shin splints

young9

i have been doing 30 day shred for 2 1/2 weeks and started C25K last week. on monday, during my week 2 workout 1 C25K my shins started hurting. not super bad but it was def there. then the last 2 days during my shred they burn a bit after my workout. i'm supposed to do my C25K week 2 workout 2 tonight. should i go ahead and do it? i don't want to risk messing up my 30 day shred.

JamesonsMommy

NO!!! you need rest for a couple days.. Ice packs help

EMc4452

Shins are tough because once you get full-on shin splints or stress fractures, there's not much you can do but rest. Soooo I would be very careful...but thats just speaking from personal experience. Only you know how bad it is. Sometimes our legs just hurt when you start a new program and maybe go too fast or too long to start.

ilovedeadlifts

they never really get better until you take a little time off.

ice packs after every session help, but they don't go away without rest.

fakeplastictree

I've been doing the c25k as well, I'm now on week 10 of the 10 week program i downloaded. About 10 days ago I started the 30 DS again and it did hurt my shins. What I do is limit the jumping activities in the Shred video to some sort of lower impact cardio so that you aren't hurting the shins as much. It's been working for me.

SueInAz

I haven't done the 30DS but if it involves high impact activities like jumping, hopping, etc. I would probably not do it if you're planning to run. At least not until your body gets used to the impact of running and that can be a few months. You should only be running every other day and doing something non- or low-impact on the days between. You need to give your joints a day of rest between high impact activities until it becomes used to them.

At the very least, you should modify the high impact parts of the 30DS so that you are only doing the arm movements and simple steps, not jumping.

conchita962

i have been doing 30 day shred for 2 1/2 weeks and started C25K last week. on monday, during my week 2 workout 1 C25K my shins started hurting. not super bad but it was def there. then the last 2 days during my shred they burn a bit after my workout. i'm supposed to do my C25K week 2 workout 2 tonight. should i go ahead and do it? i don't want to risk messing up my 30 day shred.

I feel your pain!!!! I am in week 8 day 2 But i had to take week 6 off to heal. You HAVE to take rest days and no matter how you feel make sure you don't do too much too soon. Maybe the 30 day shred and C5K is too much together??

I found the beginning weeks of C5K kinda easy so on one of my rest days I would run as long as I could without stopping. I did this every sunday to track my progress and it's a good idea, but I did too much too fast and paid for it! Although it was soooo cool to see how far i could run...but anyway

Here's what helped me: Motrin and icing my shins every night for 20 min at a time. (I got soft ice packs at the dollar store and wrap them around my shins with an ace bandage.) I also have compression socks that i wear to bed, at work and when I run. Check out runnersworld.com They have exercises specifically to strengthen your shins. Try hard NOT to run on concrete...I found a park nearby that has dirt/crushed gravel paths and it makes a HUGE difference.
The MOST important is to get NEW RUNNING shoes!!!!! I go thru the New Balance website (lemme know if ur interested) and got good running shoes..MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE!
C5K is a great program.
GOOD LUCK!!!

~Dawn

conchita962

i have been doing 30 day shred for 2 1/2 weeks and started C25K last week. on monday, during my week 2 workout 1 C25K my shins started hurting. not super bad but it was def there. then the last 2 days during my shred they burn a bit after my workout. i'm supposed to do my C25K week 2 workout 2 tonight. should i go ahead and do it? i don't want to risk messing up my 30 day shred.

I feel your pain!!!! I am in week 8 day 2 But i had to take week 6 off to heal. You HAVE to take rest days and no matter how you feel make sure you don't do too much too soon. Maybe the 30 day shred and C5K is too much together??

I found the beginning weeks of C5K kinda easy so on one of my rest days I would run as long as I could without stopping. I did this every sunday to track my progress and it's a good idea, but I did too much too fast and paid for it! Although it was soooo cool to see how far i could run...but anyway

Here's what helped me: Motrin and icing my shins every night for 20 min at a time. (I got soft ice packs at the dollar store and wrap them around my shins with an ace bandage.) I also have compression socks that i wear to bed, at work and when I run. Check out runnersworld.com They have exercises specifically to strengthen your shins. Try hard NOT to run on concrete...I found a park nearby that has dirt/crushed gravel paths and it makes a HUGE difference.
The MOST important is to get NEW RUNNING shoes!!!!! I go thru the New Balance website (lemme know if ur interested) and got good running shoes..MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE!
C5K is a great program.
GOOD LUCK!!!

~Dawn

By the way...if you'd like a new running friend feel free to add me

yjones15

I agree with resting for a couple days and ice, and make sure your stretching your calves. One of my bootcamp instructors told us to do toe taps throughout the day to help build strength in the front of the leg for running. They really help, you can do them anywhere, either sitting or standing. (If you're wondering toe taps are just tapping your toe with your heel planted on the ground, like you would do if somebody was taking too long and you were getting impatient). Try to do a minute of them 5-6 times during the day. Hope that helps.

iistor

I'm very susceptible to shin splints; I know your pain. I recently started running again after a several years of hiatus and I haven't had a problem at all so far! My biggest help is stretching. 10-15 minutes of good, thorough stretching before AND after high-impact exercise is ESSENTIAL for me. Always stretch the calves *really* well.

My friend (a martial artist) said her instructor recommends rubbing biofreeze on her shins before any long runs. I've never tried it, but I'd be curious if anyone else has had similar advice...? Might be worth a shot. But like I said, I can't personally say whether it has worked for me.

I agree with the above posters, also. Rest is going to be essential if you're getting to the point where there's pain. Listen to your body. Good luck!

radix89

I would be careful, take it slow, I had shin splints that turned into stress fractures and was stuck wearing a boot for 30 days. I would do W1 of c25k for 2 more weeks before try week 2 to condition your legs a little more (this is what I ended up doing). When my boot came off I swam a lot until my doc said I could start running again, when I started c25k again I took it slow and didn't have any more issues until I blew out my hip (but that's another story). Using c25k + speed work on a track I went from 1.5 miles in about 20 minutes to running a mile in 8:30. And remember ICE IS KING!!! 20 on and 20 off so you don't freeze anything too badly.

young9

thanks everyone! i guess i'll rest and ice!

SueInAz

My friend (a martial artist) said her instructor recommends rubbing biofreeze on her shins before any long runs. I've never tried it, but I'd be curious if anyone else has had similar advice...? Might be worth a shot. But like I said, I can't personally say whether it has worked for me.

I had really bad shin splints when I was doing gymnastics in high school. We were running vault on a cement floor, no padding. Ouch! I used to put my legs in this liquid solution that was below freezing AFTER practice every day for about 15 minutes. The trainers didn't have me icing before.

You can make an ice bag out of a rubbing alcohol and water gel solution in a ziploc bag to put on your shins. They are cheap, easy to make and reusable. Start with 3 parts water to one part rubbing alcohol. Use more alcohol if you like it to freeze a little softer or more water if you like it to freeze a little firmer. Make sure you label them so no one thinks they are just water and you should probably even add a few drops of blue food coloring so they look like a gel pack.

J3Streeter

I've been a runner for a long time, and only in the beginning did I really experience shin splits. I think Conchita's post is on the money. There are a lot of exercises you can do to strengthen the muscles in your shin, which will in turn reduce the pain and ultimately, eliminate the shin splits all together. Compression socks are also a great way to keep everything in place and will alleviate the pain as you work towards getting rid of them. And then, the most important thing, your footwear. I would go to a running store, and stay away from FootLocker, FinishLine, etc... until you know exactly what it is that you're looking for. Running stores generally will have you run for them and watch your footstrike/gait/etc... and look for important aspects of your overall stride. Once they observe this, they can fit you with the right type of sneaker for your individual running style. This way you know you're getting the right type of shoe for you, as opposed to the most popular shoe in the store or the most expensive. Everyone is different and just because a shoe costs $150 doesn't mean it is right for you. In addition to finding the right running shoes, be sure to ONLY WEAR YOUR RUNNING SHOES WHEN YOU ARE RUNNING. Do not use the same shoes you run in to work out in, or wear to the store, or mow the lawn. The way you walk and the way you run are completely different. Your running shoes will begin to form fit your foot due to the constant impact/pushoff of your running style, and if you wear them when you're not running, it will work against you. And lastly, running shoes have a general shelf life of approximately 500 miles. I hope this helps.