Gait Analysis- Brooks Edition

Following on from gaiting myself in Nike shoes this time I hit the treadmill in a range of shoes from Brooks

For these four examples I ran in the Ghost(Neutral), Racer ST5(low profile racing shoe) plus the Vapor 2 and  Adrenalin 15 from the support family.

BROOKS GHOST 7 

Up first is the Brooks Ghost 7 a shoe from the Neutral category. You will see if you compared these to my previous post (when I tested Nike shoes) that even though they are neutral they actually offer me a fair bit of support and my foot does not rotate in nearly as much as other neutral models.

BROOKS RACER ST5

The Racer ST5 was the  next Brooks shoe I took to the treadmill, they sit in Brooks’ race shoe category as they are a lower profile compared to the Ghost. The midsole also houses a medial post for support, I have just received a pair of these to try and completed a 5k in them so far, but when I do a few more longer runs I will do a more in depth review on them for Pavement Bound.

BROOKS ADRENALIN 15 GTS

The 3rd pair on my feet are a pair of Adrenalin 15 GTS form Brooks Support range, the main feature of these in the tri density medial post that offers gradual support, you will see that these offer me a good level of support and is shoe I could quite easily use if only they weren’t so bulky, this is why I do virtually all my runs in a lower profile shoe. I like a slim lower profile shoe… maybe one day my upper half might be slim as well.

BROOKS VAPOR 2

The 4th and final pair I tested was the Vapor 2, Brooks claim this to be the little brother of the Adrenalin 15 what they mean by that I am not sure because as the support goes these were spot on (I suppose little brothers can be more supportive but in my mind you look to the big brother for more support). So does that mean they are more supportive than the adrenaline or is the medial post in a better position that works better for me?

CONCLUSION

As an over pronator I felt the Neutral Ghost shoe to actually be quite stable, just because a shoe is classed as neutral it doesn’t mean that it won’t offer support. Different brands use different density midsoles so if it is firmer to start with then it will offer you an element of support.  Couple this with bevelled crash pads and or decoupled heels you can find neutral shoe can offer decent support. If you compare me running in the Lunarglide 6 from my Nike post you see that they offer better support for me and they are a different category of shoe, this could be down to the firmness of the midsole or the structure of the upper of the shoe, the Ghost has stitched overlays to create support which for me work very well!

Finally a group video with all the Brooks shoes that I tested.

Please take into account that these are my opinions and what works for me won’t necessarily work for everyone.