What the heck is a running analysis?

Hey runners!

Perhaps you have read about a running analysis, seen it done somewhere, or know someone that had one done.  They are pretty cool (I love doing them here at the office) so I wanted to share with you my take on a running analysis.  I know that a lot of the running stores do “running analysis” but from my experience, these are only looking at your feet and trying to determine which type of shoe you should wear.  My take on it is much more comprehensive.

First, a running analysis is PERFECT for any runner that is having some pain during or after running.  From my experience, 9 times out of 10 it is due to a fault that is visualized on the running analysis.  It’s also really great for runners that want to improve their performance and shave time off their PR.  Or maybe you’re both…you have some pain and want to improve your times because maybe your goal is to train for a half marathon.

So, a running analysis consists first of a full evaluation to look at muscle strength, mobility, restrictions or limitations.  This helps me pull together all of the pieces of the actual video analysis.  Then I have the runner run on the treadmill and we record it on video at various stages and placements.  After that, I use a software system to slow the video down to a fraction of the speed and analyze every aspect of the runner and generate a report based on the findings. From there, it depends on what we found but the majority of runners I see, typically require a few drills to implement or a few sessions at the office to train the muscles.  Other times, we have to alter the running mechanics to eliminate the pain.

Below are a few pictures from analyses that I’ve done that show important findings.

If you want to learn more about the slow motion video analysis (we also do golf, baseball and cycling), email us at Brenda@Revitalize-PT.com or visit our website.  We love working with runners to help them achieve their goals without having to run through pain constantly and train for their goal (one of ours went to Boston!).

Knee alignment is poor and runner complaining of significant knee pain during running

Measuring knee flexion angle during the stance phase of running to determine power and running economy

Measure knee flexion angle to assess running economy

Angle of heel strike and amount of knee flexion as the foot is hitting the ground

Using Kinesiotape for Knee Pain with Runners

Have you watched the Olympics and noticed all of the colorful tape that a lot of the athletes were wearing?  Did you wonder what it was and what it did?  Well the tape you’ve seen is called Kinesiotape.  It’s a special tape that has quite a bit of stretch to it and it was specifically designed to help give proprioceptive input, decrease swelling, activate or inhibit muscle activity, and decrease pain.  I’ve recently started a video blog series for the month with 4 videos total and today’s video teaches you how to use kinesiotape to help eliminate knee pain with running (or other sports that involve running).

Some tips for using Kinesiotape:

• Don’t buy the pre-cut strips since you will end up wasting quite a bit of tape that way
• Buy good quality Kinesiotape because there is a difference between the cheap and expensive brands (the cheap stuff does not stick well)
• You can leave it on for several days, as long as it lasts without peeling off and the tape can get wet in the shower.
• Pay attention in the video with when you should apply stretch and when not to stretch the tape since you do not want to stretch it when you are anchoring the ends down.

Hope you enjoy the video and are able to give it a try at home.  It may not resolve your knee pain depending on the cause of the knee pain but it’s a great DIY technique that you could try first.  Email me at FitandTonedWI@gmail.com or you can book an appointment with me if you’d like to learn more or are having knee pain.