so the assessment can see your knees and hips. If you track your runs, having recent cadence and mileage to hand is useful.
Sources
References
- AAOS OrthoInfo. Recovery and Rehabilitation.
- MedlinePlus (NIH). Sports Injuries.
This page is for education and does not replace an individual evaluation by a licensed provider.