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[–] 11 points 21 hours ago (4 children)

Of course; if it were better for athletes they’d have figured that out and would have been running that way all along. From a purely physical perspective, counterbalancing your legs with your arms while running gives you extra stability which allows for greater speeds with lower chances of falling over. Our bodies just aren’t built for properly high speeds though - bipedalism lends itself far greater to endurance than velocity.

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  • [–] 4 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

    That's not exactly how that works. Often you get stuck at a local maximum. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Young_(athlete)#%22Young_Shuffle%22

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  • [–] 2 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

    Sorry about how is that an example? It didn't touch on the local maximumness of the shuffle at all.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 hours ago (1 child)

    Well the young shuffle is basically running slower but not resting as long.

    It's not completely clear if this tactic is better because there are other factors and often it's banned, but when it is allowed a lot of winners use this.

    But it is an example of a change that works and is against traditional wisdom.

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