The Way You Walk Can Tell Us A Lot

One of the things that we do with all of our clients is watch them walk. It’s one of the simplest and easiest ways to get a sense for a person’s movement efficiency. Here are a few of the things we look at when we watch someone walk:

1. A smooth passage of the head. With efficient gait the head should travel smoothly through space. If it bobs up and down or side to side, we know that something in the kinetic chain not allowing effective movement.
2. Even contribution of all of the segments. Ever see someone who only swings one arm when they walk? Or someone whose shoulders don’t seem to rotate at all? This can be a protective mechanism after an injury or a compensation for a lack of motion somewhere in the body. At any rate, it is something that we want to explore further.
3. Feet that track straight ahead. The most common deviation we see is when a person turns one or both feet out when they walk. Over time, this pattern can lead to a host of issues ranging from plantar fasciitis to low back pain, so it’s one we want to understand the origins of. It’s not always something that we can change, but if we can identify the cause, often we can help mitigate its effects.

We’d love to watch you walk! It’s part of every movement evaluation we do and it’s a free service. Just send us an email at andy@drivenperformance.net to set up your appointment today!