The hands Man, what about the Hands???

I heard forearms paralel to the ground.  Seems to work for me...

moobs!

According to our coach from last night, you want your arms swinging fore and aft rather than across your front. The speed of the your arm swings will dictate your stride rate.

I've heard hips to nips, elbows in, hands relaxed.

My old cross country coach told me to let me hand just be limp, don't bother wasting energy on them and just let them be.  I find that I run looking like a stereotypical gay guy now with limp wrists, but it works for me.

Apparently it's different for everyone.  I keep my hands relaxed but not my wrists -- couldn't stand my hands flopping around!  I used to keep my elbows @ 90*, but I was encouraged to bend my elbows more a couple years ago and it's comfortable.  Now I lead the arm swing with my elbow -- keeps my arms from crossing in front of my body or swinging too far back.

Close.

As an endurance runner, you want minimal arm movement and to keep them very relaxed.  Position (and wrist limpness) is a personal preference.  Hall is one that runs verrryyyyy low as he and his dad found that as most effective for him.  This will not suit everyone.  And while it is a good policy not to cross your body, there are examples of elite runners who do to some extent.  Paula Radcliffe is a key example.  But what you can see is that she does not twist - which is what most people do when they cross their body with their arm movements.  You want your upper body fairly even and not moving excessively.

Your arm movement drives your legs.  If you pump harder, your legs will move faster.  But you are NOT a sprinter ...... so you do not want to "force" the issue.  The only time you really want to drive the pace is climbing quickly, finishing sprints, or to try and surge to keep up with someone else and pace off of them.

Aside - to increase your "power" you actually want to push BACKWARD with your arm driving your elbow behind you.  NOT what most people think which is to pull the arms way up into the front.

Edited by Daremo 2009-11-05 5:54 PM

My high school track coach told me to try this in my 400's... I shaved 2 seconds off my time, quite amazing really.

On a side note, I hold my arms a little on the high side, but I do swing them front to back.  I find that I'll have more up and down motion when my arms start to swing across my body (its a lazy habit).

Funny how track and running coaches seem to know what they are talking about.