I was just wondering if anyone had gone beyond the basic gait assessment that they do when you buy a new pair of trainers and gone to a physio or other specialist to have their running style/biomechanics analysed to point out flaws in running technique, muscular imbalances etc??

This is following on from a thread recently about how injuries always develop on one side of the body, I'm interested to know what's causing muscle fatigue predominantly in my right leg, whether it's muscle imbalance, running style or what... and very interested to see what could be done to improve my running efficiency etc. I've got payday on monday and fancy treating myself, but don't really need any running gadgets/clothing, so wondering if this would be worthwhile!

Anyway, I'm not expecting a huge number of responses on this, but I'd be interested to hear anyones comments and thoughts? Anyone know roughly how much they'd cost?? (figure that came to my mind was £100-£200?)

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Runners Forum Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Been, Gone, a complete success
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Well I've gone it alone and found myself a place - it's not particularly local but having chatted with them I love the sound of what the process involves, so willing to make the journey. Booked in for Tues 25th March afternoon.

Basically It should take about an hour, and I'll come away with a 10 page report on my biomechanics, useful hints/tips and a guide of which shoes would suit me well. Okay so I make it sound pretty pants but I reckon it'll be very interesting and worthwhile.

Cost is £50 which I reckon is pretty reasonable (darn sight better than the £100-£200 I was expecting), and I shall report back on how it goes, whether you're interested in reading about it or not

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Runners Forum Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Been, Gone, a complete success
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08

Hi Richard,

I would be interested to hear what they have to say, beings as Ive only just started running.

Please keep us posted.

Shaz

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It's an interesting question Rich which is why i posed it in the first instance .

Maybe it's a question you could put to the experts i think the info could be very useful do you agree?

take it easy

Cheriton

Well I've been and had it done... and really enjoyed the whole thing!

Perhaps I drove a little far - and the pessimists could describe it as a glorified gait analysis similar to that you'd get done when buying new shoes, but I felt it was well worth the £50 of my hard earned cash that I handed over. I dealt with Colin at Solutions for feet in Bicester, who i'd happily recommend to anyone for the same analysis - he sure knows his stuff!

In a nutshell, I turned up, got changed into my running kit, and spoke briefly about why i'd come for an analysis, any existing problems, anything causing me grief etc...
I ran on the treadmill in my running shoes, then ran on the treadmill barefoot, and was videoed from the rear in both instances ready for analysis of my dynamic biomechanics.

My details were tapped into the computer and we were ready to go through the rest of the process.

Static
Colin asked me to perform a few simple tasks and looked at my feet to study my static biomechanics.
From this I learned that my feet have:
- Normal arched feet
- Callusing under metatarsal heads (causes of which were explained)
- enlargement of the 1st n 5th metatarsal head
and a few other bits and bobs that i'm going to read into further.

I have neutral static leg axis, and I have good (normal) flexibility in my upper ankle joint.

Dynamics
The dynamics study was most impressive, basically Colin took me through my running motion and explained what was happening at each stage of my gait cycle, it was quite obvious that my left knee dropped inward slightly (fermoral rotation inward) and that my right knee rotated quite significantly inward - this related perfectly to the knee pain I'd started to suffer as I'd upped my mileage (it either caused pain on the inside of the knee or the ITB, I forget now which one!).

I have a slight Pelvis instability, when my right foot is on the ground the left hip tilts downward - caused by weak right gluteal (arse) muscles, I think the piriformis was mentioned in particular. No problem when my left leg is on the ground though - this relates perfectly again to the knee pain i've noticed with increased mileage (that is the pain on the OTHER side of the knee caused by my right knee dropping inward - i just forget which item relates to which side of the knee, lol)

Stride Pattern
My feet don't overcross as I run, and my foot rotates normally (I naturally stand with my feet in a slight V position).

Furthermore I'm a confirmed heel-striker (which of course I already knew), I over-pronate slightly (though less than I originally thought) and I toe off over the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal heads (fairly neutral I believe).

I was taken through a number of strengthening exercises that should help me resolve these issues and improve my running efficiency and a number of stretches to go with them.

Finally we talked about shoes. It turns out my current trainers (Asics Gel Kayano's) provide a little too much support for my level of overpronation, and I was given a list of 10 particular shoes from various brands that would be best suited for me.

A bit of a long post I know, but I thought I'd share my experience. For the price I would sincerely recommend it to anyone who's half serious about running, or anyone who has any niggles etc from their running. I'm so much happier now that I understand what's going on underneath me while I'm running!

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Runners Forum Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Been, Gone, a complete success
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i'm glad this one had a happy ending Rich half way through i was going to ask Trin to borrow her gun but i 'm glad i read on

I had a problem with too much cushioning it was causing my big toes to flick up and within four days a brand new pair of 90 squid trainers were consigned to the bin.
Did you ask about the high incidence of problems to one side of the body in so many runners ? don't worry if you didn't Imean you paid to have yourself analysed after all

From what Colin was saying, although obviously not the exclusive cause, generally it's through the muscular imbalances we develop simply through the way we're built - I also asked about if there's a preferred method of foot striking (i.e. heel striking or forefoot striking) and Colin was of the opinion that it really didn't matter, though midfoot striking was considered the most forgiving.

Sorry for the long and boring post... but I couldn't think of a better way of conveying all the bits and bobs that were assessed!

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wasn't boring just had to keep flicking to wikipedia every other word

Were there any chocolates??

Sounds most impressive, I would love to get this done on me one day

Sounds very thorough and not bad for £50!! Out of interest, which shoes did he recommend?

I've got a list at home - I'll check once I finish work and post the list

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Runners Forum Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Been, Gone, a complete success
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08

Interesting Richard.

Certainly sounds like he knew his stuff.

Personally I like free advice.Like you gave me to wear my running shoes around the house to support my injury.

Mind you.....The wife wasn`t too impressed..........:eek:

I don't think you were supposed to wear them around the house after a cross country run Dave!

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

Richard didn`t point that out Steve...............

Trainers recommended for me were as follows...

Model -Application
Asics Gel-Trail Sensor Gore Tex -Training and Trail
Mizuno Wave Nirvana 4 -Training and Competition
Asics Gel-DS Trainer 13 -Training and Competition
Saucony Progrid Triumph -Training
Mizuno Wave Rider 11 -Training and Competition
Mizuno Wave Inspire 4 -Training and Competition
Asics Gel-Trabuco 10 WR -Training and Trail
Asics GT-2130 -Training
Mizuno Wave Elixir 3 -Training and Competition
Asics Gel 1130 -Training

Free advice is fantastic, but I doubt I'd ever have learnt this much info from a free source. It wasn't essential that I did it but I had the money to spare and I felt it was far more useful to me than another few running tops or something so I went for it

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Runners Forum Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Been, Gone, a complete success
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08