How Gait Analysis Help in Choosing The Right Shoe

My first running shoe in 2006 gave me a lot of problems.  To begin with, it was not even a real running shoe.  It was a crosstrainer I think.  Then I started to learn about pronation and in choosing the right shoe.  It was not easy.  Selecting the right shoe for me was a hit/miss thing.

Runners are lucky today since a gait analysis is now available in the country.  Our visit at Second Wind Running Store helped Quennie select the right shoe for her.  The right shoe will help you run better and even avoid injuries.  It’s the easiest thing to change once you start having pains and other problems when running.  The shoe might be the culprit.

There are two ways to calculate the degree of pronation.  One, is what they call static based.  This takes the degree of pronation when the foot lands and then subtract the value to 180 degrees.  The other one, is motion-based.  It is the difference between the foot landing and when the toe is lifted off the ground.  A difference of less than 5 degrees is considered normal to slight pronator.  A difference of 5 degrees and above will consider you as a pronator and will need stability shoes to correct it.

Here is our guinea pig to show us how a gait analysis is made with a motion-based method.

Quennie was asked to step on the treadmill barefoot.  Then she was asked to jog at a comfortable pace.  The slow jog provides a more natural movement than running fast for the analysis.  Here is the result.  Wow legs.

Left Foot:  177.9-173.4 = 4.5 deg variance

Right Foot: 185.3 – 177.8 = 7.5 deg variance

Based on the analysis, Quennie was a slight pronator on the left foot (4.5 deg) and an overpronator on the right foot (7.5 deg).  Currently, she is using a cushion shoe for normal pronators and this does not correct her pronation.  This could be the reason why she would feel some pain on her right knee and not on the left knee.

With this information, Hector recommended a stability shoe for Quennie.  Between the stability+lightweight NB904 and the stability+cushioned NB848, Quennie chose the latter.  It was mainly because of the color 😀 but she also loved the bouncy feel of the shoe when she tried it on the threadmill.

Here’s the analysis with the NB484 stability shoe to correct the over pronation on her right leg.  Wow shoes.

Left foot: 182.9 – 178.1 = 4.8 deg variance

Right Foot: 180.9 – 177.0 = 3.9 deg variance

Success!  Notice that both feet are now below 5 degrees.  The shoes has indeed corrected her running form.  Quennie was quite happy about that.  Now what remains to be done is to have the shoes tested on the road.  Watch out for Quennie’s shoe review on the New Balance 848.

If you have some problems with your running, consider having a gait analysis.  The findings might help you reach those running goals and have an injury-free training and race.

The Gait Analysis was provided by Second Wind Running Store.  Second Wind Running Store is located at 88 Maginhawa Street, Teachers Village QC.  Tel No. 799-2089

Visit their website at www.secondwindrunningstore.com