In trail running, poles aren’t meant for balance; they are designed to transfer part of the propulsive effort from your quads and calves to your back and arm muscles—provided you master the wrist strap and the proper stride patterns.
- Using poles incorrectly or passively turns them into dead weight that ruins your posture without giving you any advantage.
- Propulsion doesn’t come from gripping the handle tightly, but from loading your body weight onto the strap (the lanyard) through your wrist.
- On moderate climbs, use the alternating stride, syncing with the natural arm swing of your walk.
- On the steepest pitches, the simultaneous push (double poling) comes into play, allowing you to leverage your entire torso to lift your body.
- On flat, runnable sections, and especially on technical downhills, stow your poles or hold them so your hands are free to protect you in case of a fall.
From Extra Weight to Front-Wheel Drive
If you watch an ultramarathon or long-distance trail race, you will notice almost all the athletes use poles. The reason is purely physiological: spreading the workload across multiple muscle groups. Your legs alone have an endurance limit when the vertical gain starts piling up.
The most common mistake beginners make in mountain running is buying a pair of carbon poles and using them like hiking crutches, just planting them to keep their balance. In trail running, poles must function as “front-wheel drive.” If your triceps, shoulders, and lats aren’t slightly tired at the top of a grueling climb, you aren’t using them to push; you are just carrying them.
The Secret to Pushing: How to Thread and Use the Strap
The correct biomechanics of using poles starts with your hands. If you try to push yourself uphill by squeezing the handle tightly, your forearm muscles will be completely fried within a few miles. Your grip should be relaxed, almost loose. The real work is done by the strap (the lanyard).
To use it correctly, slide your hand up through the bottom of the strap loop, then grab the handle so the strap passes between your thumb and index finger and runs down the back of your wrist. In this position, when you plant the pole and push back, your body weight loads directly onto the strap. The handle is only there to guide the direction of the pole, while the mechanical push is handled entirely by your wrist bearing down on the strap. This single detail radically changes the efficiency of your movement.
Alternating Stride: The Technique for Moderate Climbs
When the trail gradient allows you to maintain a fast, efficient walk—known as power hiking—the technique to use is the alternating stride, derived from Nordic Walking.
The movement follows your body’s natural swing: when your right foot steps forward, your left arm brings the pole forward, and vice versa. You shouldn’t plant the tip too far out in front of you; ideally, it should land roughly in line with the heel of your leading foot. The push should not be directed straight down, but backward, pushing past your hip line to maximize horizontal propulsion and drive you forward.
Simultaneous Push: “Double Poling” for Extreme Gradients
There are climbs where the gradient turns into an absolute wall. Your stride drastically shortens, and the alternating movement loses its effectiveness, becoming choppy and uncoordinated. In these situations, you switch to the simultaneous push, or double poling.
In this technique, you plant both poles simultaneously in front of you. Your torso leans forward. Leveraging the straps, you use your entire upper posterior chain (core, lats, triceps) to lift and push your body up and forward. With a single, powerful push from your arms, you can take two or three short steps with your legs. This technique requires coordination and solid upper-body conditioning, but it drastically reduces the load on your quads during the most vertical sections.
Trail Management: When to Stow Them for Safe Running
Running with your poles deployed and in your hands at all times is not the best choice. The basic rule is simple: use them on the uphills.
When you crest a hill and the trail flattens out, allowing you to return to a fluid running stride, deployed poles alter your arm mechanics and lower your cadence. If the flat section is short, you can simply slip your hands out of the straps and grab the poles by their center of gravity, carrying them horizontally. If the runnable section is long, fold them up and stash them in your pack or a dedicated pole belt.
On downhills, especially technical and uneven ones, deployed poles are a major safety hazard. Trying to use carbon poles to brake exposes you to the risk of snapping them between rocks or, worse, tripping over them. To descend fluidly and safely, you need your arms free to balance your body and your hands ready to protect you if you slide. On the downhills, fold your poles away.