Shin Splints

[i_like_sun]

What do you people do for these?

[tvashtarkatena]

New shoes.

 

Run on trails.

 

Ramp up for distance training more slowly.

 

Leg weight training.

Edited January 10, 2008 by tvashtarkatena

[DPS]

New shoes.

 

Run on trails.

 

Ramp up for distance training more slowly.

 

 

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

Specifically on the leg training:

 

Extend a leg press (if you have access to one) all the way out, then work your calves, tiptoe to heel down, nice and slow, till muscle failure.

[hafilax]

I tried to get into running a couple of years ago and got shin splints.

 

I did some reading into it and decided my problem was the following:

AFAIK the shin muscle is encased in some kind of membrane that grows much more slowly than muscle does. As a result if you increase muscle mass too quickly in the shin it tears at the membrane causing pain. It also heals slowly like, tendinitis, so once the pain appears it takes a lot of rest to remedy.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

If I were to try it again I would do a more gradual introduction with more walking.

[tvashtarkatena]

I got them when ramping up too quickly for a marathon once. Your posting is right on. Ramping up mileage 10% or less per week has been a longstanding guideline, but you may need to go more gradually than that.

 

You also may be overtraining. Two long runs a week is plenty to increase distance endurance. The workouts in between can be much shorter, and need not even involve that much running.

 

Higher shock loads (pavement, bad shoes) will stress this sheath, exacerbating the problem.

Edited January 10, 2008 by tvashtarkatena

[John Frieh]

~12 seconds in:

 

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[sk]

have you had an x-ray to diagnose shin splints? sometimes what people think are shin splints are really right muscles. I would say try stretching more.

 

this is what i want to try

[layton]

Your tibialis anterior is working too hard to eccentrically contact on the impact phase of your gait cycle most likely. Perhaps you need a heel lift or work on your stride legnth. It could be weak too - try putting a dumbell over your toes and do foot lifts.

[i_like_sun]

That makes great sense Mike. I wear an orthotic that has about 1/8 inch of heal lift, but I think my main problem is too much cement running on blown out shoes. I don't have any shin splint symptoms when I'm running bare-foot on grass or turf; probably because my biomechanics change when I do this??? Less heal impact and more intrinsic recruitment???

 

At any rate, I've been working on my gate so that I stay more even in my stride. Meaning that I try to minimize the distance from my feet to the ground when airborne. It seems to work for the time being.