Here’s an exercise for you: head down to your local oval and use the boundary line and run directly along it. If you notice your feet crossing over the boundary line to the other side of your body, you are most likely crossing the midline of your body. This may be a result of muscle tightness/weakness across the pelvic and hip region or could be coming from your foot posture. Persistent crossing the midline in association with loading increases have shown to increase your chances of lower limb injury, and may require intervention.

Crossing the midline is also referred to having a “narrow base of gait” which identifies that rather than having your feet strike the ground in alignment with your lower limb, you become more ‘adducted’ and have both feet strike the ground closer towards, or cross over the midline of your body (an imaginary line from the top of your head, dissecting the body in to two). Overloaded foot structure from pronation can be made worse for lower limb function if you have a narrow base of gait, and can lead to increases in the average vertical rate of force in the body (Napier et al., 2015).

Intervention programs can involve stretch and strengthening, dynamic exercise prescription, gait retraining or even the use of orthotic devices to prevent you overloading from midline infringements.

Every runner is different. We all have different styles, strike patterns and muscular status. If you’re wanting to get the best out of your running to propel you to the next level, getting your technique analysed is the best way to get to the bottom of any issues and help your program for the future.

We offer a Running Gait Analysis’ at CSSM.

About the Author
James Unkles is a Podiatrist who has also completed his Bachelor degree in Exercise and Sport Science, and loves the finer details of running and how it effects the body.

References

Napier C, Cochrane CK, Taunton JE, et al. Gait modifications to change lower extremity gait biomechanics in runners: a systematic review. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:1382-1388.