When they walk back. What we are not aware of.


Here is a little something we do, all the time. When the session room is open for the next client, we greet our client in the lobby. We do not have our staff send them back to the room to change and wait for us. We watch them closely. How do they stand up, how do they initiate their gait cycle ? How is their balance? How do they carry their things ?
We ask them to head back to the session room to get changed, while we grab a drink of water. And then, in a sneaky manner, we watch them walk back to the room.
We do this, because, how we walk when we do not think we are being watched, when we are carrying our things (purse, phone, bottle of water, backpack, etc) is how we typically walk. Clients will show all the goodies we need to see: the turned out foot, the hiked shoulder, the limps, the staggers, stumbles, speed, step width, and the like. We also get to see how they move in the shoes they live in, the heeled ones, the broken down ones, the work shoes.

So, when your client is having a formal treadmill gait analysis, what are you seeing? Their best behavior, or the truth ?
There are clues everywhere, and we try to grab all of them, in as natural a manner as possible.
Just some simple thoughts for a Sunday.
Have a great day friends !