My shins hurt

Sounds a little like Shin Splints. Now the advice I'll give you is the advice of a runner who suffered with shin splints for years and my advice is geared more towards running. Some commonality though...

Shin splints are usually a result of too much, too soon, bad footwear, a mechanical defect in your stride or a combination of the above.

First consideration is that you may have just progressed too quickly into the activity in which case back off the exercise in question to a more manageable place. Build gradually. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was the human body. Yet some people believe they can be endurance athletes within hours of commencing an activity.

Bad Footwear. I'd rather run barefoot than run in dead or broken down shoes (and yes sometimes I do run barefoot as it is very helpful in developing muscles that aren't normally used when shod.) Most modern shoes are designed with a purpose in mind and have a limited durability. Court shoes allow for more lateral movement and support of the foot, running shoes are designed to move forward etc. Make sure you are using the correct type of shoe for the sport. Also it is important to note that everyone is slightly different... some need Stability shoes, some need neutral shoes and some need motion control shoes. It is important to get your gait analyzed to best determine the right type of shoe for you. You won't find this at a Walmart or Target store... Go to a reputable store where people are trained (Running Room, Fleet Feet, RoadRunner etc...alternately a Sports MD or Physiotherapist can do a more comprehensive gait analysis)

Also important to note that over time shoes break down and stop supporting your foot properly. The magic number for quality running shoes is about 500 miles. For cheaper shoes its significantly less. (You usually get what you pay for)

A professional gait analysis will also tell you if you have any mechanical flaws in the way you run. It could be excessive overpronation or suppination. It could also be a muscle imbalance or weakness that can be addressed via physio or a specific exercise. In my case... I was able to work thru my shin splints via a series of daily exercises.

Here are a few of exercises that may help;

1. Single leg calf raises (start with 10 each leg 4x daily)
2. Make "fists" with your toes and walk on your heels for 30 paces 4x daily.
3. Get a bucket of those little army men (or marbles) Spill them on the floor and practice picking them up with your toes.
4. Surgical tubing exercises to strengthen the ankle.
5. Stand barefoot on one foot and balance for as long as you can. Try to lengthen the duration each time.
6. Use your toes to write the alphabet in the air (no pencil required).

I hope these help you out. Good Luck!

Quick Word on NSAIDS (and then I'll shut up) - NSAIDS aka Runner's Beans.... If you think about it... what does it tell you when you need to mask the pain to do an activity? NSAIDS only conceal the pain, they don't solve the problem. They just make it easy to get more seriously injured. If you are in that much pain that you require a pain killer... maybe you should listen to your body and rest?

NSAID's don't just mask pain - they're also used to control inflammation.

My point is that when people take them BEFORE they go do an activity, they are leading themselves down a dangerous path. They attempt to conceal the pain and inevitably do further damage.

While I agree that they can control inflammation, it is something that is best left for AFTER an activity and not before.

Rest is a far more effective and safe approach.

I hate to break it to you - but that's not exactly correct. In order to get true anti-inflammatory effects of an NSAID, you really need to take it consistently. For example, with normal OTC ibuprofen I believe it's every 4-6 hours. If you just pop some before activity, then you're really only getting the pain modulation effect. I do agree with about taking medications right before though - you really need time to allow the medication to get into your bloodstream to take effect. Otherwise you're just popping the potential for an ulcer since your body is more concerned with maintaining activity instead of digestion.