Breaking Down Braking: Can Wearables Change Running Gait Analysis? | Find Your Stride | Edinburgh Podiatrist

Can wearables change running gait analysis?

Running biomechanics has traditionally been assessed in laboratories, often using treadmills and expensive force plates. But how accurately do these measurements translate to running outdoors? A 2025 study by Baker and colleagues, published in PLOS ONE, explored whether wearable sensors and machine learning could estimate braking and propulsion forces during real-world running. The findings suggest that accurate biomechanical analysis outside the laboratory may be getting closer.

The Forces Behind Running: Can Technology Keep Up?

What did the researchers find?

Researchers studied 15 recreational runners using wearable motion sensors attached to the pelvis and lower limb. They developed a machine-learning model using treadmill data, then tested its ability to estimate braking and propulsion forces during overground running.

The results were encouraging:

• The general model produced a prediction error of 4.3% of body weight.

• Personalising the model using just eight overground strides reduced this error to 2.6% of body weight — approximately a 40% improvement.

• A single sensor attached to the foot or shin provided reasonably accurate estimates, although four sensors performed better.

Importantly, personalised models also produced outdoor estimates that more closely followed laboratory-observed relationships between running speed and braking and propulsion forces.

Why does this matter for runners and clinicians?

Braking and propulsion forces are important components of running mechanics. Understanding how runners absorb and generate forces could help clinicians investigate movement strategies, monitor changes associated with fatigue and evaluate responses to gait retraining. For podiatrists, the prospect of assessing these forces outside the laboratory is particularly interesting. Rather than relying exclusively on short treadmill assessments, wearable technology could eventually provide information about how runners move during their usual training.

But are we getting ahead of ourselves?

There are important limitations. The study included only 15 healthy recreational runners, with outdoor testing restricted to five participants. Running was assessed on flat, straight sections of tracks. Whether these models perform similarly on hills, trails or uneven surfaces remains unknown. Crucially, outdoor force estimates were not directly validated against force plates. Instead, researchers examined whether predicted forces followed relationships observed in laboratory testing. The study also did not investigate running injuries or performance outcomes. Therefore, improved force estimation should not be confused with improved injury prediction or running performance.

The takeaway

This study represents a promising step towards taking running biomechanics beyond the laboratory. Perhaps its most interesting finding is that a relatively small amount of individual data can substantially improve the accuracy of wearable-based force estimates. For podiatrists and sports clinicians, this could eventually make sophisticated running analysis more accessible and representative of real-world movement. However, measuring running forces is not the same as understanding injury risk. The technology is advancing, but determining how these measurements should influence clinical decisions remains the bigger challenge.

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Citation

Baker, L. M., Weigend, F. C., Swaminathan, K., Kim, D., Chin, A., Lieberman, D. E., & Walsh, C. J. (2025). Estimating braking and propulsion forces during overground running in and out of the lab. PLOS ONE, 20(9), e0330042. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330042⁠