Shin splints! Oh my!!!

What activity are you doing? Running or walking you need good shoes designed for that exercise and properly fitted at a running store. Run or walk not landing hard on your heel. Especially running, take shorter strides and land midfoot. Shin splints are weak shin muscles screaming because they haven't been used. Strengthen those muscles by doing exercises such as standing with just the balls of your feet on a step and raising yourself up and down, sit with your feet flat on the floor and do toe raises or practice writing the the alphabet in the air with your big toe.

What can I do to help this? Is it bc I'm so overweight and it will get better? Looking for inspirational friends too.

Invest in a foam roller. I've used one Monday and today on my shins and it has worked wonders.

yep! rolls those IT bands and adductors!

When i first started doing TurboFire i got them all the time....but i bought new shoes and started stretching more after a workout and they eventually went away...

If you are really serious about running make sure that you have good running shoes. Not ones from a box store, but go to a running store and have them fit you for shoes. It will take a while to get them to go away. There is a product called Roll Recovery, it's expensive, but works really well. Feel free to add me! I love having running friends!

Quit heel striking.

I don't think heel strike is the only reason for shin splints. I run using the ball of the foot and I still get shin splints. Apparently it happens because of weakness of the tibialis anterior. There are quite a few exercises that can help strengthen that muscle.

I suffered from shin splints for over 8 years and could not walk at a moderate pace for even a mile before the hot burning knots would appear in my legs. It was because of three things. One, I lived in London, England for 3 years about 7 and 1/2 years ago and would do my makeup at an old shaving mirror high up in the almost 100 year old house we rented. I overdeveloped my calf muscles. Secondly, since it was very often overcast there and I stopped drinking milk, my vitamin D levels went down without me knowing it. Then, instead of doctors checking my vitamin D levels due to living in an overcast country, they just told me to do physical therapy. I tried that and would avoid higher impact exercise and try to make sure that my shoes were always extra cushioning like Asics, but the shin splints only improved a little. What really helped was when they found out that I was vitamin D deficient and then I started taking 4,000 iu one day and alternate with 2,000 iu the next day in liquid caplet form from Costco. Only when I did this with magnesium and zinc did the shin splints go away. I can now walk 2 miles and do more impact in my Zumba fitness class, which I am very happy about since I love it. So, I hope some of this helps you. It can take a long time to build vitamin D back up to normal levels, about 6 months for me. If the doctors had tested me sooner, I would not have suffered for so long and could have exercised more.

lots of stretching before and after, foam roller and progressing slowly!

^^^This. You could also consider wearing compression sleeves for your calves while running. My running partner wears those and her shin splints went away within 2 weeks.

New shoes could help. I used to get them real bad the first time I tried to lose weight (end of 2011 beginning of 2012) But this time around, I've been a bit smarter about some things.

First of all, I used to run pretty much every day and I think that took a beating to my legs. It became my high. This time around I only run 3 times a week. Rest and recovery is important.

Second, make sure to do a complete/full leg stretch after running. I also started incorporating a good shin stretch that seems to be helping out a LOT ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj2r4VtyRD4

I have never used a foam roller before, but I have always heard great things about them. And like others have said, maybe that would help you out some?

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.

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.