Pumping Arms a good running form

[Kory Wheatley]

I've hear positive and negative about pumping your arms when you run.  I can see it in a 100m race or other smaller races, but what about a marathon.  I've heard from coaches that this takes a lot of energy on a endurance run, so trying to keep your arms down and bent to the  side is important.  I've practice this in the past on tempo runs and noticed I can run at a faster pace when I'm not pumping my arms.  But going uphill is a different story it seems that pumping your arms and being on your toes is better.

I don't know I thought this would be a good discussion.

[Steve Morrin]

What exactly do you mean by pumping your arms, because I find it almost impossible to not have my arms moving when I run. Do you mean agressively pumping? If that's the case, I would think that it isn't good because on the longer distances, it's more important to have a relaxed form for top running economy.

[Sasha Pachev]

My take on it - do whatever you feel you have to to run fast. Put on an HRM and go around the track or a measured level course. If a certain form change allows you to consistently run faster at the same HR which happens to be near your marathon pace, it is worth learning. You will discover than pretty much no form change will make a difference in your speed at the same HR. Which makes sense. If it did, as much as you run, you would have learned it already. Only a novice will get better by artificially changing the form, and even then, if you allow him to run naturally in a competitive environment for a while, he would eventually find a better change. The fatiguing misery of the fast pace combined with the competitive drive to sustain it will teach our bodies to run efficiently a lot better than tips from a famous coach.

[jtshad]

I agree that pumping your arms a bit on hills helps keep your knees high and improves your turnover rate.  Besides that, I don't know about pumping your arms too much except to help with the kick at the end.  You should however try to ensure that your arms move forward and backward at your side rather than crossing over your body as you see many people do.  Keeping your arms straight helps your efficiency and keeps your momentum moving forward, while crossing you arms in front of your body just robs energy.