Plant your poles in rhythm with your legs and push off through them: how to use trail running poles correctly on climbs and save your legs for later.
How do you use poles correctly on a trail running climb? The honest answer: diagonally, like normal walking: right pole with left leg, left pole with right leg, plant the pole slightly ahead of the foot and push yourself forward with it. That is the basic technique that gets arm power into your climb and takes load off your legs.
The benefit is measurable but smaller than many expect. On a steep climb, 15 trail runners with poles were faster at maximal effort (18:51 instead of 19:19 minutes), 12 of 15 improved [1]. At relaxed pace (80 % of maximum) there was no advantage [1]. Poles also reduced the force on the feet by 2 to 5 % [2]. That sounds small but adds up over thousands of steps. A review sums it up: pressure under the foot falls, upper-body muscles work harder, oxygen consumption rises [3].
An honest limit for this guide: studies mostly measure pole walking uphill. The finer details of technique (angle, strap) are practice standard, not study-backed. If you have never used poles, expect a few outings until the rhythm runs automatically.
Set the pole length so that your elbow is about a right angle with the pole planted (practice). On steep climbs you can shorten it slightly. The strap should come up through the hand from below and rest on the heel of the hand, so hand and strap transfer pressure without you clamping the grip.
Milestone: you can walk two minutes with the poles without readjusting and without your wrists pressing.
Practise on level ground first. Left leg forward, right pole forward, right leg forward, left pole forward. That is your natural arm swing. Plant the pole tip slightly angled at about the height of the front foot.
Milestone: you walk 100 metres in rhythm without crossing the poles with your legs.
When the pole lands, you push yourself forward and slightly down with the arm. The pole ends behind your foot, not in front. Only there does propulsion arise. On the climb the step gets shorter and the arm action stronger.
Milestone: you feel the push from the arms without your shoulders hiking up.
Now walk a 5–10 minute climb, breath and steps in time. The steeper, the more poles pay off: in treadmill walking, perceived effort with poles was 14–18 % lower from 15° onward (about 27 % gradient, as steep as a demanding ski slope), and from 25° (around 47 %) the energy cost per metre of climb also fell by 2–3 % [4].
Milestone: you walk 10 minutes uphill without losing your rhythm.
Use poles deliberately as a break for your legs: in a study with a simulated trail race, walking uphill after 31 km cost 2.5 % more energy without poles than with poles, and foot force stayed lower even when fatigued [6]. So poles pay off especially when you get tired.
Mainly on steep, long climbs and when fatigued. At maximal effort uphill, runners with poles were faster [1]; at easy pace there was no advantage [1]. On flat routes they bring little.
Roughly so that your elbow is bent at a right angle with the pole planted. Slightly shorter on steep climbs, longer for descents. Longer poles lengthen the thrust phase [3]. There are no fixed norms.
Only a little. Energy use falls by 2–3 % on very steep terrain [4], not at moderate gradients [1]. Oxygen consumption can even rise [3]. Perceived effort does fall markedly [4].
When running downhill, poles reduced load on the inner side of the heel by about 14 % in one study [7]. So they help, but only with some practice and controlled technique.
Double Poling in Trail Running: Both Poles at Once