how to improve arm swing

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Bowling is the key. Alternate hands when you throw the ball and try to use a 16 pounder for the best workout.

Don't forget the Bee pollen. You will need a little extra energy for the extra workouts.

Depends what you mean by "pretty low"--if that's almost straight, you have a longer lever. Because the arms mirror the legs (actually they very slightly *lead* the legs), longer-lever arms can *tend* to induce a longer stride and slower step-tempo at any given speed. A longer, more powerful stride may be right for you when running shorter races, but energy-wasteful at longer distances. I personally had two natural arm carries: in the "speed" carry, the elbow was open about 100 degrees; in the "distance" carry it was definitely less than 90, maybe 80 degrees or so.

But that varies with the individual so much! If you tend to take a light, quick stride, your arms are not going to swing a lot, and may be pretty closed at the elbow. Anyway, three things that apply to most people:

1. Most important: at any speed, there should be some play in the elbow. It opens some as it swings back, closes a bit as it swings forward. This is most obvious when watching sprinting, e.g.

http://www.neilpeterson.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/sprinters.jpg

, but there should be relaxation--a bit of opening and closing--in the elbow even at the slowest jog. Locking the elbow at any one angle makes the shoulders sway and cuts your speed.

2. The only contribution your arms make toward forward propulsion is when they're moving backward. The forward swing of the arms is just a recovery stroke; the backswing is what pushes you forward. Hence, when a coach shouts "arms" at you, you should be thinking about their backward swing. (Actually, it helps some people to think specifically about the backward swing of the elbow.) This is contrary to what feels "natural" for a lot of people, because we're so used to having our hands where we can see them; as a result, many distance runners just keep their hands in front of their chest. This tends to develop tight shoulder/chest muscles, which you can help to correct with:

3. PNF chest stretching. You should just Google-search this: pnf +stretch +chest to get a lot of guidance on how to perform this kind of stretching. However, your best bet is to be shown how to do this by someone who's experienced at using it. While PNF is typically done with a partner, you can do the chest stretch by yourself; see, e.g.,

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0675/is_4_20/ai_90924139/

.

Good luck. Let us know what works for you.

Cut a piece of string 16 inches long.

Hold it in each hand, between thumb and for finger as you run, not allowing yourself to let go of the string.

Problem solved; forever.

thank you very much for the help!

My pleasure.

JUST RUN WITH YOUR ARMS DIFFERENT! WTF...

WHEN I WAS 15, I SAW HOW GEBS LEFT ARM DID A LITTLE CIRCLING MOTION. I STARTED RUNNING LIKE THAT FOR ABOUT A YEAR. THEN I CHANGED MY ARM MOTION AGAIN TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE EL G'S.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PRACTICE.

This is one area I studied extensively.

I know there are some people who are against science on here, but I will say, the arms do NOT contribute to forward propulsion directly, but rather to upward momentum.

If one arm is moving forward, the other is moving backward, so the forward/backward momentum cancels each other out. However, the same is not true with regard to upward/downward momentum. When one arm is moving forward and the other moving back, the upward momentum is in sync at one point, and then the downward momentum is in sync at another point. The end result is that the arms contribute to lifting up the body together, and they contribute to pushing down the body together. The action of the lifting action is obvious (helps move you up). The downward action is less so. The downward momentum of arms goes downward through the body, down through the feet and creates a force against the ground. The ground then provides an equal and opposite reaction (ground reaction force) which then contributes to upward motion. This effect is maximized when "core stability" is good, as this allows the downward momentum of the arms to be more efficiently transferred to the lower body.

Sorry, accidentally submitted my response early.

Additionally, the arms and upper body in general contribute to stability from a rotational standpoint.

One thing that has been observed is that the arms seem to stabilize the body and ensure a smooth overall motion in three dimensions. Generally speaking, if you have no major issues in your upper body (ie, excessive tightness in one area, some kind of asymmetry, etc.) asymmetry in your upper body represents some kind of compensation from your lower body. In other words, if your legs are producing a stride that is a bit uneven, your arms will often even it out. If you intentionally change your upper body may actually prevent the compensatory response and decrease your mechanical efficiency.

I wrote an article for Running Times a few years back about some weight training for the upper body, and if you send me an e-mail, I can send you a PDF of the article.

Hope that helps!

i like how the ad in this thread is about a golf swing. maybe the swing surgeon can help you run better too.

I have a friend who actually does not have the use of one of his shoulders after an accident many years ago, so that arm just kind of hangs down when he runs. How much faster would he be if he could use both arms?

This guy ran pretty well with only one working arm (1:15 to 2:00 in the video):

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/pictorial-parade-no124-1962

Murray Halberg: OG gold, CG gold, multiple world records.

[But, given that you make lefthand turns on a track, it was lucky that his right arm was the one that still worked.]

Thanks for the help Dr. S.

and to the guy typing in caps you are lucky that you can simply mimic olympic champions but changing my form has not been as easy.

One thing I have done is to use water bar bells in the pool. Helps me with rhythm, strength (resistance over an extended workout) and provides a bit of an opportunity to experiment without messing up my land stride.

Some interesting posts here, guys. I will try some of these tips in my 10K tomorrow.

Arm swing (approximately 9"-12") simply provides bipedal balance. As you improve ground force, you're running will continue to improve. If, however, your focus is on improving arm swing as an attempt to improve your running, then you're wasting valuable training time.