What’s your style?
If you are new to running, or a seasoned campaigner, having a qualified health professional analyse your gait can be really helpful for two reasons.
1. If you have ever had a running injury, there is a good chance that the way you move is a contributing factor. Understanding how you move and working to put in place some strategies to improve movement patterns can be a helpful part of fixing an injury, as well as reducing the chance that injury will come back.
2. Understanding how you move can lead to improvements in efficiency. The more efficient you are as a mover, the further and faster you can run.
Determine your foot type
The way our foot moves when we run is important in two important ways. It helps us choose the right shoe. And helps us implement an individualised strength program to improve running efficiency and reduce running injuries.
Test your stability
There is a great test that you can do at home to test your stability. A barefoot, single leg squat. This tells a lot about how you move.
If you consistently fall off balance inward, or outward we can use that information in choosing a chose. This would be a shoe with stability features built in to it. Either on the inside, or outside.
Find the right shoe
I get this question all of the time. "What is the best shoe?"
The answer is that there is no best shoe, and there is no one shoe that is right for you. We are all put together differently. With different anatomy, different movement patterns, different injury histories and different strengths.
The trust is that there is a range of runners that will suit you. Find yourself a speciality running retailer that has treadmills in house, and that has knowledgeable staff to guide you through the process. It is really important to run in your new shoes before you pick one. Comfort will be your guide!
Go for a run!
With your movements well understood, some new shoes that can carry you the distance, now we need a goal. With Run Melbourne approaching Melbourne runners have their training plans set and have a goal distance and time to shoot for. The motivation of having an event in the calendar will help a whole heap come these frosty Melbourne mornings when bed seems a more exciting prospect than a training session.
