Why do we swing our arms when we walk?

This used to be one of the big questions in exercise physiology.

The other was what’s the limiting factor in oxygen utilization?

O2 uptake at the muscles

O2 uptake at the lungs (the pressure across the alveolar membrane and red blood cell affinity for 02, etc) <—-its this one, google anatomical dead space

Circa 2009 we figured out why we swing our arms….

Swinging your arms while you walk:

Makes walking more “economical”
Keeps us walking straight

“The results showed that arm swinging, either normally or in the opposite direction, required little effort from the muscles. “Instead of being muscle-driven,” Collins said, “arm swinging appears to arise from the natural dynamics, or passive dynamics, of the body as it walks.”

The experiments also showed that keeping the arms steady increased the effort of walking by 12%, the equivalent of walking 20% faster or carrying a 10 kilo backpack. When the arms were bound at the sides, not as much effort was needed, which suggests that holding the arms down requires more exertion that letting them swing.

But forcing the arms to swing out of sync increased the effort of walking even more. The researchers’ explanation, which they developed by observing the walking robots, is that this alternate movement makes legs work twice as hard to prevent your body from spinning.

Collins explained, “during a step your legs try to make your body spin about a vertical axis … in a motion resembling a pirouetting ballerina”.

Swinging arms in the normal direction cancels this out, meaning leg muscles don’t have to counter the spinning tendency.” – Cosmos Mag

This cross-body upper lower “synergy” is seen again and again in human movement.

Like throwing a punch “with your hips”, hitting a golf ball relies on hip turn, sprinting speed is aided by arm drive and a big bench needs leg drive.

Why are Bear Crawls Good?

Why’s a tree good?

Just cause…that’s why.

So it’s pretty important to be able to control tension and “get tight” where we need tension and SIMULTANEOUSLY “loosen” and move freely where we need movement.

Plus we can NEVER have enough,

Ass, Abs and Upper Back.

Core stability, shoulder stability and movement control all in one

Plank Elbow Touch

Checklist:

Start in a pushup plank position
- Shoulders ACTIVE in the joint.
- Lats, abs, glutes, quads ON.
Grip the floor
PRESS into the ground through the stance shoulder
Keep the unsupported shoulder and hip “down”, don’t rotate open.