We run primarily with our feet and legs, of course. But the upper-body appendages—shoulders, arms, hands—also play an important role. They can be tense and jerky, which tends to produce the same motions in the legs. Or they can be smooth and powerful, helping to guide the legs in a similar pattern.
Many runners I know have a fascination with seeing themselves in a mirror. (I confess: I’m a charter member of this group.) It’s not that we’re vain. We don’t expect a chiseled, cover-model reflection in the glass. We just want to check out how we look when we’re running.
We take this compulsion with us from the treadmills at the local health club to a famous plate-glass window at the 6.5-mile mark of the Boston Marathon. While chugging past this window, Boston runners always edge toward it and sneak a peek over their right shoulder. How am I lookin’?
All veteran runners aim to cover ground in as relaxed a manner as possible. The less strain you carry with you on the run, the farther you can go with greater ease. The enemy is tension.
Relaxation begins with the face. If you scowl, you’ll run slow, tense, and huffy. On the other hand, I’ve actually read studies showing that a relaxed and smiling face improves running economy. The brain, of course, senses what your face is doing. When you smile, it interprets this as a feeling-good input. It figures if you’re feeling good, you must be ready to run strong.
The hands also make a major contribution to your running relaxation. You can’t run smoothly with a fist that’s balled up into a boxer’s clenched weapon, or with a hand that’s flopping from the wrist as if cleaved by a butcher knife.
Instead, aim to run as if carrying an uncooked egg in both hands. You have to grasp the egg firmly enough that it can’t slip through your fingers and crash to the ground, but also lightly enough not to crush it in your hands, producing a gooey mess of yolk and eggshell.
I’ve never actually seen anyone running with eggs in their hands, but I love the image. It totally works. You could give it a try, or you could simply walk around the house for a few minutes with an egg in each hand to get the right feel.
At any rate, the goal is to run with your fingers loosely cupped together, the thumb resting on top. When you master this hand position, your arms and shoulders should fall naturally into an economical back-and-forth rhythm.
Drop your shoulders: To keep your shoulders loose and comfortable, let them drift to a relaxed, low position. Don’t hunch your shoulders up high as if trying to reach your ears. That just increases the tension in your neck, back, and arms. Drop your shoulders low, as if holding your dog’s leash while walking her around the block.
When you run with relaxed hands and shoulders, your upper body naturally assumes an easy, symmetrical flow. It doesn’t waste any of the energy being produced by your legs, the “engine” of your running. You run smoothly and powerfully.
Tuck your elbows in: Holding your elbows close to your body at all times will improve your economy. When your elbows stray from your sides, your hands and shoulders are also likely to flail. Again, excess arm movement leads to wasted energy.
Don’t punch the air: Sometimes I see runners who look like they’re punching the air with their arms and hands. To tell the truth, I mostly encounter this oddity in TV commercials and magazine advertisements. For some reason the ad wizards on Madison Avenue believe that runners should employ a hyperenergetic pumping motion with their arms.
The reality is quite the opposite. Great runners don’t waste energy with their arms. They want all effort to go to the legs. This was made remarkably clear when Nike organized a sub-two-hour marathon attempt in 2017. The winner of that highly publicized attempt, Eliud Kipchoge, ran a remarkable 2:00:26. Watching him, the first thing you noticed was the lack of arm pumping in front of his chest. It made him look effortless—the very point of efficient running.