Gait Analysis: A Tool to Precisely Spot Stride Problems and Stop Joint Pain and Injury
For a runner nothing makes them feel better than well, run. Unfortunately in my years of training I too often have met clients who had to quit their first love because of bad knees, bad back, bad feet... you get the point. Many of these runners did not have a balanced approach in their fitness exercise and the same repetitive use of the same muscles caused muscular imbalances which overloaded some and weakened others. Strength training with a more balanced approach to fitness should help prevent muscular imbalances. A certified trainer should be able to give you a plan for a balanced approach to maintain muscular balances.
According to the Wall Street Journal article by Matthew Futterman, Gait Analysis: The Serious Runner's Salvation:
It isn't running itself that's doing the damage, a growing number of physicians, physical therapists and exercise scientists say. It's the way people run. Too many runners stride too far out in front of their bodies, or land with their legs at awkward angles.
A gait analysis of a runner's stride is a tool that can be used to see where there might be running inefficiencies in your movements and to indicate possible muscles that are over shortened or over lengthened. With that information a certified trainer can give you an exercise program for the runner to get all their muscles firing synergistically.
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