MH Sports Podiatry

20/08/2026

COMiNG SOON 🏃‍♂️

Our Running Footwear Analysis is designed to take the guesswork out of choosing running shoes. Rather than recommending footwear based on foot type or brand alone, we look at you as an individual runner, your running and injury history, current footwear, goals and unique biomechanics. Your assessment combines Footscan plantar-pressure analysis, VALD ForceDecks and high-speed video analysis to examine how you load, move and interact with the ground during running, providing a detailed picture of the factors that may influence footwear choice, comfort, performance and injury management.

Your assessment is carried out by Matt Hart, Running Specialist Podiatrist and Biomechanist, with a BSc in Sports Science, BSc in Podiatry and MSc in Clinical Biomechanics. Matt is currently undertaking a PhD focused on running footwear and is also a competitive runner, combining research, clinical biomechanics and practical running experience. The findings from your assessment are brought together to provide clear, evidence-based and personalised footwear advice and recommendations, helping you make more informed choices about the shoes that best suit your individual biomechanics, running demands and goals.

Website: www.mhsportspodiatry.com
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07535924049

22/07/2026

MH Sports Podiatry provides expert assessment and evidence-based management of foot, ankle and lower limb conditions affecting active individuals, runners and athletes of all abilities. Led by Matt Hart, Sport Podiatrist and Clinical Biomechanist, every assessment combines a detailed clinical examination with advanced biomechanical analysis to identify the underlying cause of pain or impaired performance, rather than simply treating symptoms. Care is tailored to each individual, with an emphasis on helping patients recover from injury, improve movement efficiency and return confidently to the activities they enjoy.

Services include comprehensive biomechanical assessments, running gait analysis, sports injury diagnosis and rehabilitation, custom foot orthoses, footwear assessment and prescription, strength and exercise rehabilitation, and performance optimisation. Matt also has an active academic and research role, with a PhD focused on running footwear and biomechanics, ensuring clinical practice is informed by the latest research and current best evidence. This combination of clinical expertise, research and practical experience enables MH Sports Podiatry to deliver personalised, evidence-based care for everyone from recreational exercisers to competitive athletes.

21/05/2026

This systematic review evaluated the reliability of direct and indirect methods used to assess intrinsic foot muscle (IFM) strength in adults. Direct methods such as dynamometry and plantar pressure assessment demonstrated moderate to excellent reliability, while indirect imaging methods including ultrasound and MRI also showed strong reliability for assessing muscle morphology. MRI remains the gold standard for imaging-based assessment, although ultrasound offers a more clinically accessible and portable alternative.

Despite these findings, an important distinction exists between reliability and validity. Current methods may reliably reproduce measurements, but this does not necessarily mean they accurately measure true intrinsic foot muscle strength. Most assessments likely reflect a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic muscle activity, tendon stiffness, neural coordination and joint mechanics rather than isolated IFM force production. While muscle cross-sectional area and thickness are often used as surrogate markers of strength, these measures do not fully account for neural drive, muscle quality or actual force-generating capacity. Toe grip strength currently appears to be the most validated functional assessment, yet even this cannot isolate intrinsic muscle contribution alone.

Key questions remain: How should intrinsic foot strength actually be defined? What outcome measures determine reduced, normal or excellent foot strength? Are we measuring true muscle strength or broader foot function and capacity? Does increased muscle size genuinely reflect improved strength, or is this an oversimplification? If strength is fundamentally a measure of force output, why are there currently no validated methods capable of directly quantifying isolated intrinsic foot muscle force?

Haelewijn, N., Gelaude, A., Allemeersch, L., Staes, F., Vereecke, E., Spanhove, V., De Ridder, R. and Deschamps, K. (2025) ‘Reliability of direct and indirect measures of intrinsic foot muscle strength in adults: A systematic review’, Clinical Biomechanics, 121, p.106378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2024.106378

21/05/2026

This study investigated how minimal shoes, both alone and combined with textured or supportive insoles, influence static balance, gait characteristics and functional mobility in healthy older adults aged 60–80 years. Forty participants completed walking and balance assessments under five conditions: barefoot, habitual footwear, minimal shoes alone, minimal shoes with textured insoles and minimal shoes with supportive insoles. The findings demonstrated that minimal shoes generally improved static stability compared to habitual cushioned footwear, particularly during eyes-closed balance tasks where proprioceptive input becomes more important. Textured insoles further enhanced static balance during eyes-open standing tasks, likely through increased plantar sensory stimulation and mechanoreceptor activation.

From a dynamic movement perspective, barefoot walking produced shorter stride lengths and higher cadence, suggesting a more cautious gait strategy that may reflect reduced perceived stability. In contrast, supportive insoles within minimal shoes improved Timed Up and Go (TUG) performance, indicating potential benefits for dynamic mobility and fall-risk reduction. The authors concluded that combining minimal shoes with either textured or supportive insoles may provide a practical strategy to enhance both static and dynamic stability in older adults, while purely barefoot walking may not be ideal for maximising functional stability.

Reference
Haowlader, S., Apps, C., Bisele, M., Vagnetti, R. and Magistro, D. (2025) ‘The effect of minimal shoes in combination with textured and supportive insoles on static and dynamic stability in older adults’, Applied Ergonomics, 128, p.104548. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2025.104548.

07/05/2026

MH Sports Podiatry Sports Performance Testing combines sports science with clinical expertise to provide a comprehensive assessment of how your body moves, produces force and tolerates load during sport. Using advanced technology including VALD strength testing, 3D movement analysis and Footscan pressure analysis, we objectively assess strength, power, rate of force development, movement control, asymmetry and biomechanical efficiency to identify both performance-limiting factors and potential injury risks. By integrating this data with expert clinical reasoning, we can determine not only where deficits exist, but how they influence movement, performance and tissue loading within your sport. This allows us to deliver highly individualised training, rehabilitation and performance strategies designed to improve efficiency, resilience, athletic performance and long-term injury reduction for runners, footballers, athletes and active individuals.

07/05/2026

At MH Sports Podiatry, our 3D Gait Analysis and Performance Testing service provides a detailed, data-informed assessment of how you move, load and perform during running. Using advanced 3D motion analysis, Footscan pressure analysis and VALD strength testing, we objectively assess running mechanics, force production, movement efficiency, asymmetries and tissue loading patterns to identify factors contributing to pain, injury risk or reduced performance. By combining biomechanical analysis with strength and capacity profiling, we can determine not only how you move, but why you move that way. This allows us to deliver highly individualised rehabilitation, footwear advice, orthotic intervention and performance strategies designed to improve running efficiency, optimise load tolerance, reduce injury risk and help runners perform at their best.

05/05/2026

This review supports a multifactorial, athlete-specific model of injury risk. Female athletes should not be viewed as simply “more injury prone”; rather, they may be exposed to a different interaction of biology, biomechanics, footwear design, sport demands, training history and healthcare under-representation. From a clinical perspective, assessment should include strength testing, balance/proprioception, landing and cutting mechanics, foot morphology, footwear/boot fit, plantar pressure, gait analysis, training load and RED-S screening where relevant. The main limitation is that the literature remains inconsistent, with many studies failing to analyse or report sex-specific findings, so conclusions should guide clinical reasoning rather than be treated as absolute rules.

Talia AJ, Busuttil NA, Kendal AR, Brown R.
Gender differences in foot and ankle sporting injuries: A systematic literature review. The Foot. 2024;60:102122.

05/05/2026

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether menstrual-cycle phase influences foot and ankle structure, tissue stiffness, balance, proprioception and neuromuscular control. The review included 15 studies and 359 participants, with most studies comparing the follicular and ovulatory phases, and fewer including menstrual or luteal phases. Overall, the paper suggests that the ovulatory phase may represent a period of increased biomechanical vulnerability in the foot and ankle, but the strength of evidence remains limited by small samples, heterogeneous methods and inconsistent menstrual-cycle verification.

The main finding is that around ovulation there may be increased ligamentous and fascial laxity, associated with increased foot length, reduced plantar fascia thickness, reduced arch height index and greater arch deformation under load. Clinically, this matters because the plantar fascia, spring ligament complex, intrinsic foot muscles and ankle stabilisers all contribute to maintaining arch stiffness and creating a rigid lever for propulsion. If passive stiffness reduces during ovulation, the foot may become more compliant, with greater pronation/arch collapse and potentially reduced efficiency of the windlass mechanism. The authors link this to possible increased risk of plantar fasciopathy, medial arch overload and chronic ankle instability, although this should be interpreted as a plausible mechanism rather than definitive causal evidence.

Regife-Fernández, L., Radcliffe, C.R., & Castro-Méndez, A. (2026).
Menstrual cycle effects on foot and ankle musculoskeletal biomechanics: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Gait & Posture, 127, 110164.

07/04/2026