How Our Arms Help Us Run

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Phys Ed

Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.

How we hold our arms affects how we run, but probably not in ways that most of us would expect, according to a new study of upper body biomechanics. The ideal arm swing may be the one that you’re already using, the study concludes.

Distance running is, of course, physiologically costly, meaning that it requires large outlays of energy. Almost every aspect of the activity adds to that energy expenditure, like holding your body upright and metronomically swinging first one leg and then the other forward and toward the ground.