Excerpt 1 of 8 · Running analysis

Decoding a Runner's Signature:
See What Others Miss

That's a problem. And it's more common than it should be.

If an overhead athlete walked into your clinic with a throwing injury, you'd watch them throw. But with runners, we routinely skip the most important assessment — actually observing them run — and jump straight to the table, the imaging, and the exercise prescription.

Running is a hierarchical skill. You can give someone hip strengthening exercises and neuromuscular re-ed drills, and their single leg squat may improve — but as Rich Willy and Irene Davis showed, that doesn't carry over to running. The only way to understand a runner is to watch them run.

That's what this module is about. Not "form." Their signature — a movement fingerprint that tells you more than any MRI.

In this clip from the Decoding a Runner's Signature module inside Clinical Running Essentials, I walk through:

• Why running is a hierarchical skill — and why functional assessments on the table don't tell the full story
• The power of qualitative analysis and why you can accomplish more than you think by simply watching
• Why I challenge clinicians to think about a runner's "signature" rather than their "form"
• How pulling simple levers — like cadence — can be the difference between consistent, healthy training and prolonged setback
• Why so many runners move through the medical system without anyone ever observing them in their sport

In the full module, you'll also master the "S's of Treadmill Analysis" (Strike, Step Rate, Sound, Symmetry, Shank, and more), learn how to combine qualitative observation with Runeasi metrics, get clarity on foot strike patterns and why heel striking isn't the villain it's made out to be, and practice delivering external cues that drive lasting motor learning.