You must undertake a running gait analysis if you are considering improving or changing your technique. This is equally true if you have an injury and want to identify the root cause. In chapter 3 we discussed the factors that could help you decide whether technique change or improvement could be warranted. In this chapter I will explain how to analyze your running technique and that of other runners. Whatever beliefs you have about your running, gait analysis is the best and most objective way to understand the way that you actually move. I’ve often thought it would be handy to run with real time vision and feedback from three or four different camera angles - unfortunately this isn’t going to happen, so we need to rely on sensory perception. Studying vision of your running will identify problems and add a layer of awareness that helps regulate your running technique when there are no cameras or coaches to help you.
Implications for injury diagnosis. The most useful thing I did before I commenced improving my technique was to take some video footage of my running. I was injured at the time and struggling to find a diagnosis that made sense. I placed the video on a USB stick and took it with me when I made a series of appointments with some professionals. I also asked anyone else who I thought could make a sensible contribution. A more practical approach would be to take a page of notes about your running gait that you have made after studying your video (what you’ll learn to do in this chapter). These notes may be observations and questions you might have for whomever you are seeking advice from. When injuries arise we tend to look at our shoes, training and running surfaces before considering technique. I know I was stuck in this mode of thinking. After doing the research and thinking about the topic, I’m convinced that you should look at those factors, but only after thoroughly analyzing the way you run. You can also take your footage along to a specialty running shoe store to help choose appropriate footwear based on your running mechanics.
Chapter objectives. This chapter provides
the information you need to record yourself running and interpret
the results with a simple gait analysis. As I indicated earlier,
it’s definitely worth showing your video to a range of experts
(both paid and unpaid) to see what they can pick up. Like most
problems the more sets of eyes and brains you have pondering the
problem, the quicker you’ll solve it. In summary, at the end of
this chapter you should be able to set up the equipment to record
and interpret your (or another athlete’s) running technique
by:
- having a list of equipment you may need
- understanding how to capture the necessary angles on video;
- knowing how fast you should run during your video;
- knowing what to do if you don’t have access to a treadmill;
- using photography to supplement your video analysis;
- answering a mental questionnaire about your running;
- interpreting technical attributes, strengths and weaknesses:
front, side, rear, low side (foot strike), stride rate and
sound.
Equipment and location. Contrary to popular belief you do not need a million dollar treadmill, space age software and technology to do a meaningful gait analysis. Perhaps if you are flirting around the margins of greatness wanting to measure if your hip and knee angles are the same as Sebastian Coe’s then approaching a fully kitted out sports science lab might be warranted. For the rest of us regular runners and even for high performers, a regular check-up running on a normal treadmill or the track filmed with inexpensive video equipment is probably all we’ll ever need.
Treadmill. There is no doubt that having access to a decent treadmill is the easiest way to capture footage of your running technique. This discussion is based on the premise that you do. You may have to beg, borrow, but hopefully not steal a treadmill. However, the concepts can be equally applied if you can’t get access to one - I’ll cover some suggestions later on alternatives.
If you have a gym membership, they will be sure to have a treadmill, however most gyms will have a policy about not allowing video equipment in on the floor (for privacy reasons). My suggestion is to make friends with the owner or manager and try to arrange a time when it’s quiet. Reassure them that you will not be filming anyone but yourself and you might get lucky. Alternatively, try a specialist running shoe store - many of them have a treadmill in-store and the owners and managers of such stores are likely to be sympathetic to your cause being runners themselves. Finally, you could ask a friend or relative with a treadmill; just make sure it’s robust, fast and set up in a location where you can film from three sides around the treadmill.
For the purists, I agree that treadmill running is a little different to running on normal surfaces. There are a number of differences that have been analyzed (Baur, et al, 2007); however for the purposes of getting some useful information relatively easily, it’s worth pursuing. Personally I hate running on a treadmill, it’s boring and it feels weird because the ground is literally moving towards you. In terms of technique, I believe that ground contact times are slightly longer and you may appear to have a slightly more stretched out back-swing action. The bottom line, despite any minor differences, is that it remains the easiest way to get some footage of your running technique.
Video camera and tripod. This does not need to be a professional grade device. Most digital cameras costing one or two hundred dollars and mobile phones have video recording capability these days. However, I recommend a camera that has the capability to be mounted on a tripod. It makes things easier and takes away from distracting wobbles from your shaky-handed mates.
Some cameras, including one that I have been using, have the capacity to take slow motion video (on camera function) and/or burst mode photography (e.g. 8-10 shots per second). Both these functions are handy, but not absolutely essential. If you plan on coaching, then it might be worth investing in some specific technology - otherwise stick with what you already have available. You’ll find that some basic video editing programs have the ability to slow down the footage once it has been loaded to your computer. Save the money for another pair of running shoes! Finally, if you have the capability to record sound this may come in handy for the crash test.
Shoes and clothing. It’s a good move to analyze your running technique on a regular basis, especially if you are making changes or improvements. Therefore setting up a relatively repeatable benchmark for future comparison is worth doing. This means wearing the same or similar shoes and potentially clothing each time you run on the treadmill.
In terms of shoes, you should try to wear the same model each time you film yourself running. I’m in two minds about exactly what type of shoes you should wear. Some researchers are beginning to have runners wear Nike Frees with the intention of making the analysis as natural as possible. I’m in favor of this, but if you don’t wear frees or other minimalist footwear then I would pick the shoe model that you normally train and race in or wear for your tempo running training sessions. You want to wear something that you normally do that does not cause any pain or discomfort. In my last analysis I went for the Nike Free 3.0 model because I was specifically interested on how well I was maintaining stiffness in the foot as it left the ground. The Free, with its flexibility would expose any weakness in this area, whereas a racing flat has a stiffer structure that could mask problems. I would always prefer a relatively light neutral shoe rather than a heavy motion controlled clunker when analyzing your running technique.
If you use orthotics you need to be guided by common sense, your injury status and the advice of your physical therapist. It could be worth doing some slower running without the orthotics to get a sense of how you are moving without their intervention. However, if you are used to wearing them, I wouldn’t recommend cranking it up to your race pace without orthotics as this could lead to injury.
What you wear can also be important, wear as little as possible - I’m not advocating a nudie run around the gym, but you want to see as much of your body as practicable. So keep your compression tights in the closet and wear your running shorts or briefs - this will allow you to see more of how your legs and hips are moving and identify any visible surface muscle activity.
Angles and other elements. At minimum you should try and cover two to four angles. These angles and the attributes you can see from each are summarised as follows:
Side. The most important angle as it gives you a view of knee flexion and extension, hip flexion and extension and the position of foot contact relative to your body. You can see all phases of the gait (preparation, contact, back-swing and forward-swing) very clearly from this angle. Excessive vertical movement can also be identified from this perspective. Arm carriage, motion and timing with the legs can also be analyzed. Finally, the position of the torso and head is easily viewed from this angle - look for excessive forward lean at the waist and/or drooping of the head towards the ground. If you were to be completely thorough you should take video from both sides. Most of us are uneven, so it could be worth doing this if you have the time or you suspect unevenness is causing problems.
Rear. The rear angle provides a good view of the trajectory of the legs under the hips and feet as they follow through under and behind the body. You can get some clues about hip weakness from this perspective by watching for legs that track directly underneath or even across the body. Look carefully at the angle of the thigh - if it is tapering inwards this is a sure sign of problems. Be sure to compare what is happening with both legs and both sides of the hips. From this angle you can pick up and side to side motion, changes in pelvis angle that are evident with the hips dropping or rotating excessively.
Front. The best angle for picking up whether the athlete is running with their feet under the hips or along a central line. You can also get a feel for the foot/ankle angle at initial contact by how much of the sole of the shoe you can see front on. This perspective also tells you something about the overall balance of the runner by detecting excessive side to side motion and even problems with arm swing and carriage e.g. too much action across the body.
Low side angle. At my most recent analysis I was frustrated because it was difficult to make out the exact moment of foot contact. It was tricky to pick up exactly when this moment occurred and which part of the foot kissed the treadmill first. Setting up a camera on a small tripod at the height of the treadmill surface will allow you to discern when this moment occurs. It will also tell you which part of the foot is contacting the ground first and the pattern of movement while in contact with the ground.
Stride rate. American coaching legend Jack Daniels and his wife counted stride rates for elite runners at the 1984 Olympics, they found remarkable consistency between races of all distances and for both sexes (rates were slightly faster for 800m and 1500m runners). Since then the stride rate of 180 (Daniels, 2005) per minute has been generally accepted as the benchmark for efficient running. You can easily count strides on the treadmill, but I’d also suggest trying this when you’re out on your regular runs. I usually count over 30 seconds and multiply the result by two - anything longer than this and I lose track of how many strides I’ve taken.
Sound. There’s no doubt you can learn something from how loud you are when you contact the ground. Heavy landing equals a loud landing and this is generally not a good idea. I used to be very loud, you could hear me running from a long way off, it’s one of the reasons I’m sure that I never saw any wildlife on my forest runs: These days I can sneak up on a kangaroo because my technique has changed for the better! So if you have a microphone on your video camera make sure the sound is on. While it’s not the only thing to think about, it will at least be interesting to see if you are lighter on your feet at subsequent technique check-ups. Note: some treadmills are pretty noisy so take note of how loud your landing is compared to other runners at training.
How fast? So how fast should you be running when you take your footage? Well, it depends on whether you are injured and how fit you are. If you’re injured and unfit it might be worth doing something very slow (only if it’s not going to make things worse) so you can get more information for your diagnosis and eventual return to running. If you are injured and can run, then jog at your easy pace, do not try and run at race pace. If you can run a bit faster then try running at tempo/lactate threshold pace: see Daniels’ Running Formula, (2005) for guidance.
If you are generally healthy then I would recommend doing the test at tempo pace. If you have the luxury of lots of time and you’re in good shape then you might consider running at easy pace, tempo pace and perhaps race pace to see what changes occur as your speed changes. I use tempo running pace because it’s reasonably fast and allows you to be comfortably in control of your running mechanics. If you are a distance runner then a lot of your training will also be done at this pace. This therefore provides the most reliable benchmark for future comparison.
If you don’t have a treadmill. Don’t despair, because if you have access to a running track or grass oval then this will suffice. In reality, having someone to video you running on a circular running track during your preferred race distance is the best analysis of your technique. The high pressure of competition will bring out any weaknesses. I plan on taking footage of my next entire 5 or 10km track race. It will be interesting to see the changes over the course of the race. You can also make some assessment of your technique from any photographs you have. Often fun runs have on-course photographers (and video footage) so even if you don’t have someone to take some photos, you may be able to access these online after the race.
Photography. I’m a big fan of looking at photography in conjunction with video to help analyze running technique. Even if you don’t have any video you can learn from reviewing a collection of photographs of yourself or another runner. Clearly it will help if you have photos that are taken at different phases of the running gait cycle, but even if you don’t they can still be useful. The reason I like looking at photos is because the distraction of movement is removed. Because running happens so fast and is incredibly complex, even watching slow motion footage can be confusing, individual elements get lost and you may miss something important. If I use myself for example, here are three shots of me running. By reviewing these I can pick up technical flaws without needing video.
In this photo above you can see my front leg is fully extended and ahead of my body; I’m about to crash-land straight legged on my heel into the ground. There is evidence of over dominance in the quads and hip flexors and you can also see how little back-kick I have and how spread out my technique is. There is no evidence of any hamstring and glute strength or the use of these muscles in generating thrust to the rear. My arms are also held very wide in an attempt to maintain balance using this unstable technique.
In this shot above I’m hurting bad, but aside from that my hip is dropping. You can also see how low the carriage of the swing knee is and a clear drop in my pelvis. This is a sure sign of weak glutes - amongst other problems. The angle of the thigh tapers in towards the centre line under my torso causing the foot to land centrally rather than under my hips. You can see additional taper in the lower leg and the resultant twisting and instability at the ankle.
In the photo below we can see some improvements in my technique, with much more evidence of stability and drive from the hips.
Mental questionnaire. Before you complete your gait analysis it’s worthwhile spending some quiet time during and after your normal runs reflecting on how you perceive your running technique. You can then compare this to the reality of the video gait analysis – it also gets you started on developing an awareness of the muscle activation and movement patterns that are responsible for producing visible and measurable attributes in your running technique.
Some questions to ask as you run:
How do I start running? What is my first impulse to create the running movement? Do I push back with my legs or lift and thrust them forwards?
Where and how is my foot landing? Is it a long way ahead of my body? Can I see a lot of my foot and shin as I run? Is it landing under my hips or do I run a central line? Do I land neutrally, on my toes or on my heels?
What happens when I run faster? Are there any noticeable changes? Does it hurt more? Do I still feel in control?
Using your gait analysis in injury diagnosis. One of the major benefits of having some footage and photos is that you can conduct some preliminary analysis of the results. You now have vital information to discuss with your physiotherapist, podiatrist or other health professional. Keep in mind these professionals usually work on relatively short consultation times. Therefore they try to piece together information about your injury based on the physical symptoms you present with, some functional tests (e.g. flexibility, strength and balance) and details about your training and injury history. Having footage and prior analysis of your running technique gives them a richer source of information to diagnose, treat and help prevent re-occurrence of any injury.
To get the most out of a visit to a physical therapist I suggest phoning ahead to try and set up an appointment with the therapist in the practice with the most knowledge and experience with running injuries. Sometimes it takes a runner to know a runner, so maybe lean towards someone who shares your passion and understands your pain. However, a word of warning, just because someone is a runner doesn’t mean they are a great therapist - I’d always take a better non-running therapist than a bad running therapist if I had the choice. In this initial phone call ask them whether they will look at your footage before or during the consultation and what format they can view on their computer. If in doubt, borrow or take your own laptop. Alternatively, you could just play back some footage on your camera if the screen is big enough.
I’d be very wary of any therapist who is not interested in looking at your footage. If this happens, find another professional to help you. I would put this in the same category as a therapist who tries to diagnose an injury without touching the problem area.
Brian’s gait analysis (pre-technique change). This footage was taken in August 2009 after a relatively successful cross country and road racing season where I achieved best times over 10k and 15k. However I became injured in the right calf and the area behind my right knee. After being frustrated in not being able to get a diagnosis and not knowing what caused the injury, I decided to get some video footage taken to analyze what was going on. In a way this moment marked the beginnings of writing this book. It was never intended to lead to this; I just wanted to learn how to run properly, the lack of easily available and understandable information on the topic convinced me it was worth a book on the subject. In these videos I am running at 15kph or 4 minute kilometer pace. I am conducting this summary with the benefit of the knowledge I have now - at the time it didn’t tell me much at all.
Preparation: My knees snap out to full extension close to the point of contact due to the hamstrings not engaging and my quads and hips flexors thrusting the leg forwards. The result being crash landing and high braking forces on the heel with no movement of the leg back towards the body before contact.
Contact: The leg is stationary at contact, relatively straight with the foot well ahead of the knee. There is extreme dorsiflexion (toes pointed up) leading to an exaggerated heel strike. The leg travels passively under the body tracking under the centre of my body mass rather than under each hip. There is no rear thrust being developed and the technique is also very unstable – the arms are held wide for balance and the hips drop with each stride. Contact time is long and the foot is floppy as it begins to leave the ground. The hips, knee and ankle are all unstable, from the front you can notice me leaning to the left side as the hip begins to collapse and then excessively rotate which is evident in the shot from the rear.
Back swing: The swing leg is stretched behind the body and delayed from overtaking the support/contact leg. The swing heel does not reach horizontal: evidence of weak and inactive hamstrings. From the side you can see there is very little air time, both legs are almost always in contact with the ground - perhaps I could have made a gun race-walker!
Forward swing: The swing leg doesn’t flex at the knee much, making for a longer lever and slower return into forward swing and the next stride. The end of forward swing is ground contact rather than movement of the thigh back towards the body before contact.
Brian’s gait analysis (post-technique change). I have uploaded some recent footage of my technique so you can get an idea that it is possible to make improvements. I now run with my hamstrings and glutes generating thrust and movement and I carry some muscle around the butt and hamstrings, whereas in the earlier videos the muscle was in the quads with a completely flat back of thigh.
On close analysis of these videos you will see distinct differences. I’m not saying I’m technically perfect by any stretch, but I am continuing to improve my technique by training smart and making my strength and coordination program just as important as my running sessions. I have made some notes below based on reviewing my recent gait analysis video. See if you agree.
Preparation: The knee is now well flexed before contact and there is some evidence of movement of the thigh back towards the body prior to impact with the ground. All the stabilising and thrust generating muscles around the hips, knee and ankle are all active prior to contact. The hamstrings can be seen activating ahead of contact.
Contact: Foot contact is under the knee, closer to the body mass. The foot is still held in excessive dorsiflexion but on closer analysis contact is being made closer to the mid foot. The hips are more stable and the thigh tracks under the hip rather than under the centre line of the torso. The feet begin to leave the ground with much less dorsiflexion (floppiness). There is more flexion of the hips and knees on support.
Back-swing: The foot and heel now get higher than horizontal, evidence of much better hamstring activation and generating a faster return to hip flexion. The swing is not as stretched out, still some rotation around the hips but much less than before.
Forward swing: The heels get much closer to the buttocks enabling a faster transition into the next stride. The swing leg overtakes the support leg while it is still under the body mass.
What I’m still working on: I still believe I have a great deal of improvement to make in my running technique. This is encouraging because it means I’ll continue (I hope) to improve my personal best times without having to training too intensely or at huge volumes. Because I’m not trying to get to the Olympics I really want to enjoy my running and be as injury free as possible. By focusing on technique I can improve and reduce my risk of injury simultaneously.
Early activation of the glutes and hamstrings. The main area I’m focusing on is earlier hip extension and maintaining an optimal posture. I’m certainly thinking about this as I run, but I think the answer will come about by continuing to improve the strength and coordination of my hamstrings and butt in the gym. Stronger, more supple and elastic hamstrings will translate the forward motion of the leg in terminal swing into rear thrust earlier.
Co-activation of antagonist muscles. I also have a problem on my right side in that my Rectus Femoris (the antagonist to the hamstrings and a major hip flexor and knee extensor) is kicking in too early. You can see the implication of this in that my right leg in back-swing does not reach quite as high as the left leg. This is a hangover from my old technique where the quads (including Rectus Femoris) were doing the work creating forward motion. The answer here again is in the gym and through concentrating on getting good flexing of the hamstrings during running. Strength training improves coordination of the muscles working together - one aspect of this reducing antagonist co-activation. This is a fancy way of saying your Rectus Femoris is firing at the same time as your hamstrings are trying to extend the hip and flex the knee. Another way of putting this is that the Rectus Femoris is trying to thrust the leg forwards when the hamstrings are trying to drive it backwards.
Excessive dorsiflexion in the ankle and foot. Another hangover from the bad old days is the unnecessary dorsiflexion in my foot and ankle before landing. Under my older technique this was probably done to get ground clearance as my leg carriage was so low. Elite runners tend to run with a neutral foot which makes the transition to plantaflexion easier and therefore ground contact times faster and force application from the larger muscles more efficient. As an interesting aside if I think about holding my ankle neutrally rather than in heavy dorsiflexion (toes pointed up) it tends to break the cycle of early activation of the rectus femoris. There must be a neural pathway in there somewhere that still needs a little more reprogramming.
Posture. One of the best bits of research I found in writing this book was the evidence that the posture of joints directly impacts how efficiently a muscle will work and how powerful it can be. In this book I’ve advocated maintaining good posture about the hip and knee as well as upright posture in the trunk/back. Common sense says this is a good position because of the increased leverage at the hip joint, but it also indicates that the hamstrings and glutes are likely to work more effectively because of the posture. Greater leverage and greater strength combined – bonus! This is definitely something I’m continuing to work on - my current love affair with barbell squats and back extension exercises in the gym is where the answer lies. Having sufficient strength in the glutes and hamstrings to maintain that posture is not easy to develop (unless you’ve been doing it since birth).
Arm swing. As I indicated earlier this is an area that I can definitely improve on. Ever since I attended a coaching seminar and heard Ron Warhurst speak so passionately on the topic, I've been starting to focus on this a little more in my running. So far the results are encouraging and I'll be writing more about this on my blog.
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