Run Signature 2.0: advancing our ability to quantify habitual motion path deviations

Abstract

Run Signature is Brooks’ holistic approach to understanding the runner with the promise to provide optimised running gear based on their individual goals and biomechanical needs. Every individual has a habitual motion path (HMP) defined by their bone structure, ligament laxity, muscular strength, and injury history (Trudeau et al., 2019). The rationale behind the HMP as an injury paradigm is that moving away from your HMP will increase joint loading in non-adapted areas, potentially increasing injury risk. Therefore, it is advantageous to decrease one’s deviation from their HMP. One tool for reducing movement deviations while running is footwear. This has been biologically supported, with research showing reductions in cartilage volume loss after a run in a shoe that decreased HMP deviations (Willwacher et al., 2020). A method (Run Signature 1.0) was developed to quantify one’s individual HMP and how much their joints move differently between habitual movements and when running, referred to as a deviation (Trudeau et al., 2019). One limitation of this method was the use of a single movement, the shallow squat, to quantify someone’s HMP. A second limitation was the calculation of a deviation on the run from the habitual motion at a single point in time, the point of maximum knee flexion during the stance phase. While this first method was a pivotal moment in quantifying human movement on an individual basis, we strive to advance this method by (1) capturing more habitual movements, and (2) use more than a single timepoint to quantify deviations.