Ever thought.... why do we swing our arms when we walk or run..?
You must be thinking that, the way our arms move while walking does not make much sense. There is no need to move our arms to move our legs. Well it's a long bothered topic for scientists also that why we swing our arms. But in 2009, researchers took a closer look to figure out why exactly we flail while we walk.
At the University of Michigan scientist performed an experiment and measured the energy used by 10 people who walked a number of ways - swinging their arms, holding them to their sides, and so on. They ran similar tests that the swinging actually has a purpose: It reduces the overall amount of energy it takes to walk.
The study found that people who hold their arms still while walking use 12% more metabolic energy than people who swing their arms naturally.
And scientists came to a conclusion that , while walking or running ,our feet pushing forward on the ground cause an alternating twisting motion in our torso when viewed from above. With each pace, our torso is twisted and this would force the next pace to counter the twist.
It is simpler and more comfortable to swing to use our swinging arms to counter this twisting motion. Indeed, a runner can even use his pumping arm motion to impart some energy into pace. Since the arms are not used much during the process of running, this makes use of an additional source of muscle energy. Any runner will tell you that pumping your arms while running up a hill makes the hill appear easier.
If you put your hands in your pocket while running or walking, you will quickly see how much effort must be wasted in countering this twisting motion by swinging four whole torso. It is much easier to just pump your arms in counter motion to your leg.
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