The gait of any person, especially an athlete, will give an insight as to how they are functioning in regards to performance, as well as the overall health of the individual.

A lot can be understood by looking at a person's form to see what is working well and what is functioning sub-optimally. Take, for example, an athlete trying to run through a hip injury. You would most likely see them running or walking with the affected leg swinging out to the side, trying to compensate for the injury through a shift in weight. Athletes are experts in injury compensation. Many are chronic compensators. They go from one injury to the next, never really completely healing the previous injury, only altering their style and gait, (their body mechanics), until the pain is subdued or eliminated. Soon, that old injury is no longer felt, but a new one pops up, and the compensations must begin again. Sooner or later the body is unable to keep up with all the altered gait mechanics and the individual is stuck with that chronic nagging injury that "comes and goes" or even worse, just stays.

Soon before an injury occurs, a change in gait function can be seen. Sometimes it is such a small biomechanical difference that it can only be noticed if the athlete is video taped while performing. Sometimes it is obviously noticed from the other side of the track. But it is always there, it just usually takes a trained eye to know what to look for.

Everybody has his or her own running style, and that is what makes us all unique. The point is not to make everybody run the same, but help them run better by finding their style.

The first thing to notice in an athlete, or anybody, is the difference in their body mechanics from one side to another. Many people have a longer stride on one side than the other. The side of the shorter stride is usually the problem, or soon to be problem side. The short stride could be due to a tight hamstring or calf muscle on that side; or it could be due a low back problem or foot dysfunction. The person may feel fine, but they are not performing optimally.

Many runners are "shufflers" and get through their miles by shuffling along, barely lifting their legs off the ground. These people have lost a great amount of function in their hamstrings, and sometimes glutes, usually from training too hard or from some other great amount of prolonged stress, mental or chemical/nutritional. On the other end, there are those people who have that really pronounced kick when they run, so they almost hit their behinds. These individuals have some degree of inhibition, or weakness, in their quadriceps, so the hamstrings have nothing to pull them back when they run. This is a hamstring pull just waiting to happen, and they usually complain of tight or aching hamstrings, even though the problem, the true cause, initiates in the quads, the antagonist muscle.

A runner's upper body can also tell a story. There are many people running with their heads tilted to one side. This is known to cause breathing problems, and at the very least, the individual is not able to achieve maximum oxygen intake. The tilted head correlates with a weak hip flexor muscle on the opposite side of the body, which will further alter gait, and result in lackluster performance. Other runners run with one arm swinging way out to the side and the other one tucked right in, aiming straight ahead. Their training partners know what side this is, or else they'd get smacked during every run! This is not "just their style", if it were they'd most likely be symmetrical. Something is going on, and they aren't running as well as they could be.

Another important thing to notice is how you look at the beginning of the run, and at the end. Many people have such a fluent motion in their gait when they start - they have great form, and are very swift and efficient. After 20-30 minutes they look like they ran through a minefield, dragging one leg, swinging one arm out to the other side, scuffing their heals, head dropped looking at the ground. The little things come out when the body is stressed; maybe an injury, a muscle functioning below par, or some important nutritional consideration, as simple as water, or as complex as….not water. (More on that next time.)

The point of the story is this….Gait is very important, yet the only thing athletes often hear about gait is how to practice it. "Work on your form," is what we are told. But the truth is that an athlete's form many times stinks because there is something throwing it off. Trying to push through and alter the gait to make it look better is like painting over rust. The rust (the problem) always wins. This is not at all to say that you shouldn't work on form; it is necessary. It is to say that your gait is a reflection of who you are, from inside to out, and if it don't look right, it probably ain't. If it doesn't feel right, and you just know that something is wrong, then it's important to find out why before the issue escalates and the injury reveals itself. The wonderful thing about your gait is that when it's all working correctly, performance really takes off.

waiting to happen, and they usually complain of tight or aching hamstrings, even though the problem, the true cause, initiates in the quads, the antagonist muscle.

A runner's upper body can also tell a story. There are many people running with their heads tilted to one side. This is known to cause breathing problems, and at the very least, the individual is not able to achieve maximum oxygen intake. The tilted head correlates with a weak hip flexor muscle on the opposite side of the body, which will further alter gait, and result in lackluster performance. Other runners run with one arm swinging way out to the side and the other one tucked right in, aiming straight ahead. Their training partners know what side this is, or else they'd get smacked during every run! This is not "just their style", if it were they'd most likely be symmetrical. Something is going on, and they aren't running as well as they could be.

Another important thing to notice is how you look at the beginning of the run, and at the end. Many people have such a fluent motion in their gait when they start - they have great form, and are very swift and efficient. After 20-30 minutes they look like they ran through a minefield, dragging one leg, swinging one arm out to the other side, scuffing their heals, head dropped looking at the ground. The little things come out when the body is stressed; maybe an injury, a muscle functioning below par, or some important nutritional consideration, as simple as water, or as complex as….not water. (More on that next time.)

The point of the story is this….Gait is very important, yet the only thing athletes often hear about gait is how to practice it. "Work on your form," is what we are told. But the truth is that an athlete's form many times stinks because there is something throwing it off. Trying to push through and alter the gait to make it look better is like painting over rust. The rust (the problem) always wins. This is not at all to say that you shouldn't work on form; it is necessary. It is to say that your gait is a reflection of who you are, from inside to out, and if it don't look right, it probably ain't. If it doesn't feel right, and you just know that something is wrong, then it's important to find out why before the issue escalates and the injury reveals itself. The wonderful thing about your gait is that when it's all working correctly, performance really takes off.