UKC

I was reading through Eric Horst's assesment

http://trainingforclimbing.com/what-you-can-learn-from-margo-hayes-send-of-... 

And it got me thinking whats the best way to shake out, is it better to hold the resting arm above the head, level or down, does it make any difference?

Certainly not above. Level would seem to make the most theoretical sense, but down certainly feels most effective most of the time.

Here's some research:

http://www.trainingforclimbing.com/new/research/roberts2005.shtml

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17461391.2015.1119198?src=recsys...

Conclusion seems to be that the shaking is better than not, and 'g-tox' (alternating up and down) method may be the most effective.

That makes sense. I find that an action close to open-hand punching the air downwards seems to work best, and I suppose it gives some level time as well as some extra g-force assisted downward pressure, which I'm guessing may be more effective than the simply 1-g effect of holding your arm down.