BUILT AROUND YOUR RUNNING
Running Assessment and Gait Analysis in Ivanhoe
Find out what's actually holding your running back, and exactly what to do about it
No two runners are built the same
Two runners can have the same sore Achilles and need completely different plans. One might be short on calf strength. The other might have added 20km a week in a month.
A running assessment works out which one you are. We look at your training, your strength, your movement and your technique, then tell you which of those is the thing actually limiting you.
You leave with numbers, not guesses, and a plan you can start that week.
What is a running assessment?
Running is a skill. You learn it young and most people never get coached in it again. Like any skill, it can be measured and it can be improved.
A running assessment is a full review of you as a runner. We go through your training and your history, screen your movement, measure your strength on force plates and dynamometry, film you running at high speed, and check the shoes you’re actually training in.
Then we put it together and show you where the gaps are. It suits anyone who runs. You don’t need to be fast and you don’t need to be injured.
Who is it for?
Most of the runners who book an assessment fall into one of these groups.
Runners with an injury that keeps coming back, who want to know why
Runners returning after time off, pregnancy, surgery or injury
New runners who want to build up without breaking down
Runners training for an event and chasing a PB
Runners who’ve plateaued and can’t work out what’s missing
Runners who just want to understand their own body better
If you’re in pain right now, that’s fine. We assess and start treatment in the same session.
YOUR ASSESSMENT
What your running assessment involves (60 minutes)
We go through how many runs you do each week, your weekly kilometres, the mix of long runs, intervals, tempo and speed work, and what you’re training for. We’ll also look at your cadence, your injury history and what you want out of your running. Most running injuries have a training story behind them, so this part matters more than people expect.
We look at your foot posture, calf bulk, single leg balance and how your pelvis behaves under load. We check hip and trunk range, hip flexor length, and watch you squat on two legs and one, plus a single leg hop. We’re looking for anything limiting how you move or how you absorb load.
We measure your hip and knee strength with a dynamometer, side to side, and test your calf endurance. Every result is a number, not a guess.
You jump, hop and push on VALD force plates while we measure what you actually produce. This shows us your power, how well you absorb landing, and the difference between your left and right side.
We film your running from the side and from behind, then play it back frame by frame with you watching. This is usually the part where everything clicks.
We check the shoes you’re training in, how old they are, and whether you rotate them. Then we tell you the two or three things that will make the biggest difference, and give you a program to match.
OBJECTIVE TESTING
Numbers, not guesswork
Most running assessments come down to the clinician’s eye and manual muscle test. Ours doesn’t stop there. We use VALD testing technology, the same systems used in professional sport, to measure what your body is actually producing.
Force plate testing
We run you through jump, hop and maximum strength tests on the plates. They measure how much force you produce, how quickly you produce it, and how well you absorb it on landing. They also pick up left to right differences that are invisible to the eye.
Strength testing
We measure the muscle groups that do the heavy lifting when you run. Hip abductors, adductors and rotators, quads, hamstrings and calves. Each gets a number, and we compare your left to your right.
Your calf takes six to eight times your body weight every stride, so calf endurance gets its own test.
Why it matters
Small strength deficits show up as injuries once your distance climbs. Testing tells us whether the tissue can handle what you’re asking of it, before it tells you the hard way.
Retesting
Your results are stored, so we can retest you later and show you exactly what’s changed. That’s how you know the work is working, rather than hoping it is.
VIDEO ANALYSIS
What we look for when you run
Filming at high speed means we can stop your run at any point in the stride and measure it properly. Watching your own running in slow motion, with someone explaining it, is usually the moment it all makes sense.
We film from the side and from behind, and we’re looking at five things.
Where your foot lands, and whether you’re reaching too far out in front
How well you absorb load through your ankle, knee and hip
Control through your hips and pelvis
Your trunk position and arm swing
How different your left side is from your right
We also look at your cadence. Runners taking fewer than about 160 steps a minute usually carry more load through the knee and hip, and a small increase is often one of the simplest changes we can make. Whether that applies to you is exactly what the assessment answers.
How we think about running injuries
Two things guide everything we do with runners.
Load is the biggest driver
Doing too much, too soon, is behind most running injuries. Not your arches. Not your posture. If we don’t sort your training load out, no amount of technique work will hold. So we start there.
Strength comes before technique
Changing how you run puts load somewhere new. If the tissue isn’t strong enough to take it, you swap one injury for another. We build the strength first, then change technique only where there’s a genuine reason to.
We don’t make big technique changes, and we take into account where you are in your season. Small, well timed changes do more than dramatic ones.
What you take home
Your test results and what each number means for your running
A clear diagnosis if you came in with pain
A strength program built around your results
Training guidance for the weeks ahead
Any running cues that apply to you
A retest date so we can measure the change
Running injuries we treat
Achilles tendinopathy
Patellofemoral pain (runner’s knee)
Shin splints and medial tibial stress syndrome
Bone stress injuries and stress fractures
Plantar heel pain and plantar fasciopathy
Iliotibial band syndrome
Proximal hamstring tendinopathy
Gluteal tendinopathy and hip pain
Calf strains and tears
Patellar tendinopathy
Compartment syndrome
Groin and adductor pain
Who you'll see
Ready to run better?
Running assessments run for 60 minutes at our Ivanhoe clinic, 59 Upper Heidelberg Road. Private health rebates apply if you have extras cover with physiotherapy, and we claim on the spot.
Wear what you normally run in, and shorts rather than long tights so we can see your legs on video. Bring every pair of running shoes you rotate through. If you track your training on a watch or an app, bring that too.
Need Help Booking?
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Frequently Asked Questions
No. Plenty of the runners we assess have nothing wrong with them. They want to run faster, run further, or stay ahead of problems before they start.
60 minutes for the initial assessment. Follow ups are shorter.
Comfortable running gear, and shorts rather than long tights so we can see your legs on video. Bring all the shoes you run in, plus your recent training data if you track it.
Yes. Filming is a standard part of every assessment and we review it with you in the session. If you’d rather not be filmed, tell us and we’ll work around it.
Only if there’s a good reason. The evidence doesn’t support changing technique just for the sake of it, and doing it too early can cause new problems. Where a change will help, we introduce it gradually and build the strength to support it.
Sometimes when indicated we recommend orthotics and refer on to our Podiatry colleagues. We’ll talk through your footwear first. Orthotics are one option among several, not the automatic answer.
VALD is force testing technology used by professional sporting teams around the world. Force plates measure how much force you produce and absorb when you jump, hop and land. Dynamometry measures individual muscle strength. Together they give us real numbers instead of estimates, so we can compare your left and right side, track your progress, and know when you’re ready to increase your training.
Yes, if your extras cover includes physiotherapy. We process rebates on the spot with HICAPS.
No. Book directly online or call the clinic.
Ivanhoe, at 59 Upper Heidelberg Road, VIC 3079.