Can the Way You Swing Your Arms Help You to Run Faster?

• Arm movement occurs as a natural result of the leg movement which happens when we run, rather than due to the muscles used when swinging the arms. The arms merely act to stabilize the body.
• However, as we begin to tire, swinging the arms can aid the legs in moving forwards in time with the arms, thereby enabling us to continue running at a steady pace.
   

If we tried to hold in our arms tightly when we run, we’d probably find it rather difficult, wouldn’t we? It is for this reason that we tend to hear advice telling us that “swinging the arms while running can help increase running speed and improve running form.” But is it really true that swinging our arms can have that much of an effect on the way we run?

Generally, if we try to swing our arms, we’ll need to utilize the muscles in our arms and shoulders. However, research conducted by Herman Pontzer in 2009 concluded that, when running, the swinging of arms occurs as a natural result of leg movement, rather than as a result of people intentionally swinging their arms. Any arm movement merely helps to stabilize the body while running.

Additionally, Robert Ropret conducted an interesting piece of research which found that adding just 0.5 kilogram of weight to the legs while running significantly slowed runners down, whereas adding the same amount of weight to a person’s arms did not cause them to run any slower than normal. The researcher therefore theorized that any swinging of the arms did not affect running speed as many had previously thought.

That being said, this doesn’t necessarily mean that swinging our arms cannot be of any benefit to our running at all, as research carried out on spinal injury patients, as well as patients with severe leg weakness, found that swinging the arms in time with the legs enabled more fluent leg movement. The research explains that this was likely due to the part of the brain responsible for controlling leg and arm movement, as well as our evolution from 4-legged animals in the distant past.

Therefore, when we begin to feel fatigue in our legs or start to lack energy when closing in on our distance goal, swinging our arms can help our legs to keep moving forwards at the same pace.

To conclude, when running at a normal pace, relax your arms and avoid tensing the shoulder or arm muscles. Just make light fists with your hands and run as naturally as possible. However, if you begin to feel fatigued, you can start to think more about swinging your arms as a form of assistance to your legs.