Clenching my fists while running?

mlwooten

Does anyone else do this? I try to keep my hands loose but I always end up running with my hand in fists and it tenses me up.  

psyri

I do it when I am cold but try to not do it. It makes my upper body and shoulders too tense. Try "pulling rope." Lower your arms to waist level and open up your hands.

JenMJM

Whenever I'm feeling a little tensed up in either my hands or shoulders, I shake them out.  I probably look slightly ridiculous when I shake out my upper body in the middle of a run, but it loosens me up and brings back attention to running in a relaxed state.

I remember my track coaches always telling us to run relaxed from the face to the fingers.  Shake it, relax it, overcompensate, whatever - any of these should help you meet somewhere in the middle with your upper body.  My guess is that it's not just your hands that are tight, but they can be the most obvious to you.

mlwooten

that makes a ton of sense, Jen. My shoulders are really tense,  too. I'll have to try that shake it out thing.

JenMJM

mlwooten:

that makes a ton of sense, Jen. My shoulders are really tense,  too. I'll have to try that shake it out thing.

I hope it works for you!   I always picture my dog shaking water out of her fur when I do it.  If nothing else, it should make you smile a little

mehgank

Like Jen, I also have to shake out my upper body as well. I'll actually program certain songs that will remind my brain to shake myself out (like the "wiggle wiggle wiggle" part of "I'm Sexy And I Know It"), usually around every 2-3 miles or so.

I notice that once I start to clench my fists, that causes me to pump my arms more than necessary, too. One of my running buddies gave me a helpful reminder for my hands. He said to picture yourself holding a potato chip between your finger and thumb. That's as much as you should be clenching. Not sure what he based that on, but I've tried it, and it works for me.

When I'm not using the potato chip method, I use the "Run like a T-Rex" method. Chest out, shoulders back, arms free and loose (no clenched fists, no unneccessary pumping up and down, etc).

mlwooten

Run like a t-rex made me snarf my drink. Too funny. 

 

mehgank

mlwooten:

Run like a t-rex made me snarf my drink. Too funny. 

 

I'm seriously considering custom ordering a t-shirt or tank top with that printed on it as gift to myself for finishing this race lol. That mantra has seriously gotten me through so many tough runs during training.

jadeorchid21

JenMJM:

Whenever I'm feeling a little tensed up in either my hands or shoulders, I shake them out.  I probably look slightly ridiculous when I shake out my upper body in the middle of a run, but it loosens me up and brings back attention to running in a relaxed state.

This! I never had a track coach but I always felt like you run looser when your hands are loosey goosey.