Gait is the term to describe the locomotion of an animal. All animals with a spinal column have distinctive ways of moving in space; fish swim using fins and tails, birds use wings to propel and steer them through the skies. Dogs, like many other quadrupeds traverse land on four legs. Humans also have specific movement that defines them at a basic level. These movements, for us are what experts characterise as bipedal and revolve around the contralateral reciprocation of the arms and legs. These are the technical terms to describe the motions that humans use to get from point A to point B.

Gait matters greatly when it comes to training a person. Why? Because it is widely agreed upon that gait is a fundamental movement pattern, in fact our muscles, tendons and ligaments most likely formed in the specific ways they have because of this movement pattern. Standing, walking and running (Gait) and throwing are what define us mechanically so focusing our efforts around economising these functions is most likely the most efficient way to improve a persons overall state. In a way, this is essentially getting back to our natural roots as humans, long before modern living practices such as agriculture and industrialism paved the way for our steady decline as a species.

Footprints were discovered belonging to an Aboriginal hunter who crossed a muddy wetland in Australia some 20,000 years ago. It was calculated that he was running at a speed of 37km per hour, that is almost the same speed as Usain Bolts 100m world record. Bare foot and in the mud. Perhaps that hunter was an outlier but it is not unreasonable to believe that an average person of those days was the equivalent of our most elite athletes today.

From our perspective gait analysis is the key to unlocking our true potential and each and every one of us has the blueprint to move just like the hunter of yesteryear. We teach people to understand and employ the mechanical drivers we see in the Usain Bolt’s of the world and we routinely see a decline and often a complete elimination of chronic pain including back pain, knee pain, hip pain, shoulder and neck pain and chronic inflammation related to stress and the mal adaptation to stress.

Gait, is King and understanding the principles involved in this seemingly simple pattern of movement is a major factor to sustainable health and longevity.