What does a gait analysis consist of?
Just as with our other training programs, we believe in a holistic approach to gait analysis. The session will start with an assessment of the athlete’s posture while standing, sitting and walking. I find these observations to be particularly important, since issues in one’s running stride can often be traced back to improper posture during day-to-day activities, and vice versa. The athlete will then be observed and filmed while running at a variety of paces, ranging from an easy endurance pace, to specific race paces and then at their high-end sprint speed. The athlete will also be observed during event-specific workouts to see how their stride responds to fatigue. So the last miles of a hard interval session or long run are commonly observed. For triathletes, we will assess running form under the fatigue caused by a bike session, since the specific fatigue pattern from the bike will have a heavy impact on a runner’s stride. With this information, we are then able to highlight sources muscular imbalances and create a training supplement aimed at correcting these imbalances and improve overall efficiency. After the initial assessment, we conduct follow-up assessments to check on progress and make adjustments to the supplemental program as necessary.
The Endurance Collective 