Comments on: Slow Motion Gait Analysis – You Be The PT Part II

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 04:25:47 +0000

Lots of comments on the heel and foot, however the problem is in the left hip. If you freeze the frame from behind as soon as her left foot strikes the ground and flattens out her right hip drops. When you freeze the frame on the right hand side the pelvis is level. She would need to retrain her hip strength and motor control on the left hand side. Also from the side view she runs very upright and has minimal shock absorption. She would need to retrain with more hip flexion and working in getting her torso to have a bit more flexion. Check out Chris Powers stuff. All based on research

By: Miranda Hughes

Miranda Hughes — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Is she injured right now? I also noticed the assymetry with the right heel-strike in the shod view. I wondered if she is favouring one leg due to pain. However, as someone who has never seen rear-view running gait video, what struck me most was the jarring pronation that occurs in the shod view from the rear. It's totally gone in the unshod video. Is that typical? It's quite something!

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to RunningPT12.

Kent,

She just saw a new doc today, and he found restricted range of motion
in the left ankle among other things. We plan to post a follow up,
probably after her next appt.

Pete

By: twincitiesrunner

twincitiesrunner — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Pete Larson.

It looks like she supinates more with the shoes on. Perhaps the shoes just exaggerate the visual aspect of this. Did she have her orthotics in during the video? If she has been running for years with the orthotics, yet the problems persist, maybe it's time for her to make some unorthodox changes in how she runs and the footwear she chooses.

By: Nicki Barker

Nicki Barker — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I'm a little late to join the conversation here, but there's one thing I don't think I saw anyone mention (although I apologize if I just overlooked it, it's awesome how popular this thread is!). I'm a personal trainer and a long time runner, so although I'm very interested in the biomechanics of running I'm definitely not a Dr., so I could be totally off base with this idea!

Lauren, has your Dr. or PT ever mentioned anything about pelvis twist? I'm not talking about up or down, but forward and back. I'm not sure what the term for it is, but there is a postural misalignment where one side of your hip is slightly more forward than natural. Because your body always wants to go straight ahead, you'll unconsciously roll your opposite shoulder forward to counteract the forward hip. If I understand it right, the easiest way to tell if you have something like this going on is to stand relaxed in front of a mirror. If your posture is good only your thumb and index finger should be visible (ie, the palm of your hand is turn directly towards your body). If you can see the back of your hand (ie, your knuckles) in the mirror it means your shoulders are "rolled forward." (As an aside, mainly because of things like computers and long commute times this posture is very common and most often coupled with the forward head posture.) Now the key is if you can see the back of one hand but not the other it means your torso is twisted a tiny bit and the opposite side pelvis has rotated forward. A friend of mine who's a PT was saying that if you have something like this going on you often have to correct the twist before you can successfully address any other postural problems that can contribute to undue tissue stress. Of course even if you have a bit of twist in your pelvis I have know idea if it that's contributing to your IT problems, but it may be worth finding out.

Hope you get this IT problem licked!

By: Craig Richards

Craig Richards — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The question for me is not whether or not we can identify the causative biomechanical abnormality (with no clear evidence in the literature to guide us), but rather why hasn't Lauren herself spontaneously corrected the problem?

The painful feedback from her knee should have led to sub-conscious compensatory changes in her gait to reduce the stresses on her knee causing the problem. Why hasn't this occurrred?

Is it that she is over-riding this process by consciously trying to maintain a particular running style that is placing increased stress on her knees? Is it simply that she is a highly motivated runner and has trained herself not to respond to pain? Perhaps it is that she is running with a gait that allows her to perform optimally in the shoes that she is wearing but at the cost of increased stress on her knees?

Irrespective I would recommend that Lauren focus on optimising her body's ability to care for itself. This means decreasing the biomechanical and neurological impedance created by her shoes (decrease heel lift, decrease cushioning). It means Lauren allowing her body's sub-conscious processes to re-take control of how she runs and her learning to listen to the feedback from her legs rather than a fixed training program when determining how far and how hard to run.

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hopefully, I'm not repeating what was already said in previous feedback from initial posting (heel strike, etc). What I'm noticing from these videos is that Lauren's right hip seems to drop as her right leg comes forward. Also, her right shoulder drops lower than the left. As she swings her left arm forward, her torso twists.
When Lauren runs without shoes, she has a nice forward lean (good form). It's kinda hard to tell for sure, but it seems that she's still dropping the right hip and right shoulder when barefoot (socks).

Lauren, I hope the feedback here from all of us, combined with your chiropractor and PT comes together to resolve your problem with ITbS injuries. Wishing you the very best with your running career!!

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to bob baks.

Barefoot is the fastest path if you ask me. Some risk if you go to quickly though.

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By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to bob baks.

She went to PA school in Maine, still running as far as I'm aware :)

By: Laurenrich

Laurenrich — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Toddbz.

During the peak of my marathon training I did have a good deal of lower back tightness. This was usually the result of a decrease in hip mobility. Throughout the last month of training I did get
ART a few times a week which helped tremendously!

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Kristen.

I should have added - Lauren has been wearing custom orthotics for many
years, and they haven't alleviated the problem for her. Lately she has been
doing most of her running in the Brooks Launch.

Pete

By: Runningcoach262

Runningcoach262 — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Great video. I suspect that too much is being made of her "overstriding." She has a pretty soft heel-strike and overall her form looks pretty good. I really think the hip drop on the right side and the rotational forces she experiences as a result of the compensation that is going on in her upper body (or vice versa) is the source of her problem. I would also respectively disagree with the poster who suggested that she extends her hips too much. I tend to agree with Steve Magness that many runners try to get too quick with the foot. I believe that pace results from the interplay of both cadence and stride length. The runner who has both a high cadence and a longer stride is going to beat the runner who has a high cadence but a shorter stride every time. I also feel that runners should be told to push from the hips and not from their feet. A host of problems can develop when runners don't untilize their hips enough and instead ask too much of their feet and lower legs. In my humble opinion, the fact that one of her hips may not be as up to the task of force application and is therefore causing compensation elsewhere is worth considering.