How is Your Gait?

As long as you have good form, whether walking, running, hiking—or any activity where you are using your feet for movement, you stand a better than average chance of not injuring yourself due to a biomechanical problem. But have a pack that rides wrong on your back so you lean to the side, weak abs that make you lean forward, tired arms causing your shoulders to drop, or spent quads cramping up, and your body is tossed out of alignment. This will ultimately work its way down to your feet. As they compensate for your biomechanical problems, your gait and stride change, and your feet develop their own problems. So what is “gait?” We’ll take our definitions from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Its definition is, “Gait is the way locomotion is achieved using human limbs.”
     “Walking is the most common human gait. It involves one foot placed forward with the second placed the same distance beyond the first. It can provide good move speeds with relatively little energy input and low (typically minimal) strain on the body.”
     “Running is nearly identical to walk except that the person is actually airborne once each beat. This is the chief high-speed gait of humans. The beats happen faster and the distance-traveled per-beat is also much higher. This requires a lot more energy than walking. Jogging is a sub-gait of run where the pace is much less and the legs nearly never go out of the body’s centerline.”
     In an article, Gait Biomechanics
 by Stephen M. Pribut, DPM, he describes, “The gait cycle of each leg is divided into the stance phase and the swing phase. The stance phase is the period of time during which the foot is in contact with the ground. The swing phase is the period of time in which the foot is off the ground and swinging forward. In walking, the stance phase comprises approximately 60% of the gait cycle and the swing phase about 40%. The proportion of swing to stance phase changes as the speed of walking or running increases.”
     Again from Dr. Pribut, “In the gait examination, we will observe for symmetry. We will look for clues regarding leg length inequality. Arm swing asymmetry, uneven head bounce, unilateral pelvic drop, uneven stride length are all indicators that there is a leg length inequality. Other factors to note are: the heel contact point, an apparent bouncy gait, excessive pronation of the foot, early heel off and the angle of gait.”
     If you have problems or pain that won’t go away, a gait analysis may be in order. Look for a podiatrist, preferably one who treats athletes and inquire about a gait analysis. It could be money well spent and will help keep your feet happy.
     For more in-depth information on gait, read Dr. Pribut’s article Gait Biomechanics
.