Gait Analysis: One Step at a Time

By David Sobolik

Walking is our number-one source of transportation. With each step the average person’s foot bears one to two times their normal body weight. Most individuals walk
a lifetime average of steps equaling the distance around the globe five to eight times.

How do we walk? One foot in front of the other right? Knowing exactly how you walk and how to walk more efficiently can assist with achieving your training goals and enhance your ability to remain injury free.

The human gait is a complex series of movements with the main objective of moving safely and efficiently from onepoint to another. Since everyone is unique, we each have inherent differences in our body proportions, coordination levels, and motivation. However, because we all share the same basic anatomic and physiological makeup, virtually all individuals accomplish human movement in a similar manner.

Gait analysis is a procedure designed to evaluate such movements. As a walker, it is important that you have a basic understanding of your own gait including your anatomy, function, and the basic biomechanics of the lower extremity for the purpose of injury prevention. The two most commonly used gait analysis techniques are field evaluation and video analysis. Benefits of a gait analysis can yield feedback for diagnostic purposes by trained medical clinicians, and properly trained retailers may perform a gait analysis for the purpose of evaluating gait abnormalities for proper footwear selection.

So, what makes up a gait? When we walk, we go through a series of repetitive events. Each repetitive event is termed a gait cycle. Each gait cycle is divided into two parts, a swing phase and a stance phase.

The swing phase is when the foot is not in contact with the ground and usually occupies about one-third of the gait cycle.

The stance phase is the period of time when the foot is in contact with the ground and usually occupies about two-thirds of the gait cycle. Gait abnormalities that occur during this phase can lead to injury if not corrected by proper footwear. The stance phase of the gait cycle is divided into three periods:

Contact (30% of stance phase): During this phase, foot-strike begins when the foot first touches the ground and continues through the brief moment during which the foot becomes firmly fixed.

Mid-Stance (40% of stance phase): Starts once the foot is fixed and continues until the heel starts to rise from the ground.

Propulsion (30% of stance phase): Begins when the heel starts to rise and continues until the toes leave the contact surface.

During the aforementioned phases, your feet will go through one or more motions called supination, pronation, neutral, and overpronation.

Supination is the motion of the foot to create a high instep. It is what gives us the power to propel through the gait.

Pronation is the motion of the foot that tends to cause the instep and arch to drop. Pronation is a natural movement allowing our feet to adapt to varied terrain.

Neutral is the ideal functioning position or the foot. The foot is neither pronated
nor supinated.

Overpronation is common (80% of people) and occurs when your foot comes out of the neutral position during the gait and stays in the pronated cycle too long and fails to supinate halfway through the gait cycle. Overpronation is a leading cause of injury in runners and walkers.

Few of us have the ”perfect“ gait, and thus many of us are prone to injury. Luckily, there are a multitude of actions we can take to compensate for our imperfections. Professionally fitted shoes, inserts, and arch supports are all simple ways we can avoid injury as we walk our five times around the globe.

David Sobolik is the co-founder of Fit Right Northwest, Portland (NW 23rd Ave, 503-525-2122) and Vancouver’s (SE 160th & Mill Plain, 360-885-4556). For more information email dave@fitrightnw.com or visit www.fitrightnw.com.