Edited by Ka’eo Kruse, Stryd’s Human Performance Specialist
Stryd Footpath is a powerful new feature that visualizes the unique path your foot travels during each stride
This guide will help you maximize this powerful tool by explaining what Stryd Footpath visualizations are, how to interpret the data, and how to apply these insights to improve your running form, reduce injury risk, and enhance performance.
Whether you're recovering from injury, selecting new shoes, or working on your form, understanding your Stryd Footpath data will help you make smarter training decisions and reach your running goals faster.
Understanding Stryd Footpath Components
Characteristics of a Successful Stryd Footpath
Achieving Goals with Stryd Footpath Trends
Upgrade your Running with Stryd Footpath
Figure #1: Stryd Footpath visualization in real-left context (left) and as it’s presented in PowerCenter (right).
When developing footpath visualization, Stryd explored various ways to present this information clearly. Laboratory research typically uses an open-loop visualization, but this often creates unnecessary complexity, appearing chaotic—displayed like a ribbon fluttering unpredictably in the wind. To make this advanced biomechanical information more accessible, Stryd chose a closed-loop visualization resembling a comet’s elegant, easy-to-follow shape (Figure #1).
This closed-loop approach makes biomechanical insights more accessible and intuitive as the footpath illustrates the full motion of your foot from one ground contact (footstrike) to the next. As your foot contacts the ground, moves beneath and behind your body's center of mass (CoM), swings forward again, and returns to ground contact, it completes a continuous loop that defines your stride cycle. This repetitive pattern captures running at its essence—a series of alternating impacts and recoveries.
Although visually straightforward, the closed-loop Stryd Footpath holds significant biomechanical information, empowering runners and coaches of all levels with insightful, actionable data.
Although each person’s Stryd Footpath is unique and can vary based on speed, fatigue, footwear, and individual biomechanics, certain universal aspects can be analyzed for optimal running.