Getting Your First Running Gait Analysis: What to Expect

We rarely think about our walking patterns until something feels wrong—a recurring injury, a persistent ache, or a feeling of imbalance.

A gait analysis helps identify factors that may contribute to recurring aches or injuries, providing insight into how your movement patterns might be influencing pain such as foot pain, knee aches, or even lower back tension.

What is A Gait Analysis?

Your running gait is unique to you, shaped by your body, habits, and activity level. While patterns may be consistent, they can also change and improve with targeted interventions. A gait analysis is simply a detailed assessment of how you move, whether that's your walking gait or your running stride. It examines your movement patterns, posture, and how pressure is distributed.

The purpose is to identify biomechanical imbalances that may contribute to pain, affect performance, or lead to recurring injuries. The process helps analyse your gait by looking at joint angles, stride length, and foot pressure to reveal movement inefficiencies.

Who Is A Gait Analysis For?

A gait analysis can be useful for anyone looking to better understand their movement. However, several groups of people in Singapore might find the insights from podiatry clinics particularly helpful.

1. People with Recurring Pain

It’s a frustrating cycle: you rest, the pain eases, but it returns as soon as you get active again. This often points to an underlying movement issue rather than the site of the pain itself.

If you experience repeated foot, knee, hip, or lower back pain that doesn't seem to have a clear cause, a gait analysis can provide insight into how your lower-limb segments interact, helping to highlight movement patterns that may place extra stress on certain joints. From there, you can understand how your walking or running mechanics might be creating stress on your joint, even when the original cause is not as obvious.

2. Active Individuals and Athletes

For runners, cyclists, and dedicated gym-goers, progress is often about efficiency. However, the most frustrating part of being an active person isn't the hard work; it's the recurring injury. Frequent sprains or strains can be influenced by small, repetitive biomechanical stresses, alongside factors such as training load, footwear, and muscle strength.

By analysing your gait for patterns, a comprehensive assessment can help investigate why these issues occur and contribute to excessive load on sensitive tissues, as well as identify opportunities to improve your mechanical and efficiency.

The goal is to create a plan to build a more resilient, sustainable way to train and, with progress, build a stronger stride and enhance your performance over the long term.

3. Anyone Starting A New Activity or Recovering from An Injury

When starting a new fitness routine, it’s easy to go “too much, too soon” before your body is fit enough to handle it. This is especially true when recovering from an injury, as your body may have developed compensatory movements that are not yet visible.

The best time to build good movement habits is at the very beginning. If you are new to an activity or just returning from an injury, your movement patterns are not yet fixed, offering a chance to "build it right. A gait analysis in Singapore allows your podiatrist to assess your gait and identify movement patterns that may indicate weakness, reduced control, or compensatory strategies at the ankle, hip, or other joints.

Unlike an established athlete seeking performance gains, your priority at this stage is ensuring your foundation is solid. This helps you build safe movement habits from day one and avoid setbacks.

4. Professionals on Their Feet All Day

You don't need to be an athlete to put your body through an endurance event. For professionals in Singapore, like nurses, teachers, or retail staff, an eight-hour shift of standing and walking all day is a significant physical demand.

The problem isn't just the soreness at work; it's the fatigue that follows you home. You may experience persistent aching arches or leg fatigue that stops you from being active after your shift. A gait analysis would help identify how your body is handling this load by analysing your walking gait for pressure points or imbalances that contribute to end-of-day exhaustion. From there, your podiatrist can help to find ways to improve support (such as opting for custom orthotics insoles), which may help improve comfort, support, and overall load distribution during walking or standing.

What Happens During a Gait Analysis

Getting a clinical gait analysis is a straightforward process focused on gathering data about your unique movement. At UFIT podiatry clinic, it generally involves a few key steps:

1. Initial Assessment: Your podiatrist will first discuss your goals, any pain you're experiencing, your activity levels, and your injury history. It is also helpful to bring the shoes you wear most often (for work or exercise) so they can be assessed.
2. Physical Examination: You will be asked to stand, walk, and perhaps perform simple movements (like a squat). The practitioner will observe and test your overall posture and how your feet, ankles, knees, and hips move together as a kinetic chain.
3. Video or Motion Analysis: This is where the technology provides deeper insight. You will be asked to walk or run on a treadmill while high-speed cameras record your movement. This footage is then slowed down to analyse your gait frame by frame, assessing factors such as your foot strike, pronation (how your foot rolls), and overall symmetry. At UFIT Podiatry, we use the Zebris pressure-sensor treadmill and high-speed motion capture to provide a detailed assessment of your walking or running gait. This allows us to measure foot pressure, stride mechanics, and body movement in real time, without requiring full laboratory equipment.
4. Pressure Mapping: During the assessment, you may walk or run across our special force plate treadmill. This technology measures the pressure distribution under your feet, showing precisely where and how your weight is loaded during each step, which can reveal issues missed by visual analysis alone.

What Happens After a Gait Analysis

After your gait analysis, your podiatrist will review all the data with you, often replaying the video footage to visually point out the specific biomechanics at play. They will explain how factors like your foot strike, cadence, degree of pronation (the inward roll of your foot), or an imbalance in your hips may be contributing to your symptoms.

Based on this complete picture, they will create a tailored management plan. This is not just a report; it's an actionable strategy that may include one or more of the following:

• Footwear Recommendations: Specific advice on the type of running or work shoes that are best suited to your gait pattern and foot structure.
• Corrective Exercises: A targeted programme of strengthening or mobility drills to address identified weaknesses and imbalances, such as strengthening glutes to help stabilise a knee.
• Custom Orthotics: A recommendation for custom orthotics insoles if your movement pattern suggests a need for foundational support that footwear alone cannot provide.
• Activity Modification: Short-term advice on how to adjust your training load or intensity to allow tissues to recover while still staying active.

At an integrated practice clinic like UFIT, this podiatry data can also be shared with your physiotherapist or personal trainer. This ensures your entire care team is aligned, helping you track your progress and maintain optimal movement over the long term.

Book a Gait Analysis at UFIT

A gait analysis is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to move more efficiently, prevent injury, or finally understand the source of persistent discomfort. At UFIT, our podiatrists use this detailed data to create a plan that supports your specific movement goals.

Don't guess when it comes to your health. If you're wondering where to get a professional assessment, take the first step towards better movement. Book a comprehensive gait analysis with our podiatry clinic in Singapore today.