FitMethod

Shin Splints:

Ok, so that’s not a shin splint. The man picture is Gibril Cisse and that’s him breaking his tibia. Luckily, that’s not a common injury. Unfortunately, shin splints are.

I was recently reading an article by Mike Demora in which he tackled the issue. He defines shin splints as posterior tibialis tendonitis, a pain around the tibia (the bone of the lower leg). He states that there are 2 anatomic reasons for shin splints/posterior tibialis tendonitis:
1) weakness in the frontal plane stabilizers
2) lack of motion in ankle joint/muscle tightness

So what does that mean? First, it means that the glute medius”cannot control femoral internal rotation at the hip at heel strike and allows undue rotational stress on the posterior tibialis”. Second, the calves are too tight from being overworked which is causing stiffness in the ankle joint and then the tibia.

So how can we get rid of shin splints? Given what we know, it’s obvious that the both the stabilization muscles in the legs need to be strengthened and that the legs need to frequently stretched out. The problem could also stem from the use of an old pair of shoes that have lost their support which would put stress on the tibia, or a faulty running form which would also put stress on the tibia.

I actually used to suffer from shin splints over a year ago. After 20 minutes of running my legs would be in too much pain to continue. Sometimes I could not walk properly for the rest of the day. After I switched my running shoes and started stretching prior and after running, the pain in my shins went away. Therefore, I now stretch religiously before and after running and haven’t had the pain come back (knock on wood).

A good rule of thumb is to replace your running shoes every six months and to not wear them outside of running. If you overuse your shoes they will lose their support and it will case you to have problems such as shin splints. Also, check your form. If when you are setting your front foot down during running and your foot makes a lot of noise (which is very noticable when you are on the treadmill), then you are putting a lot of stress on your bones and joints. Change your form so as to get rid of that excess stress.

If any of you are suffering from shin splints, I hope that this helps.