Running Gait Analysis: What a 3D Test Shows About How You Run

If you keep nursing the same shin splint, IT band ache or sore knee every time your mileage goes up, you know the cycle: rest, feel better, build up, and the ache comes straight back.

Rest settles the pain, but it does not change how you run. A gait analysis looks at the movement itself. Here is what it measures, what the research says about changing your stride, and what your foot type does and does not tell you.

Photo: FORGED by ReFormd

What a 3D Gait Analysis Measures at a Glance

What Happens in a Gait Analysis

Most runners have never actually watched themselves run. At FORGED by ReFormd, the session takes 60 minutes on a force-plated treadmill, with a MotionMetrix markerless 3D system recording you as you run.

• Your Stride in Numbers: The sample report covers cadence (steps per minute), contact time, overstride, forward lean, vertical displacement, vertical force and footstrike.
• Knees and Loading: It also looks at knee alignment, knee flexion and joint loading, with your energy use and loading patterns assessed against normative data.
• What You Take Away: Individualised shoe recommendations and practical guidance for gait improvements.

Cadence: A Small Change with Good Evidence

Of all the things a gait analysis can flag, step rate is one of the most studied. In a 2011 study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 45 recreational runners ran on a treadmill at their normal step rate and at rates 5% and 10% higher and lower.

• Quicker Steps, Less Knee Load: The knee absorbed less energy at both 5% and 10% above the runner's normal step rate.
• At 10%, the Hip Too: The hip absorbed less energy at a 10% increase.
• Slower Is Worse: All joints absorbed substantially more energy when step rate dropped by 10%.

The authors concluded that subtle increases in step rate can substantially reduce the load on the hip and knee, and may help prevent and treat common running injuries. A gait analysis gives you your current cadence, so you have a starting point.

Rest settles the pain. It does not change how you run.

Flat Feet, High Arches and Overpronation: Does Your Foot Type Matter?

Plenty of runners have been told they are flat-footed "overpronators" who need stability shoes. It is worth knowing your foot type, but the label on its own tells you less than you would think. Here is what the health services and the research say—and where a running gait analysis comes in.

Overpronation: Pronation is simply the natural way your foot moves as you take a step: Cleveland Clinic describes it as part of how your foot transfers your weight from your heel to your toes. If you overpronate, your foot rolls inward more than it should. Underpronation, also called supination, is the opposite. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) says either can increase your risk of injury when you walk or run, and that people with high arches, a tight Achilles tendon or a foot or leg injury that has changed their gait are more likely to have one or the other. Want a quick check? Look at an old pair of shoes. According to Cleveland Clinic, if you overpronate, the inside of your shoe soles wears more than the outside.

Flat Feet (Flat Foot, or Pes Planus): If your arches are low or absent, your feet press flat on the ground when you stand; the NHS calls this flat feet, or "fallen arches". It is common: SingHealth puts it at around 1 in 5 people in the Asian population. And it is usually nothing to worry about. The NHS says flat feet do not usually cause problems and should not stop you doing any activities, including sports, and both SingHealth and the Mayo Clinic say treatment is only needed if they are causing pain. When they do hurt, Mayo describes pain in the arch or along the inside of the foot and ankle, and AAOS lists flat feet among the risk factors for plantar fasciitis.

High Arches (High Arch Feet, or Pes Cavus): A high-arched foot is the opposite: the arch on the inside of the foot is excessively raised, so when you stand most of your weight sits on the back and the ball of the foot (SingHealth). It is more common than you might expect. SingHealth's HealthXchange estimates that nearly as many people have high arches as have flat feet, and says over 80 per cent of cases have no discernible cause. It also says high arches do not necessarily increase the incidence of injury, and that treatment is only needed if they cause pain. Still, because a high arch puts more pressure on the ball and heel of the foot, SingHealth advises runners with high arches to avoid running barefoot, and AAOS lists a high arch as a plantar fasciitis risk factor too.

What the Running Research Says: Does pronation actually get runners hurt? Less than you might think. A Danish study followed 927 novice runners in neutral shoes for a year. Runners with pronated feet had no higher injury risk than those with neutral feet, and the authors say this contradicts the widespread belief that moderate pronation raises injury risk; highly pronated feet, they add, need more study (Nielsen et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2014). A review of 21 studies covering 6,228 people did find a link, but a small one: a pronated foot posture was a risk factor for shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome) and, on very limited evidence, for runner's knee (patellofemoral pain) (Neal et al., Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2014). And when US Army and Marine Corps recruits were given motion-control, stability or cushioned shoes based on the shape of their footprint, it made little difference to their injury risk in basic training (Knapik et al., 2009; 2010).

Why Measure It on the Run: The wet-footprint test is a fair first look at your arch, but HealthXchange's podiatrist cautions that it is not perfectly accurate and that a proper foot posture evaluation includes many other components. The 2014 review adds that more research is needed on how a foot's resting posture relates to how it actually functions when moving. Put simply, how your foot looks standing still is not the whole story. A running gait analysis looks at the moving foot directly.

What FORGED by ReFormd Measures: FORGED by ReFormd's 3D Running Gait Analysis + Shoe Recommendation is a 60-minute session on a force-plated treadmill, using a MotionMetrix markerless 3D gait analysis system. The lab's published sample report shows rearfoot rotation for each foot on a supination-to-pronation scale, alongside knee alignment, cadence, overstride and vertical force. So instead of guessing from a footprint, you see what your feet actually do mid-stride. You also come away with individualised shoe recommendations (the lab's own example: carbon-plated or stability?) and practical guidance for gait improvements.

A Performance Test, Not a Diagnosis: Gait analysis shows how you run. Treat it as performance information, not a medical diagnosis. If something hurts, see a professional: the NHS advises seeing a GP if you have flat feet and your feet are painful, stiff, weak or numb, you often get foot or ankle injuries, you have problems with walking or balance, you did not have flat feet before, or only one foot is affected. For high arches, SingHealth says to see a healthcare provider or podiatrist for a proper assessment if your feet hurt.

Who Benefits Most from a Gait Analysis?

FORGED by ReFormd describes the 3D Running Gait Analysis as ideal for:

• Efficiency Seekers: Runners aiming to improve efficiency and reduce injury risk.
• Shoe Shoppers: Performance-focused runners upgrading their footwear.
• Returners: Athletes returning from injury or managing recurring pain.

Perfect Your Stride with FORGED by ReFormd on ATHLO+

Book the 3D Running Gait Analysis + Shoe Recommendation directly on ATHLO+. FORGED by ReFormd is at 1 Raffles Link, #B1-23 CityLink Mall. For the strength side, the Run-Specific Strength and Power Profiling test gives key force and asymmetry metrics. Find out more on the FORGED by ReFormd page.

Ready to find out what your body does on a hard effort too? Read VO2 Max Testing: What It Is next.