One of the simplest upgrades many runners can make is with their arms rather than their legs, but, says Leo Spall, far too many don’t even think about it.
Take a running coaching course or look through the literature on biomechanics and it shouldn’t take you too long to find something about the importance of the arms.
Yet for a wide range of recreational runners I have coached – and for others I see out on the roads and trails – what they are doing with their upper limbs seldom seems to be part of the thinking.
I get it: you run, essentially, with your legs, so why worry about what’s happening up top? Because getting it right there could be one of the simplest upgrades you ever make to your running.
It’s all about efficiency. If you are wasting energy in a key movement, you will get tired sooner and slow down. You don’t want to be bounding along like a coiled spring (think Zebedee) because, while you might get a good view over your neighbours’ front gardens, you’ll be spending as much time going up as forward.
Maybe think of the movement like an elbow drive – you could imagine tapping a drum at the back of the swing with your elbow
Similarly, you don’t want to be twisting like Chubby Checker because you’ll be leaking energy and, worse still, potentially causing compensatory patterns in your stride that could slow you down further or lead to injury.
How do you prevent yourself doing the Twist again? The first step is to identify what good arm drive is, so here’s some textbook pointers for endurance running:
arms bent at 90 degrees at the elbow
arms swinging backwards from relaxed shoulders in the line of travel
hands should reach and swing close to the hips
hands in your peripheral vision only when the elastic reaction brings them forward
hands should stay relaxed with thumb uppermost
All sounds a bit textbook, too, doesn’t it? It’s pretty simple really though: your arms should feel like they are swinging back and down, they can move at a bit of a cross angle for smooth comfort but shouldn’t breach the body’s midline.
Maybe think of the movement like an elbow drive – you could imagine tapping a drum at the back of the swing with your elbow – while you’re holding a Pringle (other favourite crisp or cracker varieties are available!) between thumb and forefinger, to keep hands and arms relaxed.
And that’s about it, really. If you’re pushing up a hill, you'll see why all this is important if you pump your arms back; it will help you run stronger up the incline as the motion of the arms sets the rhythm for your legs. If you need more convincing after that, remember your arms stabilise your body and can have a big influence on stride length and frequency.
It’s a bit different when breaking into a sprint because the arms extend at both ends of the arc, breaking the 90 degree angle at the elbow and extending the end point of the forward swing. Most of this is natural and endurance runners (textbook definition: running distances from 3km up) shouldn't worry about it too much at this stage.
For most people I’ve come across the upgrade available is in swinging back rather than forward and/or cutting out cross-body movement that leads to twisting. Some people have a looping hand movement or some other idiosyncrasy on one or both sides and changing then may take longer.
However long it takes you (and you can practise in front of a mirror as well as on the run), improving your arm drive isn’t likely to make you a rival for marathon world record holder Eilud Kipchoge but, over time, it should help make distance running easier and you more efficient.
Check out pictures or video of elite runners such Kipchoge, Meb Keflezighi (above) or Mo Farah racing longer distances to see how they do it. We’re not robots and no-one has what scientists might call perfect form but we can usually all improve a little. Give it a go and see how you get on.
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