What your gait analysis will — and won’t — tell you
Forty-five minutes, one to one, on the treadmill and in a lot of different shoes. Here’s what that gets you, and what it honestly can’t.
£40 — with £20 back as credit against any shoes you buy in the session
What we’ll do
- Work out whether you’re better suited to a neutral or a stability shoe, and why.
- Put you in several pairs rather than one, and compare how each actually behaves under you — that’s the bit you can’t do from a review.
- Get the size right. More people are in the wrong size than in the wrong shoe.
- Ask what feels good. Comfort is the single best predictor of whether a shoe works for someone, and your opinion counts for more here than any measurement.
- Give you a few things to watch for, so small niggles stay small.
What it can’t do
- It isn’t treatment. If something hurts now, the right shoes can take pressure off it, but they won’t clear up an injury. That’s a physio’s job — ask us and we’ll point you towards someone good.
- There’s no perfect shoe. We’re stacking the odds heavily in your favour, not promising a flawless result. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.
- The final call is yours. We’ll tell you what we’ve seen and what we’d pick. You know how your own feet feel better than we do.
One practical note Try shoes on, walk about, take as long as you need in the shop — that’s exactly what we’re here for. Once a pair has been run in outdoors we can’t sell them on, so we can’t take them back unless there’s a fault. If you’re torn between two pairs on the day, say so: we’d far rather spend another ten minutes on it than have you leave unsure.
Gait analysis takes most of the guesswork out of buying running shoes. What it means is that you walk out with a pair chosen for the way you actually run — not for the way the marketing says you should.