Force Portraits

A force portrait is a unique visual representation of the forces you experience while running. It's like a snapshot of your running performance, capturing key information about the way you move and run. With a force portrait, you can see how different variables such as body type, environment, form, and even shoes affect your running performance.

These forces are three dimensional, but we often project to a two dimensional image so we can view from the side, rear or top of the pattern.

Here is an example of the Rear, Side, or Top to see the forces at play.

Symmetry can be seen both side-to-side and in the upwards forces during stabilization.

From this perspective, it is hard to gauge the amount of acceleration and deceleration in the running cycle.



The side view most clearly shows the phases of the running cycle.

Accelerating forces are on the right side of the force portrait, decelerating forces are to the left.

Upwards forces show the runner loading weight on the leg while stabilizing. Downward forces happen when the runner is in free-fall during the flight phase.

As left and right are overlapped from this perspective it is harder to see asymmetries from side to side.

The top view shows forces forward/backward and left/right.

This is the best perspective to see symmetry in the landing phase.

Side-to-side forces can also be seen well from this perspective.

To better understand our force portraits, we can break them down into the following concepts.