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I just started running again with a friend and can feel it in my thighs, but also in my shoulders. We figured it's because of moving our arms when we run, so I'm wondering if y'all developed better shoulders from running.

start doing upper body weight workouts. It will make you a stronger runner. The various bench press routines, bicep curls, and so on will develop chest, shoulder, and arm muscles. I started lifting weights because after my long runs of 10-12 miles, my upper body was far more fatigued than my legs.

runningstud is correct, it definitely helps a lot to keep your upper body strong with work outs instead of depending on just running to make you stronger. I find that when I stop running and try to pick it back up, my lungs go first because I am out of shape. But when I get back into shape, my arms start going first and I have a hard time keeping them up because they need to be stronger.

Can you point to the part of your shoulder(s) that's hurting.

Lots of little spots there, around your shoulder.

I'd say its the trapezius. My friend said it might be because I'm tense when I run.

Ah, that's what I thought...this isn't from swinging, it's from shrugging.

I'm not a sports trainer, but I'd suggest someone on this site could give you a suggestion as to how to hold your back, swing your arms and correct your posture. It's not magic, but it'll give you better endurance. Good luck!

Trainers out there?

I have been exercising with weights long before I sarted running 8 years ago. In that time I have not had but one minor injury. I think it's attributed directly to using a weight training routine that consists of upper and lower body exercises.

Runner's World did a story...hmm, maybe a year ago, that suggested the best pre-run workout in addition to a good warm up period was a circuit of push ups, tri-dips and some form of ab exercise that emphasized the plexus and the obliques.

I agree with runningstud that one should stretch your upper body for runs > 10 miles. Also I have been keeping my arms down along my side when I am maintaining a pace. I only put my arm up when I'm accelerating or going up hills. I used to hold a lot of energy in my arms as I ran. Keep your arms down helps relax your upper body, lets you breathe easier and reduces unnecessary upper body movements. It may seem awkward at first but keeping your arms down has definitely helped me improve my long distance races.

And of course looking at my profile, both of my running pictures don't show this. Ones from a 5K which is too short. And the other is before a finish line.

It is always recommended to cross-train, so you have a better development all over your body and not only some muscles. Every sport uses more certain muscles than others. For example, running uses more the muscles of the back part of your legs while cycling develops more the quads, so they are a perfect complement. I do weights once a week, mostly upper body.

In my case I have not noticed any shoulder muscle development from running but from the weight training...
Good luck!

They're all right with this. It's good to do weight training on the upper body since that's the part that can help keep your body upright. I know that in previous years when I did the long runs, I would have some shoulder pain. It was after doing weights that I noticed the pain faded away. Granted that was also with lots of rest. One thing that I do when I do feel a slight shoulder pain during the long runs or during my marathon training days, I tend to shake out my arms for a bit and then go back to my form. That gives me a slight charge and also helps me to loosen up for the next set of miles that I need to work on.

There are 3 basic rules to running

1. ass tight..squeeze it, it will help your knees, trust me
2. neck long
3. loose relaxed shoulders.

If your shoulders are sore from running I suggest you run too cramped up there.
Once you run with a tight butt and chest out a bit ( which sorta goes together) and the shoulders relaxed to the sides you should be okay. Of course cross training helps.I give my body a 80% full body workout anyways doing nordic running...

fryblock saidI just started running again with a friend and can feel it in my thighs, but also in my shoulders. We figured it's because of moving our arms when we run, so I'm wondering if y'all developed better shoulders from running.

my shoulders hurt when i am hitting both the gym and the road hard.. now i am just hitting the road hard, so they dont hurt when i am running the longer distances.. next up.. the weather channel half marathon on thanksgiving in the A T L.



however, the race for the cure, a 5k ,is this weekend.. if u r near jax, you should run.. this will be my third time...

www.chirunning.com

run with sticks/M&M plastic tubes, hold them like they are eggs. elbow's at 90 degrees, shoulders down, look only about 3-5ft in front of you.

UStriathlete said

run with sticks/M&M plastic tubes, hold them like they are eggs. elbow's at 90 degrees, shoulders down, look only about 3-5ft in front of you.

There's truth to this one. I carry my mp3 player in hand and if I don't switch off hands, I can tell that the non-carrying arm feels different than the carrying arm after a run if I'm not managing my form/posture/etc properly.