How Brooks Plans to Reinvent the Stride Analysis Test

Another gimmick to sell shoes ? Likely. What do we always say … .  “what you see in someone’s gait and movement is their compensation, not their problem”. Looking at how someone moves does not necessarily tell you what is wrong with them, and it surely isn’t likely to tell them what shoe they should be in. If it were this simple, no one would ever return a pair of shoes because shoe fit would be simple, perfect, repeatable and predictable. Trust us, comparing to a baseline knee-bend is like using an Abacus to solve a math question when we have much better ways…….. it is called a physical exam, watching someone walk and run, screening movement patterns, and bringing it all together. But, this is why we don’t sell shoes for a living. We would only sell a pair an hour.  But, we would get it right almost every time.

 “Before they do any running, customers perform a knee-bend to mimic the angle the joint will make during a run (roughly 40 degrees). This is to establish a baseline movement before the additional stress of running is placed on the joint. Customers then run on a soft-surface treadmill in their socks. Rather than just considering pronation (i.e. rear foot eversion/rotation) tendencies, Run Signature takes both knee and ankle motions into account and, crucially, analyzes the degree to which a customer’s running motion deviates from their baseline knee-bend. Runners with little or no deviation are recommended neutral-style running shoes, while those with greater deviation are steered towards support models. “