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Shin Splints - Page 2

© John Seeley

can slow down the "snap" to a smooth transition from foot landing to push off. Earlier threads discussed a wide range of exercises that will help. My favorite consists of sitting, heel on the ground, raising my foot up and rotating slowly from side to side. You should feel the anterior muscles bunch up as you move your foot up and down and side to side. Use the principal of isometrics - tighten up, hold, loosen, tighten up, hold and so on. Repeat as many times as you want.

Perhaps the achilles problems are related to the imbalance causing your shin splints. With luck you might fix both injuries by strengthening the anterior muscles.

Mike Palmer

A good exercise for the anterior tibialis was described in Owen Anderson's "Running Research News" a couple of years ago. Simply stand against a wall and extend your feet out at about a 20 degree angle (more or less). Dorsiflex both feet rapidly (move your feet up while your heel remains on the floor) about 12 times. Imagine that the floor is an eggshell that you're trying not to break--you'll get the right speed for the exercise. Then do one foot at a time by bending the leg you aren't working at the knee and resting your foot against the wall. Work up to 3 x 15 with both feet and then one foot at a time.

You'll feel "the burn" in the anterior tibialis. You may not be able to do 12 or 15 reps at first. If you do this exercise about three times a week, you'll significantly strengthen you're lower legs.

Walking barefoot is also a good lower leg strengthener. The Kenyans, who tend to run barefoot as soon as they're able to run, have fewer lower leg injuries than people who have worn shoes most of their lives.

You should be able to find which edition this article was in by doing a search on Owen Anderson's webpage.

Jay Hodde

Dan wrote:

"I agree with Jeff Bristow and others. The most common cause of shin-splints is anterior leg muscles being overpowered by strong calf muscles."

Let me disagree a bit. It's more complicated than that, and while you are right that an "imbalance" in strength between the calf muscles and the anterior tibialis is a major cause of ANTERIOR or ANTEROLATERAL shin splint pain, there are other locations of shin splint pain that appear to have different causes.

Pain anywhere is the shin has commonly be called a "shin splint". This term is a vague description of a

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