What we do


Amphibian King was founded in 2006 and was the first store in Ireland to offer Gait Analysis. Whilst other stores have come and gone we are the only store in Ireland who offer Gait Analysis on a purpose built track as opposed to a treadmill.

In layman's terms, gait analysis looks as the action of your body as you run/walk.  Everyone moves in a different way, and this can impact the way your feet land, and how your feet absorb the impact can guide us as to what shoe will suit you best.

You run different on a treadmill as opposed to on a track so it gives us a much better idea of how you might run outside. Our staff are all runners and have studied Gait Analysis in college. Unlike your typical running store we like to spend time with you to find out exactly what you are doing and what your new shoes will be used for.

Well, since we opened in 1982 we've seen a lot of different ways of assessing body movement and foot strike, and we've experimented with some of them, but never found anything more effective than doing gait analysis the natural way.

There have been plenty of studies showing that people run differently on a treadmill from on the road. This is because on firm ground our legs create a propulsive force to accelerate the body and drive it forward. Simply put: runner moves, ground stays static.

When using video gait analysis on a treadmill, our body stays in the same position (in the forwards-backwards plane), there is no forward movement. Instead the running surface disappears behind us. Here the function of the leg muscles is not to propel but re-position our legs so as to keep our body stable, so the situation changes: runner is static and ground moves.

People who aren’t used to treadmill running take some time to adjust and get used to the different dynamic, which again affects the gait. As most of us use running shoes either in combination with outside and gym, or purely outside, we prefer to analyse the gait on a hard surface. If you are looking for running shoes purely to wear in the gym, we will be able to take this into consideration too.

Of course, there are other factors in what will suit your needs such as how long you have been running, what you are aiming for, any previous injuries, where you are going to run or walk, how hard or soft you want your shoe, and of course- what you find most comfortable!