Shin Splints

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

I walk around NYC a lot and, I’m told, at a rapid pace. I was wearing heavy work shoes, which I should have thrown out a while ago, and developed the worst set of shin splints I have ever had.

Upon seing a Physiatrist I have been told that the only thing to do is rest them. I pronate (that’s why they appeared) and have inflamed tendons where they tie into the shin.

So, I wanted to know, how do others get relief, apart from using pain killers, and how do you go about training. It’s been six weeks and I would like to start working my legs out in a safe way. I can do curls and extensions but are there better exercises that I can do here?

R-S

2

I used to get shin splints all the time. I’ve had success with doing some direct work for the Tibialis to alleviate the pain and strengthen the muscle. I used to only do Tibialis work when I’d start feeling the shin splints coming. Now I always make sure I work the muscle, and I haven’t had shin splints in years.

If you have access to a DARD, then those are great for working the Tibialis.

3

Here is what I use with my clients:

  1. Strengthen the tibialis - Can be performed using a DARD or dumbbell

  2. Stretch the gastroc and peroneals

  3. Perform SMR using a foam roller on the lower leg soft tissue

This has worked very well for my clients!

Stay strong
Mike

4

a very simple yet very effective exercise will help reduce the pain of shin splints and strengthen that muscle…

walk on your heels

that is, walk on your heels, point your toes straight up, 20 minutes at a time, either when feeling the onset of shin splints, or if you are one of those do the deed before the damage type, whenever you can… ice at intervals too, i know this sounds all like a bit much for shin splints, but im willing to bet you would go that extra mile to get rid of them, i know i sure did back during pre season 2 a days…

also, if after experienceing them after a workout, walk down the stairs backwards, i dont know the specific keneisilogical explaination behind my two pieces of advice, i just know they work for me and the rest of my team

5

[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
Here is what I use with my clients:

  1. Strengthen the tibialis - Can be performed using a DARD or dumbbell

  2. Stretch the gastroc and peroneals

  3. Perform SMR using a foam roller on the lower leg soft tissue

This has worked very well for my clients!

Stay strong

Mike[/quote]
I think this is yours Mike so I’ll quote you…
The dumbbell toe raise is a simple and effective exercise for strengthening the tibialis anterion. Just put your feet through the middle of the dumbbell holding onto the handle with both feet. Then raise your toes.
Is a DARD one of those things you put on your feet to exercise the Tib A?

6


Found it

7

I’ve heard this works. I don’t know myself. I used to get them bad before I started lifting. Only heard this cure after I no longer got them.

Tonic Water

Give it a try. It can’t hurt.

8

This is from my post to a previous thread but still useful in my opinion.

  1. Get a therapy band and loop it around something heavy. Sit on the floor, loop the other end around your toes and do reps of dorsiflexion by flexing your toes back towards your knee. I would say at first don’t go as high as 100 reps a day. Start out with doing maybe 3 sets of 20 reps for each leg. If you don’t have access to a therapy band, this exercise can be done with a partner and a towel. Loop it around your foot and have your partner provide slight resistance.

  2. As much as you can, walk around with your anterior tibialis dorsiflexed. Or in other words, walk around on your heels with your toes up. Depending on your comfort level with your masculinity, you may want to do this in the comfort of your own home. I can assure you, you will look ridiculous and it may compromise your ability to get dates.

  3. The same disclaimer from above applies to this movement. As much as you can, try to climb stairs backwards and with your anterior tibialis dorsiflexed. (on your heels).

If you must do these in public, you will be confronted by your boss, co-workers, friends, teachers, or whathaveyou. These confrontations will range from “Why the hell are you doing that?” to “Cut that out, you’re scaring away the customers.”

I typically use the following response: “I know this might look silly but unfortunately due to the weight imbalance caused by my massive eleven inch penis, if I walked or climbed stairs the way you do, I would fall over. These walking maneuvers act as a counterbalance for my gargantuan member.”

end previous post

I have also found (admittedly by accident) that 200m sprints done without letting the heels touch the ground have worked wonders for my ant. tibialis… I’m not sure how much sense this makes, but it seems like if anything it would make for a getting a good ballistic stretch in all of your foot flexors.

It seems that you can probably do most leg exercises… If anything I would think that the leg extension would be the most painful of the leg exercises due to the location of the pad on most machines.

I’m not sure how advanced of a trainee you are, but I would definitely recommend any of the hip/posterior chain dominant exercises. Most of these don’t require pushing through the feet, and everyone needs some extra hamstring work. Try this:

A. Good Morning-- 5 sets

1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1x5, 1x5, 1x12

B. Natural Glute Ham Raise

3 x 8-12, partner or self assisted.

C1. Barbell reverse lunge

3 x 8

C2. Unilateral leg curl

3 x 6-8

Perform exercise C1 and C2 with no rest between, starting with the weaker leg. Take 30-60s rest and repeat with stronger leg, making sure to complete the same number of reps as the weaker leg. Rest 30-60s and repeat.

D. Added weight hamstring stretch

Grab dumbells that add up to about 50-60% of your bodyweight, and descend into a romanian (stiff legged) deadlift, keeping the weights as close to your shins as possible. When you cannot go any lower without rounding the back, hold this position and contract the quadriceps to further stretch the hamstrings. Hold this for 30-45 sec, then drop the weights and slowly return to standing.

Not only will this routine avoid aggravating your shin splints, but it will make your hamstrings so sore that you’ll forget about the shins altogether.

Good luck. Theres some good advice on this thread Re: shin splint prevention.

RIT Jared

9

I should clarify… obviously there is some pushing through the feet on these, however most hip dominant exercises do not aggravate the anterior tibialis to the extent that quad dominant exercises (squat, lunge, hack squat) do. Additionally, I chose exercises that have relatively no impact. Hope it helps.

RIT Jared

10

If your shin splints are caused by the fact that you overpronate, chances are you also have flat feet (more often than not, flat-footed individuals tend to overpronate). If this is the case, you need to also consider strengthening the arch of the foot. There is a simple exercise called the towel “scrunch”: Sitting in a chair with a towel laid out, use your toes to “scrunch” the towel and gather it towards you (barefoot, obviously). Do 2 to 3 towel lengths.

Another way you can strengthen the arch is to do such exercises as:

split squats on SitFit, ball squats, 1-leg deadlifts, etc

In these type of stability exercises you will notice that you naturally “scrunch” the toes in an effort to maintain balance.

Good luck! :slight_smile:

11

Everyone has had a lot of great tips for shin splints so I’ll add mine too I guess. All in all, stretch and strengthen the necessary muscles as stated by everyone here and you’ll be good to go … pain free.

If for some reason you do get pain, I have a great way to put on ice (used to do this in high school track). Take some Dixie cups (or any small paper cup), fill them with water, and put them in the freezer. When you need to ice your shin, take a cup out, peel off a layer at the top, and now you can hold the rest of the covered ice with your hand and ice only the areas you want. The nice part about this is the ice starts to conform to the area you are applying it to and makes it really easy to apply. Just make sure you have a towel underneath your leg too to catch the water.

A good tibialis exercise I do is by using the low pulley (sorry if I overlooked someone recommending this). Find an attachment that you can hook around your foot. You may have to be creative if you don’t have something that can be wrapped around your foot. I can’t remember where I found them but I have an attachment that is simply a loop that I put my foot into. Sit on the ground with your legs straight and hook the attachment to your foot. Now you can add weight to your dorsiflexion (pulling your foot towards you) movement. Really worked well for me.

Shin splints suck. Good luck!

12

I had the worst shin splits during lacrosse season. Oh man it was painful to even walk around.

One thing that helped was sitting on my feet. Basically you point your toes downward and sit so that your butt is on your heels/calfs.

Eventually they went away becuase I got to use to them :o

13

Tne ice in the Dixie cup is indeed a great idea. Try using the cup to massage the area of pain in circukar motions…this helps the cold penetrate better and gives longer-lasting effects. :slight_smile:

14

I’ve heard of sitting on a high chair or table with a bucket right where your toes begin. The you raise just your foot up. If that’s easy, add weight.

15

Thanks guys. This is such a great forum for help. I love it.

I do over-pronate and am flat footed. I had no idea you could strengthen the arches. Right now I’m getting supports put in.

Thanks for the workout suggestions and the descriptions for rehab routines. I’ll most certainly try them and report back on what works.

R-S