What To Do For Shin Splints
It’s a question that confronts any serious runner at at least one stage in their career: “what to do for shin splints?” Indeed, you wouldn’t have even arrived at this page unless shin splints have become a problem for you.
If like me, you like to do a quick search on the Internet for a quick fix before going to see your doctor, you’ll also know that there’s a stack information available but it can be difficult to determine whether that information is right for your particular ailment.
This was certainly the case for me. When I first got shin splints, I relied on advice from others in the running community as well as what I could glean from runners’ forums and the like.
The problem was that none of these people were medical practicioners, and when my shin splints became a recurring problem rather than just a one off, I knew that maybe my “search and see” approach wasn’t working in this instance.
In the end it turned out that I was half right – because I did end up finding a resource online – Stop Shin Splints Forever - which you could say is more or less the bible when it comes to healing shin splints.
I’d been doing some shin splint stretches that I’d found on YouTube and icing my shins, but as I later learnt that there are some specific exercises for a muscular imblance that I had, which aren’t the sort of thing that you find in the general purpose information that I’d thus far found online.
It was only after reading Stop Shin Splints Forever that I actually realised that some of the stretches I was doing were more likely to aggravate the condition I had, rather than alleviate it.
We live and learn, I guess.
So my advice for anyone asking “what to do for shin splints?” is simple. First properly ascertain, what is causing your shin splints and then come up with a specific treatment program that addresses the root cause of your shin splints. If all you’re doing is addressing the pain , then you’ll probably end up like I used to be – someone with a recurring problem rather than a permanent cure for shin splints.
Stop Shin Splints Forever will definitely aid you in coming up with a permamenet cure for your shin splints and at $27 with a money back guarantee, it stacks up well price wise against several visits to the doctor.
Click Here To Visit Stop Shin Splints Forever
Good Luck and Happy Pain Free Runing!
——-
Preventing Shin Splints
Preventing shin splints is easy once you know the right things to do. As a general rule, if you’ve alreday identified what’s causing your shin splints – as discussed in what causes shin splints – then simply stop doing it. This post however will also provide you with some other tips to help stop shin splints re-occuring.
Stop Exercising If You Feel Pain
If at any time you start feeling pain, stop your routine, take a few days and avoid aggravating your shin splints. If you continue to push yourself through the pain you could end up with a more severe injury that sidelines you even longer.
Cross Training
Just because you’ve stopped running doesn’t mean you can’t go bike riding, swimming or do yoga. In fact, the best advice is to pick another form of exercise that doesn’t stress your shins and do it. Not only will it keep you fit, it will also aid your recovery by evening out muscle imbalances and strengthening tendons and ligaments that aren’t usually used in your regular sport.
Start Slow And Go Easy
To avoid reoccurrence start slow and increase the overall intensity of your training very gradually. Aim to never increase the intensity or duration of your exercise routine by more than 10% per week.
Warm Up
Always warm up your body directly before any exercise by walking for 3-5 minutes, doing the shin stretches in the shin splint exercises section, and doing some ankle, knee and hip circles.
Workout Surfaces
Walk or run on soft and even surface to avoid injury upon your return to physical activity.
Walking Barefoot
When running, exercising or playing sport wear shoes but when you are around the house or doing low impact activities, try and walk barefoot as much as possible, and even barefoot on your toes or on your heels as per the exercises post. The feet were designed for barefoot walking so this “natural” way of walking will allow you to strengthen all the tendons and ligaments and avoid further complications.
Following these simple guidelines should see that your shin splints do not re-appear.
——
Shin Splint Exercises
In this post we’ll look at some general shin splint exercises. Shin splint exercises can be broken down into two categories – stretching exercises and strengthening exercises. The video below covers both types of exercises, but I have also included some detailed written instrutions as well.
Shin Splint Stretching Exercises
Calf Stretch
F ind a staircase or step that you can stand on. Once there, place your feet so that your heels are hanging off the edge and slowly allow your body weight to bring the heels down below step level.
Hold this position for at least twenty seconds, then come up and repeat again after a short break.
Standing Anterior Tibialis Shin Splints Stretch
Stand somewhere nearby a handrail for balance. Once you’ve found your balance, place the foot you’re looking to stretch behind the other foot, keeping the toe of the stretching foot rested on the ground.
Once you’re comfortably in position, slowly bring the stretching leg forward until you feel a good pull on the lower leg muscle. You may want to bend both of your knees slightly to make it easier to perform the stretch.
After you’re finished with that leg, switch legs and repeat.
Sitting Shin Splints Stretch
With this exercise, sit in a chair and place both legs directly behind your chair as far as they can go.
Try and place the feet so that the front of the foot is touching the floor, toes pointed. This should result in you feeling a good, deep stretch right iat the front of the shin bone.
Shin Splint Strengthening Exercises
Toe Raises
Stand against a wall with feet about shoulder width apart. From there, pull the toes up to the shin bone as high as they will go. This is going to strengthen the muscle right in front of that bone, which when weak can lead to shin pain in the first place.
Heel Walks
To do this you simply stand on your heel as you walk across the room. Doing so will again help strengthen the muscle right in front of the shin bone. Aim to walk all the way across the room a few times before taking a rest and doing it again.
Calf Raises
The calves oppose the shin bone muscle at the front of the legs and can sometimes cause a muscular imbalance if they are not strong enough. Stand with your legs shoulder width apart and slowly rise up until you are on tippy toes. Hold for 3-4 seconds and then slowly lower yourself back down again.
Ideally you want to perform three to four sets of calf raises with each lower body workout you do to ensure this muscle is always functioning effectively.
Whilst these shin splint exercises are effective for general shin conditioning, they may not be appropriate for addressing particular muscular imbalances or flexibility issues such as those described in what causes shin splints?
In those cases more specific shin splint exercises may need to be performed. Stop Shin Splints Forever lists specific exercises that can be done for weak or inactive glutes or an over pronated foot.
Click Here To Visit Stop Shin Splints Forever
——-
What Causes Shin Splints?
In this post we’re going to discuss what causes shin splints and how to tell which of these causes could be responsible for your current pain. Whilst I can’t possibly cover every pontential cause of shin splints, I will cover the most important and most common factors.
1) Incorrect or inappropriate training methods or surfaces.
Shin splints will most likely to appear whenever you increase the intensity, frequency or duration of training. This is especially true if changes are abrupt. Training on hard surfaces like concrete or uneven surfaces like snow or sand can also be a catalyst for shin splints – especially if you haven’t done this type of training before.
It’s very important for the health of your body that you introduce any increases to the amount of training you do, gradually. If you start to experience any pain, you slow down or cease the activity causing you pain immediately. As a general guideline, avoid increasing the intensity or duration of your workout by more than 10% per week to help avoid shin splints and other injuries.
2) Muscular imbalances or lack of flexibility
Muscle imbalances, inflexibility, weakness and instability are all factors which can lead to the onset of painful shin splints. The three most common ones that lead to shin splints are inflexibility of the calf muscles, over-pronation of the foot and weak or inactive gluteal muscles. There are more but these 3 account for the majority of cases:
Problem #1 – Weak or Inflexible Calves:
The calves consist of two main muscles, the soleus and the gastrocnemius. Both of these muscles connect to the foot and when they become tired, weak or inflexible this can compromise the strength and stability of the ankle, which can and most of the time will contribute to aches and pains in the shins as well as many other forms of injury.
Problem #2 – Over-pronation of the foot:
Over-pronation (or more commonly known as flat feet) is a common problem that involves a person’s arch collapsing when beraing weight. This motion places a lot of stress on the tendons and ligaments in the ankle which can trigger inflammation, as well as potentially causing shin splints or other foot problems. This problem generally occurs in people who have flat feet or low or collapsed arches.
Problem #3 – Weak or Inactive Glutes
The glutes (bum muscles) are actually the strongest muscles in the body, but most people’s glutes are either not firing at all or are very weak. This is mainly due to sitting in a chair for 8-10 hours a day which is a lifestyle phenomenon that’s common for many of us. Sitting for long periods of time often makes the hip flexors tight and overactive, which deactivates the glutes. Weak glutes cause the hamstring and quadriceps muscles to overcompensate, making you far more likely to overpronate your feet, which can contribute to shin splints.
3) Poor shoe/equipment selection
It may not sound like it’s a big deal, but getting the right shoe and fit is critical. Consider the following:
* Most running shoes don’t last longer than 500 miles without breaking down.
* They’ll wear down even faster if you weigh over 250lbs.
* To tell if your shoes are worn out, look at the mid-sole. If there are two or more creases over top of each other, then your shoe has likely lost over 50% of its ability to support your foot.
4) Poor Running Technique
Poor running technique is the final common cause of shin splints. It increases the impact and consequently the stress on the tendons and ligaments in your lower legs. Poor running technique usually comes down to one of the following factors:
* Running with your arms crossed over your body – This is inefficient and a waste of energy. Also be sure not to elevate your shoulders and tighten up; running is all about being loose and having rhythm. Try to keep your shoulders relaxed and make sure your arms are pointed forward, but not too stiff.
* Leaning too far forward – Keep your back upright. Have a slight forward lean but not from the hips.
* Aim to land softly on the heels and then propel from the toes – A common error is to take steps that are too large, forcing you to push from the heels and not the toes when propelling forward. Another common error is to run on the balls of your feet; which is an effective way to build speed but not easily sustainable.
* Running with toes pointed inwards or outwards – This is something that happens all too often all too often. Aim to point your toes forward as you run.
So these are most common causes of shin splints. After answering the question: “what cause shin splints?” the next logical question is what is the best to treat shin splints? Stop Shin Spints Forever is the bible when it comes to treating shin splints. It covers every possible facet of shin splints treatment and preventing them from coming back.
Click Here To Visit Stop Shin Splints Forever
——
