One of the most over looked element in running is the arm
swing. During my college track career at
the University of Florida, I competed at the highest level and my secret weapon
to running faster and longer was perfecting my arm action. I learned when I started to fatigue that I
should focus on the arms which cause strong leg drive. The smoother and more controlled my arms were
throughout the swing the faster I ran. I
discovered the running arm swing consist of three points:
Relax Hands
The hands should always be relaxed through the arm swing to minimize
tension. Think about running with an egg in your hand. The hands should always be in vertical
position basically having the thumb up to eliminate the hands from crossing the
body mid-line.
Arm Angle
The arm works like a pendulum. The shorter the pendulum the faster it will move
and the legs will follow. Everyone talks
about the arms being at a 90° angle through the running arm swing. This is half true because at the top of the
swing it is close to about 70° - 80° and at the bottom of the swing
the arms will drop to about 110°-120° degrees to create
balance.
Shoulder Swing
A common problem with runners is tight
shoulders. Tight shoulder usually
results from poor arm movement which makes it harder to breath. This can be corrected simply by making sure
the runner is swinging their arms instead of the holding them stagnate. Make sure the runner drives the elbows back slightly,
the arm should not pass the hips on the down swing and on the upswing the hands
should not pass the chin. The control of the arms throughout the running arm
swing will create speed and endurance.
