Shin splints! Oh my!!!

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  • The_WoIverine
    The_WoIverine Posts: 367 Member
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    lots of stretching before and after, foam roller and progressing slowly!

    ^^^Not this. Stretching before activity is not a good idea. You want to warm your muscles up not tear them down before you exercise. Walk before you run, do some jumping jacks, lightly jog in place but not static stretching before exercise. Stretching and foam rolling is for after.

    I used to stretch after workouts only until I started getting muscle spasms or certain weird feelings in the muscles. Then when I started doing P90X and I would stretch after warming up before the actual workout would start, I realized I never got any spasms or that weird feeling again. There are plenty of debate online whether stretching is good or bad before a workout, so far it makes more sense to me that it is good.
  • dixieracer27
    dixieracer27 Posts: 79 Member
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    I'm sure it's already been said but decent shoes! Also if I don't get a good stretch in before my walk/run I get them so I make sure to stretch out my legs and after I stretch for a good 5 minutes. During my sessions I DO NOT stop for anything, not to say hi to anybody or chit chat because once I do the shin splints are ready to set in.
  • helpfit101
    helpfit101 Posts: 347 Member
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    I think rest is a good option. If you rest up for a week or two it will likely go away. Of course it might come back :)

    Do biking instead of running for a while.

    Shin splints is (I think) your calve muscles pulling too strongly because they've become tighter and you're working them out. Your calves are on the back. Your shins are on the front. So you could also try using a baseball and rolling your calves over them to "loosen" the muscle. Also stretch your calves (look on internet).

    One thing I tried to do before but am not 100% about whether it actually helped is training the shin muscles. I think they're tiny but they are there. They help to balance out over-trained calve muscles. You use them when you pull your toes towards you (the opposite of stepping on your toes). Problem is the gyms don't have any exercises for that. So what I did is find the cable pulley system and find an extension (hand grip) that I could wrap around my toes. Then I would sit on the floor with my legs straight and pull a low weight using my toes. I'd do 12-18 reps for 3 sets on each foot.

    You could look online for "strengthen shins exercises" to find other ways to strengthen them.
  • silianne
    silianne Posts: 6
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    I had shin splints over a year ago and stopped my regular exercises. I’m a runner and do other physical activities like swimming and biking. I didn’t know that it was shin splints at first until I came across an article that explains not only what the signs and symptoms of having shin splints are, but also provided video tutorials on how to relieve the pain. http://teamdoctorsblog.com/2012/12/shint-splints-self-help-tips-treatment-and-prevention-from-team-doctors/

    I find it motivating that Dr. James Stoxen is a barefoot runner. I thought that the more cushioned my shoes are, the more protected I am from impacts. But NO! It only made the spring mechanism weak and locked into a lever mechanism over time resulting to shin splints. I was really afraid that it would lead to chronic pain, fatigue, inflammatory diseases, etc. So I trained myself slowly converting to barefoot running and VOILA! Back to running again!

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