3 min readHere’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
- How a quirky potato chip drill can instantly improve your running form.
- Why relaxed hands are key to conserving energy and running efficiently.
- Expert tips on maintaining proper form to avoid injuries and boost performance.
When I was 16, my high-school distance coach did something after track practice that I’ll never forget: He pulled out two tubes of Pringles from his backpack and told me and my teammates to grab some chips—not to eat, but to run with.
And when I say run, I mean sprint. Coach gave us instructions to hold one chip in each hand while doing 150-meter strides. The object of the game? Make it through an entire stride without breaking the Pringles.
So off we went, potato chips in hand, sprinting on the track. On the first stride, I failed immediately, crushing the Pringles in each of my hands within 30 meters. But on the next sprints, I realized I needed to keep my fingers loose and light to get the chips across the finish line in one piece.
While this struck me as a silly drill back then, little did I know that it instilled a crucial tip in me for the rest of my life: never run with tight hands. It may seem like a minuscule element of your running form, but it’s so much more important than you think.
Having a good running form is all about being efficient and expending as little extra energy as possible. If you run with clenched fists or tense hands, you’re wasting precious energy that you can conserve by relaxing your fingers.
“The more you squeeze your hands, the more energy that you’re getting rid of through your hands—but you want all that energy to go into your actual running,” Amanda Nurse, a certified run coach and Wellness in Motion Run Coaching founder, told Runner’s World.
Nurse suggests visualizing holding potato chips to practice relaxing your hands—or, if you want to take the more literal approach that my high school track team did, buy an actual bag at the store.
Loosening your hands can also help you stay in a generally relaxed state on your run. Keep your upper body calm by relieving tension in not just your hands, but also in your face and jaw. And pay attention to other areas of tension–such as in your shoulders and neck–to avoid pesky upper body injuries that can arise when running.
It’s especially important to practice proper form as you’re beginning your running journey. In How to Start Running, Runner’s World’s new video program that helps new runners begin a consistent routine with guidance from top experts—host Matt Meyer emphasizes everything from leaning forward to relaxing the muscles in your hands. “Swing your arms forward and backward, with elbows bent and your hands loose,” says Meyer, a certified personal trainer and run coach.
By establishing good form habits early, you’ll set yourself up for efficient running in the future. I didn’t know a can of Pringles—and some innovative coaching—would totally change my running life, but six years later, here we are.
What tip in How to Start Running will change the way YOU run? Whether you’re new to running, coming back from an injury, or in need of a form fix, give the program a try now. Matt and other running experts will show you how to start slowly using run/walk intervals that allow you to build upon your progress week after week, plus offer tips to ensure you avoid common beginner missteps that can result in boredom, fatigue, or injury.
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Ashley is Editor of Content Hype at Hearst’s Enthusiast & Wellness Group. She is a former collegiate runner at UNC Asheville where she studied mass communication. Ashley loves all things running; she has raced two marathons, plus has covered some of the sport’s top events in her career, including the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials and multiple World Marathon Majors.
