Horizontal v. Vertical Fist Punching

Now try this:

• Stand with your arms hanging naturedly at the sides.
• Using your shoulder muscles, raise your arms in front of your body to shoulder height while rotating the hands so the palms face inward.
• Notice the extra effort this rotation takes and the muscle tension down the entire arm.
• Now close the hands into fists.

Notice how you must use muscle tension to maintain the vertical fist position. Now release the tension and notice how the fist naturally rotates into the horizontal position.

Think about this while your arms are outstretched. If you had to hold your arms outstretched for as long as possible to beat other contestants for a million dollars, which palm position would you chose, palms facing inward or palms facing downward ?