Running Gait Analysis

I won this analysis during a talk on Injury Prevention for Triathletes with Dr. Jaclyn Kissel of Absolute Endurance. I was so excited! I've been trying to educate myself on how my body really functions and how to treat it well and not be as reckless as I've been in the past.

The process essentially involves being put on a treadmill at a comfortable running pace (for me 10kph) and getting videotaped from the back and side for a few minutes. Then the video is analyzed, problems are identified, and appropriate exercises are assigned to correct the poor running form.

I had told Dr. Kissel that I'd only ever been on a treadmill once in my life (for another type of analysis) and I was in a complete panic the whole time that I would fly right off it. I think I was actually in tears. She couldn't believe it and just laughed. But she did start me off slow and made sure I was relaxed before ramping up the speed. I have to say most of the time I was focusing on relaxing!

She started videotaping after a few minutes, and she explained that even though it's a bit artificial on a treadmill, even like this there are many problems that become very apparent. Here were the concerns about me:

Back Analysis:
- My knees buckle waaaay inward with each stride due to weak glute-mins not abducting my legs
- This also causes me to strike with the inside of my feet
- My pelvis is really uneven, as the glute-mins are not keeping me level

Side Analysis:
- I heel-strike, where I should be striking with the mid-foot (metatarsal region)
- I don't kick back high enough and need more Running Cs
- I'm a bit too upright and need to lean slightly forward to let gravity work for me
- I don't raise my legs up high enough and need to open up my stride

Good points:
- My arms move really well
- I'm very steady in the upper body

Exercises:
- Running ABCs (another review, every single one helps to get these down)
- Wall Knee-Drives: lean against a wall with arms outstretched and drive the knees towards it (like a semi-vertical mountain climber), 20secs fast
3x 12 reps:
- Airplanes: standing on one leg, rotate the hips using the glutes - could not activate the glute-mins with this!
- Hip Hikes: standing on one leg, raise the hip straight up and drop it without rotation
- Band Squat: with a band around the legs, push one knee out at a time, maintaining full foot contact
- One-Legged Squat: activating the glute-mins to keep the knee from buckling inward
- Alt. Curtsy Lunges: do a curtsy, taking one knee almost to the ground, avoid hip rotation - loved this one!
- Ankle Leans: leaning slightly forward through the ankles, like MJ

What to work on during running (one at a time over 6-8 weeks):
- Mid-Foot strike
- Spread the legs using the glute-mins
- Lean forward at the ankles

I've been getting so much analysis lately, I'm so thrilled to work on all this stuff.