“Success, like happiness, can not be pursued. It comes only as a result of dedication.” – Viktor Frankl

It may not be apparent, but how our arms swing is integral to balance, cadence, running efficiency and stride length. And maybe saving the world. Additionally, how you swing your arms while running is influenced by core strength.

Core Strength and Running Efficiency: Let’s get the unfortunate news out of the way first. We just can’t get away from stressing how important core strength is for running. But we’d bet most would not stop to think that core strength affects arm swing. Well, it does in the sense that a strong and engaged core resists rotation of the torso. A weak core allows for upper body rotation, which can create unnecessary stresses on your lower spine. What this looks like from the outside is your hands crossing in front of your body when you run.

On the other hand, a strong and engaged core resists rotation which means that your arms swing straight forward and back, like pendulums from your shoulders and don’t swing across your body. The bottom line for efficiency is that the more energy you can direct in the direction you’re moving (hopefully forward) the more efficient runner you become.

Balance: As one arm moves forward the opposing leg moves forward. That is left arm forward, right leg forward. This maintains a dynamic balance allowing you to more easily move forward in a straight line. The good news is that you don’t really have to think about, even though it can be a comical experiment to try to either consciously do it or to try to do the opposite of what your body naturally does.

Cadence and stride length: Your arms naturally move in a balanced synchronization with your legs. The faster you can move your arms, the faster your legs move. It’s also true that the longer the arc of your arm swing, the longer the arc your legs will naturally move.

Running hint: Point your index fingers and make sure you keep pointing them straight ahead as your arms swing forward while you run. If you want to pretend to be drawing and shooting your phaser, then go ahead and use your running to save the world from alien invasion.