Published September 20, 2026 11:43AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
I often feel like my legs are screwed on wrong. Any time I hike, especially with heavy weight, I get aches and pains in my right hip and ankle\u2014but never in my left. I\u2019ve tried almost everything to fix my crooked body: single-leg exercises, physical therapy, foam-rolling, and massage. I even had a somewhat new-age doctor hammer my hips back into place with a mallet. My friends call her the Bone Carpenter.<\/p>\n
Then a physical therapist suggested I do something far less medieval: Get a gait analysis. Maybe strength wasn\u2019t my issue, they suggested. Maybe it was the way I was walking.<\/p>\n
Why Your Gait Could Be the Problem<\/h2>\n
Gait is the particular movement pattern you use to hike or run. It\u2019s sort of like handwriting\u2014it\u2019s uniquely yours and shaped by years of practice, learned shortcuts, and old habits. And, like handwriting, it can get sloppy with age.<\/p>\n
All our gaits have idiosyncrasies. For most people, those idiosyncrasies don\u2019t cause any particular problems, especially over short distances. But over thousands and thousands of steps, little asymmetries can add up.<\/p>\n
If you tend to favor one side or tilt a little too far in any direction, you could end up with chronic pain in your hips, lower back, or knees over time, says Dr. Steve Brown, an athletic trainer, chiropractor, and co-owner of the Boulder Sports Clinic<\/a>, a chiropractic and physical therapy practice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number-one predictor of injury is previous injury,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the number-two predictor is asymmetry.\u201d<\/p>\n Think of it like your car being out of alignment. It probably feels pretty normal when you\u2019re driving. But over a few thousand miles, you\u2019ll start to see major wear and tear on your tires and, eventually, on your suspension.<\/p>\n To belabor the metaphor, getting a gait analysis is like taking your body to the mechanic. A trainer or physical therapist makes sure everything is working smoothly and helps you realign anything that\u2019s come out of place. It\u2019s a popular tool among runners, but I wondered\u2014could it help me with my hiking problems?<\/p>\n To find out, I visited Brown in his Colorado office. He said he was going to put a motion-capture sensor on me. I asked him if it was built into a suit like the one Andy Serkis used to create Gollum\u2019s movements in The Lord of the Rings<\/em>. Brown gave me a weird look.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not quite as cool as that,\u201d he said. He handed me a small belt with a single sensor sewn into the back. I tried to hide my disappointment.<\/p>\n I strapped on the belt and started hiking on the treadmill at a ten-percent grade. The sensor\u2014which was connected to a gait analysis software platform called Runeasi<\/a>\u2014measured how well and how evenly my legs pistoned up and down and how much my hips swiveled in space.<\/p>\n I trudged on the treadmill while Brown held a tablet up for me to see. Various bars and graphs lit up and jumped around on the screen. After a few minutes, he stopped me, and we looked at my data. I felt validated: my body was, indeed, crooked.<\/p>\n To be more specific, my right hip was locked up. That tightness was pulling my torso into a slight, right-leaning curve. Because I was bent over sideways, I was hammering more force into my right leg than into my left with every stride.<\/p>\n Over time, asymmetries like this can cause chronic injury. In my case, the repeated, outsized impact forces had likely caused the plantar fasciitis and hip pain that I\u2019d already been dealing with on that side.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to say where gait issues come from, Brown says. Sometimes, gait imbalances come from an injury or some other clear incident that leaves one side weaker than the other.<\/p>\n \u201cOther times, it\u2019s a cascade of smaller things,\u201d he says. Say you overwork one hip in the gym one day. It\u2019s sore, so you favor it. That puts more force on the knee on that side, which causes it to twist slightly. You start favoring that, which both makes the hip worse and gives you an ankle problem. On and on it goes, often without you noticing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hard-wired to avoid pain,\u201d Brown says. In other words, our bodies will shut off certain muscles or press others into double-time service to protect perceived injuries. All that happens without our conscious say-so.<\/p>\n Small, repetitive activities can also throw your body out of whack.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you\u2019re always pressing down through the right foot on the gas pedal, or always holding your baby on your right leg instead of your left,\u201d Brown says. \u201cSymmetry is obviously ideal, but it\u2019s not something that\u2019s baked into society.\u201d If you\u2019re a professional athlete or otherwise diligent about hitting the gym, you\u2019re constantly hammering your body back into symmetrical strength. If not, those little things build up over time.<\/p>\n The resulting biomechanical asymmetry can be as visible as a limp or as subtle as a slight lean. That\u2019s why using a professional trainer or physical therapist\u2014especially one with fancy sensors\u2014is so helpful.<\/p>\n Gait analysis is for anyone who moves their body long distances, says Brown. If you have asymmetrical pain\u2014i.e., frequent soreness in one hip, one knee, or one ankle\u2014your gait could be the cause. Heel pain, arch pain, and lower-back pain can also be symptoms of a faulty gait.<\/p>\n So, if your aches and pains fall into those categories and regular strength training hasn\u2019t fixed them, a gait analysis might be worth the expense.<\/p>\n The answer will depend on your particular asymmetries. You might be over-flexible in some places or too stiff in others.<\/p>\n \u201cPhysical therapy is all about figuring out what\u2019s not moving enough and making it move\u2014and figuring out what\u2019s moving too much and reeling it in,\u201d says Brown.<\/p>\n In my case, my tight right hip was the issue. Brown did some (extremely painful) massage to loosen it up and then put me back on the treadmill. Sure enough, I was running more evenly.<\/p>\n The changes won\u2019t stick without a regular stretching and strengthening routine, which means I\u2019ve got my work cut out for me. But for the first time in a long time, I had a concrete issue to work on\u2014and hope for getting back to hiking pain-free.<\/p>\n You can get a rudimentary gait analysis for free at some running stores. Most offer a visual analysis without any special sensors or software. That said, it\u2019s a great place to start if you\u2019re new to biomechanical detective work and don\u2019t want to spend a ton of money out of pocket.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for more detailed data, you\u2019ll need the help of a trainer or physical therapist. PTs who specialize in runners and endurance athletes tend to offer more advanced analyses for anywhere from $100 to $400, depending on the complexity of the analysis. Mine was somewhere in between\u2014$280 for a 60-minute session.<\/p>\n Overall, it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n Want more <\/b>Outside<\/i><\/b> health stories? <\/b>Sign up for the Bodywork newsletter<\/b><\/a>. And for tips on how to train, fuel, and recover better, <\/b>sign up for the Sweat Science 101 newsletter<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\nWhat Is a Gait Analysis?<\/h2>\n
![\"Gait-Analysis\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.backpacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3.jpeg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Where Do Gait Problems Come From?<\/h2>\n
Who Should Get a Gait Analysis?<\/h2>\n
![\"Gait-Analysis\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.backpacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2.jpeg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
How Do I Fix an Asymmetrical Gait?<\/h2>\n
How to Get a Gait Analysis<\/h2>\n