How to correct a problem with arm swing while running?

Swing them forward and back. The only reason it's not happening is because you're not DOING it.

Who cares if you're arms are swinging across your torso? It's about who crosses the finish line first not whose arms are crossing the least. Don't worry about it.

kfirk wrote:

Who cares if you're arms are swinging across your torso? It's about who crosses the finish line first not whose arms are crossing the least. Don't worry about it.

It decreases efficiency because you have to swing your arms with more force to get the same effect as you would by swinging them straight back and forth. Also I think it could throw off stability because some of the force from the arm swing is directed sideways. Besides, it just looks stupid.

tracknoob wrote:

kfirk wrote:

Who cares if you're arms are swinging across your torso? It's about who crosses the finish line first not whose arms are crossing the least. Don't worry about it.

It decreases efficiency because you have to swing your arms with more force to get the same effect as you would by swinging them straight back and forth. Also I think it could throw off stability because some of the force from the arm swing is directed sideways. Besides, it just looks stupid.

Way more elites swing across their body. It takes less effort since it is a more natural movement.

2 things you probably need to work on: arm strength and muscle memory.

Arm Strength: It's not just about your chest and lat muscles. Strong (or at least unweak) shoulders and triceps are crucial to good arm swing. Do 20 pushups, 20 tricep dips, max pullups everyday for a couple of weeks.

Muscle Memory (Probably more important): Stand in front of a mirror and practice swinging your arms straight forward and pack. Everyday, 5-10 minutes. Make sure it's perfect. After a week, start holding 5 pound weights while you do this.

I used to be in the same boat as you, absolutely awful, side to side arm-swing. And you're correct, efficient arm-swing helps a lot, especially while mid-distance running, when you really need to concentrate your momentum forward.

And of course, be very mindful of your arms while running for the next couple weeks... really focus on that forward and back motion. Soon, it'll feel natural.

Treat causes and not effects.

1. Unlock your elbow. It should open a bit when it swings back, and close a bit when it swings forward--not anything that you have to *make* happen, just relax the elbow and *let* it happen.

...which it will. The weight of the hand/forearm will tend to open the elbow some on the backswing and close it some as it swings forward. This is pretty obvious when you watch sprinters (https://bretcontreras.com/wp-content/uploads/sprinting.jpg), but it should happen (though with much less amplitude) at slower speeds, too. There should always be a little "play" in the elbow, even at a jog.

2. Change your mental focus re your arms. The only part of the arm stroke that moves you forward is when the elbow is moving backward (behind your torso), so your mental image of yourself running should feature the elbows moving back. The forward swing is just a recovery stroke and happens automatically.

People are oriented toward seeing what their hands/arms are doing. As a result some runners tend to keep their hands within sight at all times. This pretty much guarantees a cross-body action. Who cares what your hands are doing, you're running!

3. The arms balance the legs. When you run the legs land one (almost) right in front of the other. To balance that your arms will also tend to come to the midline of your torso. Don't worry about that (the East German women's coaches actually used to *coach* a cross-body action for their sprinters' arms); if you take care of unlocking the elbows and focusing on their backward swing, you should be okay...particularly if you continue with chest/frontal shoulder stretching (such as PNF stretching for the chest) and the back-strengthening work that you're already doing.

4. If your elbows are sticking out, even though they're relaxed/unlocked, and you want to "cure" that, just turn your hands thumbs-up: run with the palms of your hands parallel to each other, rather than parallel with the ground. This will automatically bring your elbows closer to your sides, with no effort required.

But this is generally not a big deal, as long as you're following #1 and #2 above.

megaranation wrote:

2 things you probably need to work on: arm strength and muscle memory.

Arm Strength: It's not just about your chest and lat muscles. Strong (or at least unweak) shoulders and triceps are crucial to good arm swing. Do 20 pushups, 20 tricep dips, max pullups everyday for a couple of weeks.

Muscle Memory (Probably more important): Stand in front of a mirror and practice swinging your arms straight forward and pack. Everyday, 5-10 minutes. Make sure it's perfect. After a week, start holding 5 pound weights while you do this.

I used to be in the same boat as you, absolutely awful, side to side arm-swing. And you're correct, efficient arm-swing helps a lot, especially while mid-distance running, when you really need to concentrate your momentum forward.

Good advice, but the part about doing dips, pushups, and pullups every day seems kinda strange. I have always heard you should only do that stuff every other day or at least take a day off from it every three or four days. That way your muscles have time to recover instead of being sore constantly. Is there any truth to that?

lease wrote:

1. Unlock your elbow. It should open a bit when it swings back, and close a bit when it swings forward--not anything that you have to *make* happen, just relax the elbow and *let* it happen.

...which it will. The weight of the hand/forearm will tend to open the elbow some on the backswing and close it some as it swings forward. This is pretty obvious when you watch sprinters (https://bretcontreras.com/wp-content/uploads/sprinting.jpg), but it should happen (though with much less amplitude) at slower speeds, too. There should always be a little "play" in the elbow, even at a jog.

So is the traditional advice about keeping your arms at 90 degrees just a coach's tale? I always thought this was accurate because if you pull your forearms forward it's canceling out more of your forward momentum than it would if you just kept them at a constant angle.

Not in this case. 20 pushups/20 tricep dips/a few pullups is nothing. You won't be doing enough volume or intensity to be in a constant state of soreness, or to require a 'day off'. These are just bodyweight exercises you can throw into your daily core routine.

you need to visualize Mark Everett's right arm as you run

it will cause you to compensate

Swinging arms across the body is way easier to fix than all the recommendations given so far.

Rest one hand on your side at pocket level so it doesn't swing back and forth. Now, run swinging only the opposite arm. The arm will go back and forth instead of side to side because it's almost impossible to run while swinging only one arm across the body. Next, switch sides and run swinging only the opposite arm. Do this as a drill. Run 30 seconds swinging one arm. Then, switch to the other arm and run 30 seconds.

Gradually build up the time you run to 60 seconds. Your shoulders might be sore the first couple of weeks you do this, but it will go away. Eventually, the back and forth motion will become more comfortable, but you will have to consciously do it for a while until it becomes your natural running arm swing.

Where you hold the non-swinging arm isn't important. It can be at pocket level, belt level or with the inside of the wrist touching your side. Just don't let it swing.

tracknoob wrote:

kfirk wrote:

Who cares if you're arms are swinging across your torso? It's about who crosses the finish line first not whose arms are crossing the least. Don't worry about it.

It decreases efficiency because you have to swing your arms with more force to get the same effect as you would by swinging them straight back and forth. Also I think it could throw off stability because some of the force from the arm swing is directed sideways. Besides, it just looks stupid.

No, that is false. Doing something that your body doesn't naturally do is inefficient and costs more energy. It also does not "throw off stability". That's why yours arms cross - to balance out all of the motion of your body.

Why do you care if it looks stupid? The goal is to get faster. If you are trying to get prettier then sure change your form, but if you care about your running then don't worry about this.

kfirk wrote:

No, that is false. Doing something that your body doesn't naturally do is inefficient and costs more energy. It also does not "throw off stability". That's why yours arms cross - to balance out all of the motion of your body.

Why do you care if it looks stupid? The goal is to get faster. If you are trying to get prettier then sure change your form, but if you care about your running then don't worry about this.

No. Please stop. Giving advice.

The arms don't swing backwards and forwards, that would indeed be inneficient. They swing in an eliptical motion, so there is no dead spot.

Think about it.

straight jacket will sort that out for ya.

No, that is false. Doing something that your body doesn't naturally do is inefficient and costs more energy. It also does not "throw off stability". That's why yours arms cross - to balance out all of the motion of your body.

Why do you care if it looks stupid? The goal is to get faster. If you are trying to get prettier then sure change your form, but if you care about your running then don't worry about this.[/quote]

The fact that your body doesn't feel comfortable with the arms moving forward does not mean that it is the optimal motion. It's a defect that has been learned over time and needs to be corrected. If a runner has a clomping, heavy heal strike, would you not change it? Yes it may be more comfortable, but said runner is going to run much quicker with a mid foot strike rather than braking with their heel on each stride.

tracknoob wrote:

So is the traditional advice about keeping your arms at 90 degrees just a coach's tale? I always thought this was accurate because if you pull your forearms forward it's canceling out more of your forward momentum than it would if you just kept them at a constant angle.

Different things work for different people. I wouldn't be surprised if someone, somewhere, had her/his best race with locked elbows. But it certainly seems that *most* benefit from leaving the elbow relaxed. That doesn't mean that the forearm is dangling down!--it means that the elbow is free to open and close as it balances the legs (which also open and close at the knee, obviously).

Take a look here at some fairly good runners:

In the opening seconds of that clip, runners are in the early part of a ten thousand meter race. (Granted, the rest of the clip shows them in the finishing phase, when we'd expect their arms to be used more.) We can see that the runners in that race, though their arms certainly look *different* from one man to the next (and though the *basic* angle at the elbow varies from one man to the next), are allowing their elbows to open and close a bit.

Key word: "allowing." It's not something you have to *make* happen. You just have to *let* it happen. And when you do, it tends to reduce (not eliminate--most wouldn't benefit from that!) cross-body armswing.

We aren't talking about foot striking. Foot striking is a very different issue than arm swing.

Even if it was an appropriate comparison, your point is still wrong. Midfoot striking is not necessarily more efficient or quicker than a heel strike. Who cares if it is clomping or not? The goal is to run fast not to be sneaky and quiet.