Shin splints + Road work?

[JJC]

I have had problems with my shins for a few years now. Whenever I run a decent distant more than three days in a row it is extremely painful. As I am only a beginner I'm only in the gym three days a week, trying to do road work three days a week, and having one rest day. However, I am wanting to increase my road work in order to cut weight and lean up. Is there anything I can do to avoid shin splints / pain other than the obvious 'new shoes' remedy which hasn't worked for me yet. Are there any exercises that can increase strength in these tendons or anything I can do to substitute for road work that will be equally effective? Thanks.

[mushahadeen]

I used to have shin splints. But I ran like 6 days a week after 3 weeks I didn't get em no more.

Might've been just getting used to it, or it was the loss in weight, or both-- but whatever it was they went away as a result of regular running.

[Shabba Rank$]

Yeah I believe it's normal to have shin splints at first.

Then you get used to em after a while.

[RAV3N]

Are you running correctly?

just make sure when you that you are not hitting your heel down 1st.

[alb829]

A couple things I'd recommend because I suffer from them too but have gotten alot relief doing are:
1. New shoes in itself is not the answer. Go to a runner's shoe store and let them analyze your gait. They can tell if you overpronate or are flat footed, which are the leading causes to shin splints. And then they can recommend shoes or an orthotic specific for your foot and gait.
2. Stretch and strengthen your calves. Look on Youtube(if you haven't already) there are quite a few good videos on there.
3. Watch your footstrike. Heelstriking is a no-no, but running on your toes for a considerable distance is asking for calf/shin pain.
4. I'd also suggest a calf sleeve. It helps keep the area warm and the blood circulating. I had only seen sleeves used on arms until I ran my first 5k last year and saw that every other serious runner was wearing them. So I bought a pair and won't run without them now....

Hope I helped.

[killsomething]

If it's actual shin splints you MUST rest them, they won't get better.

If it's soreness then you can work through it. Using the recommendations the others suggested along with ICE should help you out a lot.

[New England]

If it's actual shin splints you MUST rest them, they won't get better.

If it's soreness then you can work through it. Using the recommendations the others suggested along with ICE should help you out a lot.

this.

you need rest and ice
and most importantly you need time.

shin splints take time to develop, unlike a lot of injuries, but like most injuries they take a long time to heal

i used to develop them when i was involved with high school and college athletics. they became worse as i aged, and i equate the difference mostly with the weight i carried as i got older and spread out.

you know how i got rid of them?
i waited for the season to end.

if you're going to be active every day (in this case running and subjecting them to impact,) they aren't going away.


are you preparing for a fight that you've got scheduled?
if not, i'd suggest you take a couple weeks off from running at least
and when you come back to it you want to look for soft ground if you can.

grass, dirt, a rubber track, even sand.
anything but pavement and concrete

if you are fighting soon and don't feel like you are prepared i'd talk to your coach as soon as you can.

[holmeslaw]

i used to get em bad / often before started boxing, key is you need stronger calves, boxing has strengethened my calves, so work on building your calves and general leg strength up as much as you can, and it will help eliminate them. try running on treadmills for a while at a slight incline, that sometimes helps

[JJC]

Thanks for the all the advice! Definitely got a few things I can try out. I'll let you know how I get on.

[Chip2006uk]

I get shin splints all the time (among other leg problems) and it really annoys me, I found that doing my roadwork on the treadmill helps but I really dont like treadmill running....

The only 'solution' I found so far is doing my running on a towpath (dirtroad) instead of the pavement, its so much easier on my legs, the only problem is that I can only run it in the daytime when its still light and im used to doing my roadwork pretty late at night.