What running shoes to buy?
What is Pronation?
What is Gait Analysis?
How do I know if I Over pronation?
How do i to choose a good pair of running shoes?
Which are the best running shoes for me?
I'm not a fast runner, I don't think I need gait analysis.
Here at Running Form we get asked these questions a lot, and the principles are actually quite simple but there's lots of confusing information out there. So to start with here's a little index of what these terms all mean:
Pronation - It's where your foot strikes on the outside of the heel and rolls gently inward until the foot flattens off. Pronation is a good thing! It is your body's natural form of cushioning the body as you make contact with the ground.
Over-pronation - It's quite simple... the same as above, it's just the foot rolls inwards a bit too much (or a lot!) which can put extra strain on the soft tissues and joints in the lower legs and hips.
Supination (or under-pronation) - The foot simply doesn't roll inward when the foot strikes the ground, so you haven't got any natural cushioning when your foot strikes the ground.
Gait Analysis - Where we look at your lower leg alignment and how your foot strikes the ground. We look at ensuring you are pronating in the most natural way possible, and offering just enough support to ensure that excessive pronation doesn't occur. Gait analysis is not about being a fast or good runner, it's about minimising your exposure to injury. Sometimes it's quite the opposite, often faster more dedicated runners do gym work and strength training, core strength work and may see a physio or coach regularly to maintain their strength and physique to optimise their performance and reduce the risk of injury which often means they are less likely to over or under-pronate.
We pride ourselves in offering a thorough service to find the perfect running shoe for you. Our Video Gait Analysis takes around 25 mins and is carried out by one of our highly skilled shop staff. We start with some static tests, looking at the shape of the arches of your feet, and ask you to do some simple squats and one legged squats to see how your feet and ankles, knees and hips move. Then get you running in a neutral shoe (one without any support) and we video this on a high speed HD video camera. We play back the footage and talk you through what's going on with your alignment as you run. From here we will bring some shoes out that we think may be suitable, and video you running in these and finally we play the video's side by side at the end to establish which shoes look the best. In addition to looking at the alignment, we also want feedback from you on comfort and fit, it's ok having good alignment....but you're the one that has to shed blood sweat and tears in them! They need to be super comfy!! Combine our expertise and your feedback and we have a pair of race winners.
We are confident you'll love our service and shoes, that if you don't we will be happy to exchange them for another pair should you have an issues with them.
If you wish to visit our store for a Gait Analysis to get your shoes fitted by one of our experts please feel free to call us on 01283 563331 or send us a message via our contact form.